California Thanksgiving Day Guidelines

"It's only for a few weeks, it's only been a few weeks, it's just a few more months, and so on" and it.never.was.going.to.be only a few weeks or months, it just wasn't.
On the other hand, IF we had locked down and stayed home at the beginning, things would be in a lot better shape. Much like it appears to be in China. There people had no choice, when the government said "stay home" they had to. And now, an "outbreak" is 40 new cases. And here, 8 months later, we're struggling to convince people that a mask and social distancing does work, while they are saying "I just want things to be normal".

Things are not going to be "normal" again.
 
On the other hand, IF we had locked down and stayed home at the beginning, things would be in a lot better shape. Much like it appears to be in China. There people had no choice, when the government said "stay home" they had to. And now, an "outbreak" is 40 new cases. And here, 8 months later, we're struggling to convince people that a mask and social distancing does work, while they are saying "I just want things to be normal".

Things are not going to be "normal" again.
Not the poster but I disagree, my state closed too early. If we had closed in late June and early July my state might be in a better position. When we closed starting in mid-March (like restaurants and school buildings) followed by in late March stay at home orders we had a lot less spread, virtually no testing capabilities, almost no PPE, no ability to take on the astronomical numbers of unemployed leading to many problems and large economic impacts. It's not as if there wasn't some impact back in Spring but boy it would have been so much better to have it later. Not only that but psychologically I wonder if compliance would have been higher when the time came if places hadn't shut down when the virus impact was minimal for their area purely a musing there.
 
Many are overestimating the life expectancy of their older relatives. There won’t be another Thanksgiving for some of them.

I agree. This is the thought that really bothers me, even though I understand where they are coming from. We started a year, about ten years ago, with my father healthy and my mother’s cancer in long term remission. In June, her cancer came back with a vengeance and she passed the week before Thanksgiving. Five months later Dad was diagnosed, and he passed less than a month later. No matter what your age is, or the ages of others in your family, do not take for granted that there will always be another Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or birthday. You simply do not know.

We are taking the virus seriously, but I have taken two trips to visit my sister and BIL since the virus started. We quarantine ahead of time and afterwards and do everything we have been asked to do to reduce the risk. The three of us are planning to be together Thanksgiving and Christmas, and plan on being careful. Is there a risk? Probably a small one, considering we are all working from home right now and not in public except the grocery store. It’s less of a risk than spending the holidays alone.

I won’t judge anyone for their choice of whether to get together with others. There are a lot of things to consider when making that decision. I just want them to remember there are no guarantees when it comes to life expectancy and factor that into their choice along with everything else.
 
We had a family meeting today. We will do a brunch on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and do Thanksgiving in the Spring sometime.
Issues other than California guidelines are the primary reason.
1) DD has to be at work at 1 am so she needs to be home and in bed by 4 pm
2) DD doesn't eat meat so a turkey dinner is nothing to her.
3) DDIL is allergic to turkey so a turkey dinner is nothing to her and she would share the non-meat options with DD
4) It frees up DDIL, DS and DGD to travel 400 miles to DDIL's parents for Thanksgiving without putting DD and I in violation of our employers rules that require a 14 day quarantine if you travel more than 100 miles from home, , or are around people who live more than 100 miles away.

But it will keep us within California guidelines which truly are solid recommendations.
 




On the other hand, IF we had locked down and stayed home at the beginning, things would be in a lot better shape. Much like it appears to be in China. There people had no choice, when the government said "stay home" they had to. And now, an "outbreak" is 40 new cases. And here, 8 months later, we're struggling to convince people that a mask and social distancing does work, while they are saying "I just want things to be normal".

Things are not going to be "normal" again.
I disagree. China had the opportunity and blew it. This is a pandemic and it will be here for a while. I DO believe we will eventually return to normal.
 
On the other hand, IF we had locked down and stayed home at the beginning, things would be in a lot better shape. Much like it appears to be in China. There people had no choice, when the government said "stay home" they had to. And now, an "outbreak" is 40 new cases. And here, 8 months later, we're struggling to convince people that a mask and social distancing does work, while they are saying "I just want things to be normal".

Things are not going to be "normal" again.
Hmm I'm not sure I would compare us to China in this way. I don't think we can say that every other country has compliant people everywhere.

And with no offense meant people on all sides say they just want things to be normal, almost desperately so.

My observation there are some people who are very frustrated that in their minds this should have been done and over with by now, even though science doesn't reflect that would be the case, and their lives should have been back to normal.

Isn't that just another side to the same coin?

If you are saying things aren't going to be normal again (which I do agree there will be some things that just won't revert back similar to how some things changed from September 11th and the Great Recession those are just two things I could immediately think of) then you (general you) need to apply that equally. You (general you) need to speak to both sides of the coin. Because regardless of the pandemic eventually some point down the road declared over (that's meaning officially not that COVID is gone) as you say things are not going to be "normal" again. That applies to those 100% compliant, those in the middle who are compliant in some things, and those who are not at all compliant.
 
I disagree. China had the opportunity and blew it. This is a pandemic and it will be here for a while. I DO believe we will eventually return to normal.
I think we'll get mostly back to normal where people aren't having to worry about businesses being closed down, or schools going to remote, or where reliance on 6ft apart is gone, masks will eventually be a thing of the past for people at large (I have a feeling some people will choose to wear masks long after their area's medical experts deemed it no longer necessary which is fine), plexiglass won't be on Disney rides and in front of cash registers everywhere, etc.

On the other hand some things won't go back and I want to say that's probably more of a societal shift rather than mandates and measures. I don't have the immediate link but I did see a thread the other day talking about things you might wish to not go back and I think there's a good chance at least some of those ideas come to fruition in staying around.

Work from home for example used to be more of a reward in the business structure now after so many companies work forced into that they seem to be embracing it. Places that hadn't quite gotten onto the curbside/online order pick up in store thing now have almost been forced into that. I can imagine that a convenience factor for their customers if they utilized it enough may mean that method of shopping sticks around. I've seen commercials for Carvana where it said in a nutshell the industry thought they were crazy for selling cars the way they did (basically vending machine style)...well is it so crazy now when contactless is the name of the game? But will your favorite restaurant always have a forced shutdown looming over their heads? Or worry about only having a certain designated by a guideline number of people you have in what is now ubiquitously referred to as a gathering? No I think those will return back to normal..at some point.
 
That's what I have been saying all along. I UNDERSTAND that people want to be around others, want/need to get back to work and school, see family, etc. We don't HAVE to be locked down, under strict isolation; we know how to manage this. Wear a mask, keep your distance, limit crowd size. This will enable us to let people work and socialize as safely as possible. It's not forever, it's for another 6-12 months. Unfortunately we have to have everyone on board, and some people just refuse to follow the recommendations, so we all pay the price.

That is wishful thinking. It is likely 6 to 12 months before the first groups start getting vaccinated, and then another year or two for it to be widely available enough for the majority of the population to have access. And again, when talking about elderly relatives or those in poor health or those struggling with serious mental health repercussions of isolation, time isn't so easily written off as "only" a few months or years.
 
The one thing I don't understand is the two hours. Will that really make a difference?

We have all decided we will celebrate separately in my extended family. My college age daughter is coming home the week before and we are having her quarantine in the basement for two weeks, which means it will be over Thanksgiving. We plan to eat Thanksgiving dinner outside, with her on a table on our lower deck and the rest of us on the upper deck, we can see one another.

I'm sure we'll have a nice family Zoom with extended family. It's just the way it is right now and if we can keep our family safe and help slow the spread that is what our family will do.
 
Many are overestimating the life expectancy of their older relatives. There won’t be another Thanksgiving for some of them.
My mom is in an assisted living facility in California. I haven't seen her since January. She has health issues and could die without seeing any of her family for a year. The chance of any of us giving her Covid is slim to none. First off one of us would have to have covid and then be in close proximity to her without a mask.
 
This
My husband’s younger brother (age 38) came home from work a couple weeks ago, said he didn’t feel well, and went to bed. He never woke up.
My mother has a myriad of health issues and there is a very good chance this will be her last Thanksgiving.
I will be hosting Thanksgiving this year for any family member who wants to come. I will put in whatever safety precautions are humanly possible and I will respect the decision of anyone who chooses not to come.
In case anyone wonders, I do take the virus seriously, know it’s real, and know many who have had it in varying degrees, including an immediate family member. But, the dangers of isolation are also very real for many. Most of my extended family hold jobs where they have been working in person since the pandemic began. We know how to be safe and be around other people.
My dad didn’t feel good a few days around New Years a few years ago & was dead of pancreatic cancer by Feb. It was pre-Covid, but I will never forget those last holidays that we got to spend with him. I would have been devastated had we avoided contact with him that year b/c of something like Covid.
 

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