Tomorrow is going to be the big holiday where we all come together and give thanks for what we have. Normally, people gather at a person’s home, a restaurant or a church to feast on turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie and more.

Not this year, though, health officials are warning. Don’t go to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving because you’ll kill her dead. Stay at home and only celebrate with those of you in your household, or you’ll be a super-spreader.

Enough.

For months now, the Centers of Disease Control, in concert with local health experts, community leaders, etc., have been discouraging in-person contact with people. Events have been cancelled, including longstanding community traditions, and many folks have been put in isolation for fear that anyone coming to their door might carry the coronavirus and sentence them to death.

For months, we’ve been cooperating—with some exceptions—at the risk of our mental and emotional health, and allowed folks to convince us that we have no idea to take care of our own physical health. Has there been any acknowledgment that we’ve been taking the necessary steps to avoid the spread by wearing masks in public, avoiding mass gatherings, washing our hands and dousing them in enough sanitizer to make you feel soaking wet in the middle of the desert.

What have we heard? Things are getting worse, and people need to get with the program and do all these things to keep everybody for dying. The way the media makes it sound, it’s like only 10% are doing anything, and the other 90% are running wild and rubbing up on each other spreading the coronavirus.

That’s a load of hooey. While there are some people roaming without masks, I’ve noticed a marked improvement in the county where I live, even though we have a sheriff saying he’s not enforcing Wisconsin’s mask ordinance. Despite most of us playing safe, governors and others are claiming we’re not and saying that we shouldn’t leave home for Thanksgiving or we’re going to be super spreaders.

Mm hmm. Like the bars, massive parties and weddings with a four-digit guest list aren’t spreading coronavirus, but nine or 10 of us at a house are going to really open the portal to hell. Does that make sense?

Also, going grocery shopping, to a mall, to a restaurant with strangers isn’t enough to make the government shut things down, but being around family members is going to turn this winter into a nuclear wasteland, and we’ll be responsible for making a bleak situation worse? Give me a break.

The suggestion has been made to celebrate virtually, cooking your own meal at home. There are two possible kinks to the scenario. First, there are a lot of folks in the country that do not have the good fortune of having adequate internet infrastructure, so the best they can hope for is a phone call, and most don’t have conference calling. Second, the government is assuming every household has someone capable of cooking a Thanksgiving feast.

I can just imagine ER visits skyrocketing, not from coronavirus, but from food poisoning or burns.

For me, family is very important. I certainly don’t want them to get sick, but if we’re all in agreement to gather, what right does the government have to belittle us, treat us like immature morons who can’t make a move without their guidance, and take away everything that makes us human? We’ve communicated and determined we’re safe enough to gather, so that’s what we’re doing.

We’re going to continue to wear masks, wash our hands and avoid most human contact once the holidays are over to keep everyone as safe as possible. In the meantime, we’re going to come together on Thanksgiving and show our gratitude that we’ve made it this far, seeing as we’re all healthy and taking every precaution at the meal.

Sorry, CDC. That’s just how we roll.