Reasons why we're canceling our trip to BOS:
- Positivity rates are climbing towards 10% here and the rate of daily new cases per 100,000 is above 25, well into not-good territory.
- Testing is getting overloaded here, so it's unclear that we could get results back within 48 hours of departure as Massachusetts requires. (I know we wouldn't get arrested by a state trooper outside baggage claim without a negative test result, but one of the reasons we're in this mess is people not following the rules--the least I can do is not be part of that problem.)
- My mom is in her 80s.
- Whether we had Thanksgiving dinner in her condo or at my brother's house (conveniently enough, they live about a 10-minute walk away from each other), we'd have a total of eight people packed into a small space.
- Because the Boston area is not San Diego, having Thanksgiving dinner outdoors won't work.
It sucks that we have to do this and only see the family via Zoom--as my kid said between sobs when we told her, "I'm so tired of electronics"--but I don't know how we could stage a family gathering safely. Especially when we can have that family gathering in a safer context in the spring (obligatory FT angle: I can earn double PQP on the flights!) or summer. I'm also keeping in mind that pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, rampers and gate agents have had to observe Airline Thanksgiving and Airline Christmas on non-standard days for the last several decades.