Who is working Thanksgiving? Coronavirus edition

[CNGL-Leudimin]

That time of the year is upon us again, and it's time to ask, for the 8th year in a row, this question. Nobody knew at the time of last year's iteration that a new virus had started spreading in the Chinese city of Wuhan (it has been traced back to as early as 2019, November 17) and that it would bring the world as we knew it to an end, so this year things will be a little different. More people won't be working this day, but also it is strongly recommended not to gather in large numbers, so this year dinners are expected to be more intimate.

The (American) Football schedule for this strange year in which most personnel at these stadia won't be working (times are EST):
12:30 p.m.: Texans at Lions
4:30 p.m.: Football Team () at Cowboys
8:30 p.m.: Ravens at Steelers.

Previous iterations of this thread: VII, VI, V, IV, III, II, I

[kphoger]

Nope, not working.  Now that I'm office staff, I get the day off with pay.

My sister and her husband are driving down from Iowa, and we'll be heading to meet them at my parents' house for the day.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Also a (tentatively) relatively healthy slate of college sports that day.

Football
1 PM: Colorado State/Air Force
6 PM: New Mexico/Utah State

Basketball, including:
11 AM: Wright State/(8) Illinois
12:30 PM: (1) Gonzaga/(6) Kansas

[jakeroot]

Not working. Never have worked Thanksgiving.

My family, for the first time in like 80+ years, is not having Thanksgiving this year. Too many older people, and too many people with underlying immune issues, to take any risks.

I will be with my girlfriend and her small family this year. Very strange for me to be anywhere except with my family, but it's for the best.

We are thinking about having a faux-Thanksgiving next year during the Spring, assuming we get a vaccine by then.

[tchafe1978]

I finally get Thanksgiving off for the first time in about 15 or 16 years, as we are going to be closed on Thanksgiving for the first time in over 30 years. Just about the only time I'll say, "Thanks, Corona!"

[bulldog1979]

I'll be off again this year as well, thanks to my promotion to salary a few years ago.

[SSOWorld]

As tempting as it would be to touch the work computer, it sits off during the holiday in the home office.

Thanksgiving, the bubble edition.

[Max Rockatansky]

Not working and I think that COVID was the final nail in the coffin in terms of killing the potential for it ever happening. 

[cjk374]

No work for me either. Thanksgiving is one of our mandatory holidays off.

[GaryV]

Does dragging the boxes of Christmas decorations out of the basement count as work?

[Rothman]

Again, no working on Thanksgiving for me.

[webny99]

Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.

[renegade]

Nope.  Off for the entire week.

[Scott5114]

I'm not doing a damn thing on Thursday.

[hbelkins]

Off Thursday and Friday, and will only be called upon to work if there is some sort of weather event or emergency that requires public notification.

[cu2010]

For the first time in nearly a decade, I won't be working on Thanksgiving.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Still working on Thanksgiving, and no birthday for me this year either. 

[LM117]

I'm not doing a damn thing on Thursday.

Same.

[kphoger]

Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.

Should be just the same as always for my family.  My parents, my sister and her husband, and the five of us.  Dinner at my folks' house.  That's the way it is every year.

[webny99]

Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.

Should be just the same as always for my family.  My parents, my sister and her husband, and the five of us.  Dinner at my folks' house.  That's the way it is every year.

Here in New York, gatherings are limited to 10, but my family is *much* larger than that when we're all together, so it'll be a smaller than usual gathering this year.

[Takumi]

Nope. We're closed.

[kphoger]

Here in New York, gatherings are limited to 10, but my family is *much* larger than that when we're all together, so it'll be a smaller than usual gathering this year.

I grew up far away from extended family, and my mother only had two living relatives during my childhood, so I only have a couple of early memories of "large" family gatherings–and those were probably only a dozen people.  My introduction to big holiday parties was after meeting my [now] wife, whose nuclear and extended family all gathered in one house for Christmas.  It's definitely a different kind of setting, that's for sure.

[ET21]

I am not and have Black Friday off as well 

[kphoger]

I should mention that, even though I get Thanksgiving off from work, my wife (who is self-employed as a home daycare provider) also takes off Wednesday and Friday every year as paid holidays, giving her a five-day week-end.  I suspect she'll still do some work on her side business, though (selling Scentsy).

[webny99]

... My introduction to big holiday parties was after meeting my [now] wife, whose nuclear and extended family all gathered in one house for Christmas.  It's definitely a different kind of setting, that's for sure.

Sounds familiar to me, though! I've got a lot of family on both sides, and I do sometimes wonder how different things would be if that wasn't the case. Smaller Thanksgivings, definitely. Less travel, also definitely. I remember being shocked as a kid in elementary/middle school that some of my peers had never been on an airplane. Then I realized both sides of their family were probably from nearby, and decided maybe it was a blessing to have a far-away set of grandparents/relatives.