According to the TSA, over 1 million people crossed their checkpoints at airports the day before Thanksgiving.

That number is much lower than previous years, but more people still traveled by plane Wednesday than in any day since March.

We at the Daily Eastern News understand that it was Thanksgiving, and may people wanted to go home and visit family.

But many people made very selfish and shortsighted decisions by choosing to travel, putting themselves and many others at risk.

They did not just endanger their family members, but also airport employees and other travelers.

We know that people do not want to miss out on time with family over the holidays, but it is a sacrifice that people needed to make, and luckily it seems that many Americans made that sacrifice.

For those that did not make that sacrifice, they need to put things in perspective.

Billions of people across the world have had to make sacrifices for many months. People have missed out on lots of time with their families, and almost 270,000 Americans will never be able to spend time with their families even again.

Their seats will be empty every Thanksgiving, not just this one.

We also know that it is inevitable that people will complain about COVID restrictions around Christmas. Some of these people will be the same people who traveled for Thanksgiving.

The upcoming surge that will result from Thanksgiving travel will affect us all for weeks to come.

We could have avoided this upcoming mess if people were willing to forego one dinner.