Warning!

People ask me all the time, "You write about everything under the sun from Darwin's pet turtle to Jack Kerouac, so when are you going to write about the COVID-19 that's going around?"

I guess I have to now, now that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and I have both about reached our boiling point about how people are disregarding requests and lawful orders about social distancing rules.  Hizzoner went on "Meet The Press" and pressed the point that people are "kidding themselves" by acting like this's a big old spring break or that life is going on just like two weeks ago.

News flash: It ain't. Business as usual is now "No more business as usual."

The gov told Chuck Todd, moderator of "MTP," that social distancing - staying home unless absolutely necessary, and staying six feet away from everyone else on needed forays into the agora - is not being followed, and cited the crowds crowding the Tidal Basin area in DC, all cherry pink in springlike buds, as a prime example.

"We're all taking actions and trying to work together, but yeah, the social distancing is not being enforced and it's a little crazy to see the kind of crowds at the cherry blossoms," Hogan said. "I mean, people have to listen. Those people that are out there, you are endangering not only yourselves but your fellow citizens by not listening to these warnings."

This COVID-19 is a mean respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, and we need to take it more seriously - all of us. As of yesterday, there were 244 confirmed cases in Maryland, and as they say in both the worlds of statistics and pyrotechnics, that's going to skyrocket soon.

"This no longer is just about older people," Hogan went on. "We had a 10-month-old, a 5-year-old who have gotten this disease. So people are kidding themselves if they think they should just go on spring break or enjoy being out there, just as business as normal. We've gotta get people off the streets and out of these crowds. It's absolutely essential."

Three of those 244 have proven to be fatal cases. I don't often agree with Hogan on much, but on this, he is proving to be a nationwide leader for his handling of the virus, and I am 100% in agreement. The fact is, we still see people having a dozen or so friends over for dinner, and failing to take precautions, and the reason they give is always some variation of "I'm young and healthy and this isn't going to get me."

Nuh uh. You may not get COVID-19, but you're not getting the point if you feel that way. By being exposed, you could  - without ever becoming ill yourself - carry the cootie to your workplace, to your parents or grandparents or anyone susceptible.

So let's stop congregating and do what the man asks already, please!