Amidst all the current talk of flattening the curve, there’s increased talk of getting back to normality. Getting back to a life that’s not sequestered. Living large, not living locked.
It all strikes me as rather misguided though. After all this, what exactly will normal be? Do people really expect to wake up one day, as if this was all a fevered dream, pun intended. Do we really expect sports stadiums to be packed shoulder to shoulder again in the same fashion, conferences stacked 1000 people deep? I can’t see it myself.
Indeed it doesn’t seem likely Covid-19, or any future strain therein, will ever truly leave us. From here on out this is increasingly looking like being endemically part of life. Much like the flu, a cold, taxes and death. Part of the day to day.
It will wax and wane, there will be vaccines, boosters and immunization shots. People will still get sick, people will still die, most will be o.k. But life will have changed.
Already, after barely two or three weeks locked indoors, people talk about recoiling when they see a hug, handshake or crowd on TV. Imagine after a couple months of this. The idea of large crowds and high density commutes will be looked on in as much the same way as a smoker stood on the street corner; I know this look first hand by the way, it’s pretty disdainful bordering on the mildly psychopathic.
For sure there will be plenty that thumb their noses, and will be eager to return to normality. “It won’t change my way of life”, they’ll snortily protest. But that’s besides the point, most people are generally fearful, most people will change. In small ways, in making different choices. Maybe I won’t dine out tonight, maybe I won’t attend that conference, maybe I’ll see if I can work remotely more often.
These small changes will ripple and churn and it won’t matter if you’re one of the naysayers, the herd mentality will simply alter life, economies and social interaction for good. You can wave your fist at change, but that’s about it.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot the past few weeks. Not in a negative or positive way. The sky isn’t falling, it’s merely changing a little bit. I’m eager to try and get ahead of what color that new sky might look like. It’s already here, it just needs looking at a bit more.