As people grapple with the current situation, it’s helpful to put labels on things. We gave the disease a name and talk about things like “face coverings” and “social distancing” that had little to no meaning only a couple months ago. A phrase that keeps popping up to describe the whole weird enchilada is “new normal”. It’s quickly become my least favorite phrase in a while. Ok, Boomer….
The multiple comparisons to the global flu of 1918 should be proof enough it’s not new. Not to mention SARS, MERS, etc. And if wearing a hazmat suit to pick up the mail is normal….well no thank you. I’ve long believed that after the worst of this fades – we’ll quickly go back into our “old normal” in most situations. Here are a couple things that I think might stick.
- Video Conferencing is now in the mainstream. Once the realm of tech junkies or scientists in far flung locals – now kindergartners and grandmas alike know how to “Zoom”.
- Less mindless busyness. We don’t need to get in our cars every time we forgot to buy tomatoes. Turns out what you have in the pantry is probably enough to make a delicious meal and spend those extra 30 minutes with your loved ones.
- Social media will take a backseat to real engagement. This one might be wishful thinking on my part, but I love the fact that teenagers are discovering that you can also talk through that little texting (and Instagram posting) device in their pockets.
Across the country, we are starting to see stores reopen and people venturing out again. For some, too soon. For others, not soon enough. We’ll get through this eventually, but we’ll have more health and economic issues before it’s over. Once we are on the other side, I hope that some of the kindness remains. Until then, I’m off to my next Zoom Happy Hour, waiting for my contactless grocery delivery (hoping they didn’t forget the tomatoes), and streaming Tiger King in the background. Normal-schmormal….