As the weeks go by, the reality of the “new normal” is beginning to set in. For a few weeks back in early April, I felt as if the Stay at Home and hand washing would be temporary. I assumed that after a certain period of time, stores would reopen, traffic would come back, toilet paper would be plentiful again and we wouldn’t have to wear masks or wash our hands constantly. However, with unemployment at the highest level since the Great Depression and cases of Covid-19 still increasing around the country, the new normal is “not normal”. It is likely that there will be substantial permanent changes to the way we live and play, and those changes will not go away even if we have effective treatment and a vaccine for this disease. Add to all that, the crushing impact of racism, and it is easy to feel helpless and hopeless. Indulge me when I acknowledge where we are — because I hope to end with some ideas about where we can be if we work at it!
Come September of this year, schools are not likely to reopen in the same way. There will be a lot more online learning. Loneliness among young people may become a way of life, and they may turn more and more to their gaming and social media, which do not replace real person to person interaction. Parents will be challenged to teach their kids and still earn a living. We will need to restructure how we organize child care, how we shop for food, how we interact with each other, how we worship.
I don’t think we will see stadiums full of people cheering on the home team any time in the next few years. I don’t imagine we will easily get on a flight somewhere unless it is urgent. Going to the movies will be replaced by at home viewing on cable TV. Restaurants full of noisy patrons will be replaced by quiet venues with tables spaced apart and servers covered in protective gear. The underlying fear of infection will be ever present, creating anxiety and even paranoia about strangers and physical contact.
I have never been one to look backward or talk about the “good old days,” but this new “not normal” has made me struggle to remain optimistic. If we can keep some of the joy and satisfaction we had in those “old days” as we move forward, is it possible we might actually see a future that is better than what we had?. How could that possibly happen? Covid-19 has exposed some serious fault lines of economics and race in our society. The jobs that have been lost have been largely low paying jobs, and too many who have died have been old or persons of color.
Covid-19 is demanding that we create a new future for ourselves, so we should start dreaming big now. What if we had a minimum national income like Andrew Yang and others have proposed so that people did not have to worry about having enough to eat? What if we could turn volunteer work into paid work so that people could help others and still earn a living doing so, like 100,000 new jobs for contact tracers? What if working for a clean environment was a real job and there were a lot more of these jobs? What if the neighborliness that has emerged from this period could survive and even flourish? What if we once again welcomed strangers to our homes and our land? What if we continued to bake bread and cake and share with our neighbors? What if we invested in research and preparedness for the inevitable next pandemics or challenges? I truly believe in the goodness of Americans, the incredible intelligence of our scientists, the willingness of some of our leaders to do the right thing in spite of pressure to the contrary. We can take back our goodness and kindness from those who would tear it down. It really is up to us, each one of us. Every act of kindness and generosity builds up a savings account of goodness in our homes, on our blocks, in our cities.
(Check out comments on this post by our subscribers! They have some good ideas about what we can learn from the pandemic.)
Here are some more Limericks by Marvin L. Chaney:
On Taking the Long View
“When we get back to normal, well, then . . . ,”
Is a phrase often part of our ken.
We’ve “new normal” to face.
The beginning of grace
Is to learn we can’t go “home” again.
We’re not done yet; the plague rages on.
New infections relaxed measures spawn.
We’re still near the beginning,
Just about second inning.
Much depends on how game’s played anon.
We’re conditioned to ponder short-term,
But this crisis requires, I affirm,
That we take longer view,
The quick fix calm eschew.
Facile “truth”—hindsight oft makes it squirm.
Thank You, Linda. You are an excellent journalist.I would like to add that there is a very positive side benefit for this pandemic. It has forced all of us to pause and slow down which in my opinion is a good thing in this world that just seems to be going faster and faster. I am using this time to go internally, read more, make more telephone calls to connect with people that I normally don’t seem to have time to connect with, walk more and get back to hobbies like painting.
These are wonderful and inspiring suggestions, Fran! We have all learned to live more in the present and to appreciate the small things, some which turn out to be fairly consequential like better air quality!
Hi — Linda. Thanks for this thoughtful piece. While there is enormous hardship and tragedy in this stressful time of change I think there are also many positives. Let me name a few that I see.
We are learning to do many things with less travel. While hard on the airlines and perhaps the car companies, the birds are loving it — as is anyone who needs or just loves clean air. We are biking and walking more. We’re doing more telemedicine — which may open medical care to more people at less cost. The daily commute to the office may transform — might it become a weekly trip to the office–an office not full of cubby holes but of gathering spaces? We may learn when we need to be together and when we don’t. Sometimes Zoom can be better than in-person. Easier to hear each person, easier to break into small groups.
We may learn the advantages of voting my mail — despite a presidents who fears it. We are certainly learning that employer-based health care doesn’t work. Whenever there is any kind of economic downturn that system just confounds the problem. We are learning that essential workers really are essential to us all and deserve to be treated as such. We are learning that early action on a crisis makes all the difference — a lesson we need to apply to many other crises. We have learned that long supply chains make us vulnerable and that government plays a critical role in making society work.
And we have remembered the beauty of a starry night.
Good morning Linda – it is always a pleasure to read one of your BLOGS = however this one is exceptional. Unfortunately for me it is the truth – it reminds me too much of my life in Nazi Germany, even though I was a young girl, there are some things that one never forgets. In a way, I am glad that I am 88 years old as there are many things I shall not have to learn – and with all the hard times I had to live through, feel that I had a good life so far = however, I do feel bad for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as they will not have the beautiful experiences we had, growing up. I thank you, and still look forward to meeting you one day, and wish I could write like you do. Have a nice day, thank you. Ursula
Thank you, Ursula. You are our most faithful subscriber!