When I went to my local grocery store this morning, I noticed some things were different. First off, it was light out when I got there. This is because we're at a point in the spring when we're seeing days with more sunlight, which is kind of great. This was also different because I had been locked into a pattern for months when I would only dare shop for groceries if it was between 3:00 - 6:00 in the morning. As I walked through the automatic sliding glass doors, I noticed the signs telling shoppers they needed to wear masks inside had been taken down. Many shoppers still wore them, including me, but none of the employees did.
Of course our state mask mandate was lifted last week, which makes all of this at least legal. All of these changes signal that it seems as if the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020-21 is gradually starting to resolve itself, and maybe the more normal times we've all been pining for are that much closer to becoming a reality. I think everyone will welcome that time when it happens, even if we don't all agree right now that we've reached that point just yet.
It does make one wonder, however: How different will society be once we return back to normal? I don't think anyone believes we'll all go back to doing things exactly as we did before, at least not right away. So what things about daily life has Covid changed? I think that even if there will be many new habits we'll be happy to be rid of, some changes could be argued as improvements, and maybe they're worth holding on to.
KEEP - MASKS: You know, people all over the world have been wearing masks at least some of the time for years, if not decades. It could be from the way viruses spread so easily through overpopulated countries, or how some locations have unsafe air quality. Why not dig out masks again, even voluntarily, if there's a particularly bad year of the flu? I don't think anyone would actively want to do that, but I don't think many people were super anxious about the 2nd vaccine, either. Sometimes you do things because they keep you safe and healthy, even if you don't want to do them.
KEEP - CURBSIDE PICK-UP OPTIONS: Many businesses have been doing this for some time already. It's super convenient!
KEEP - MOSTLY EMPTY MOVIE THEATERS: My absolute favorite time to see movies has always been during the summer in the early afternoon. Why? Because there are so few people seeing movies then, there's a good chance you could have the entire auditorium to yourself. No one on their phone, no kids throwing popcorn, no screaming babies, no one having a conversation right behind you....
LOSE - DOOR DASH-TYPE DELIVERY SERVICES. If anything, it's just too convenient. And expensive. I don't want to even speculate how much of my money they claimed from me in the past year.
KEEP - VOTING BY MAIL. Yes, I'm fully aware there is a collection of True Believers of The Big Lie examining each ballot in some huge Arizona county right now to see if they have any telltale bamboo fibers that would give away how they were imported from Southeast Asia and shouldn't be considered valid...no, I'm not making that up. I say, fine. Pass whatever crazy legislation is needed to allow people to mail in their votes. There's no better way to ensure a greater part of the population will engage in the process.
LOSE - ELBOW BUMPS: They're just silly. I'm totally okay if we don't replace handshakes. And elbow bumps are no substitution for a hug, so let's not even pretend that's a point to be made.
KEEP - LOW RIDERSHIP ON THE COMMUTER TRAIN. I don't go into Minneapolis that often, but I'd like having the option of riding the train if I needed to. And if the North Star line is down 96%, that sounds empty enough for me to enjoy the trip.
KEEP - LESS POLLUTION. When I saw the initial news reports of how people working from home led to fewer people commuting in large cities and consequently cleaner air, I always thought of Black Widow and Captain America talking about whales in the cleaner water of the Hudson River after Thanos snapped away half the population. Not quite the same thing, but a clean world would be a nice thing to have. And it didn't seem like it took long before the first steps of improvement had manifested.
LOSE - CULTURAL TRIBALISM. It's been around for a long time on a low boil. The last president made people feel it was okay to bring out in the open. The pandemic amplified all of it. I'm confident our country will be moving further and further away from rational political discourse throughout the duration of my lifetime.
LOSE - NOT WAITING AROUND EVERY DAY TO FIND OUT IF BREATHING AIR WILL SEND YOU TO THE HOSPITAL. That one should seem pretty straightforward.
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