For some time I’ve been feeling uncomfortable, even annoyed, at hearing constant references to “the new normal”. It usually comes in the conversation somewhere around the time when people are lamenting the social distancing and not being able to hug their friends or grandchildren.
Well, I’m here to say: that was not the old normal and it’s not the new normal!
It’s where we are right now, and have to be until we beat this virus, but the lockdowns and the masks and the social distancing WILL end, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future.
I read an article on the Internet the other day in which the author expressed this in a way that helped me clarify my opinion. He pointed out that we have had global crises before. We’ve gone through two world wars, when people had to cover their windows with black cloths at night to foil the air raids; they spent hours of their lives in underground shelters; they suffered through food shortages and rationing.
But did they see these things as the “new normal”? No! They knew they wouldn’t have to live like this forever, and they would get back to living in a normal human way at some point.
Yes, I know there will be societal changes after the pandemic is over, because we have discovered we can actually operate without face-to-face business contacts, among other things. But we are human beings, used to being in contact with other human beings, and we won’t let that go easily.
Someone on Facebook posed the question, “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when this is over?” One young woman replied, “I’m going to hug people till my arms ache!” Amen, sister!
A couple of months ago, people started producing cute novelty masks made out of patterned materials. I never went along with that, because I believed that as soon as we began seeing the mask as a fashion item it would become acceptable, even normal. And it’s not.
Masks are not normal. Walking along the street two metres from a friend is not normal. Going to the movies with someone and having to leave an empty seat between you is not normal. Flying in a half full plane with unoccupied seats in every row is not normal.
If we accept these things as the “new normal”, no wonder we’re depressed!
This too shall pass, and so shall these temporary, abnormal habits.