You sense, feel, and see it. Change is finally upon us, as (some)things get back to normal. We all wanted it; we all asked for it. Well, actually we wanted all the things we really missed, but not the rest.
Last year’s secluded beaches- no longer secluded. Brisk, weekday drives to and from town- not so brisk now. Shopping, as we kept our masks up and our mileage down, was a breeze- now lines form at many spots. Great for retail, not so great for us, or at least our mindsets which evolved during the deepest, darkest days of the damn-demic.
We couldn’t really visit anyone, yet the quiet turned out to be quite refreshing at times. We couldn’t go to movies, restaurants, and crowded live events, but we still found ways to entertain ourselves or even better, focus on our families (after all, they were stuck home, too). We’re now at an inflection point, as we start choosing how to go forward, assuming vaccination numbers continue to climb and COVID cases fall.
We must again accept longer wait times, more people, cars, and items sold out at stores. Get re-acquainted with circling parking lots in search of a space. We must accept (at some level) that tourism is the big engine that drives our economic train. Can it morph, become more sustainable, encourage greater empathy on both sides- local and tourist? Perhaps, but that’s not happening this month…
Real changes to how we interact as a species might be a vestige of this COVID-19 era, but those will be left up to each individual. Will you remain responsive at home to loved ones or disappear, as perhaps you used to do on weekends? Will you work in a home/office hybrid world (if your job permits) to allow for a better work/life balance? Will your presumed workplace be accommodating, or might you soon ply your trade elsewhere?
And remember, thousands still suffer from the pandemic shutdown- poverty, lack of food, rent moratorium end date concerns, and other difficulties. The pandemic intensified needs for many who struggled even before March, 2020. This, too, will be part of the post-pandemic legacy. This will a remnant, a ripple effect from a pandemic that the entire human race. How will the “new” you rebound and carry on- with your family and community? What have we learned?
Think about it…