So, what is the end of this going to look like?
I mean, I know what we’ll be doing when our self-isolation ends; I’ll head out shopping (safely) to restock our depleted refrigerator and pick up the Sweet Georgia Brown cake we ordered online from Rocky Point Ice Cream as a celebration of our soon-to-be (somewhat) liberation.
But when the health authorities give all of us the all-clear, somewhere down the road, will there be a Hollywood-style cathartic moment of celebration the likes of which we haven’t seen since the last Roland Emmerich disaster movie? (I know, I know, all of his movies are artistic disasters, but that’s what makes them guilty pleasures.)
Will we be granted a national holiday to celebrate the medical professionals who helped us all get through this with their guidance and expertise, as well as the day-to-day workers who drive truck, stock groceries and check them out for us, deliver food and parcels, keep the telecommunications systems humming, the water running and the lights on — all those heroines and heroes who’ve helped prevent this experience from devolving into dystopia?
Or will normalcy return slowly, layer by layer?
And, as it does, will we take it for granted again? Will we stop and reflect on the lessons learned, the fragility of our society and economies, or just forge on as we always have, chasing material goods, profits, more, more, more?
Some articles I’ve read say this pandemic should serve as a wake-up call, that we’ve been skirting disaster for so long, it was bound to catch us at some point. Or maybe it was just an anomaly, a blip in the human continuum that will be footnoted in the annals of history and become a trivia question on Jeopardy 2130:
“The 2020 Stanley Cup champions.”
“What is the COVID-19 pandemic, Alex 2.0?”
I was hoping we could invite some friends to share our ice cream cake, renew acquaintances.
Then my wife reminded me…
Oh well, more ice cream cake for us!
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Miss a day? Catch up here:
Day 11: Ode to joy, wherever you can find it
Day 10: Thank goodness for doodle time
Day 9: Cycling through the uncertainty
Day 8: Lessons from the vegetable crisper
Day 7: Let's do the time warp again
Day 6: The new normal is taking some adjustment by everyone
Day 5: She's fit, she's strong, but she has diabetes which make her vulnerable
Day 4: Trying to contain the fear
Day 3: How much do you tell your kids about COVID-19
