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As the world continues to live with the Covid-19 pandemic, much of the way we interact with each other has changed. In many places, the pandemic has drawn decisive lines between communities, political parties, and entire portions of the country. What it has also done is brought a lot of us together, much closer, in a new manner of communication and reliance on each other. Whether or not these new ways of interacting with each other and seeing each other are going to last beyond the days of masks, vaccines, and the media covering every moment of these times remains to be seen.
Will We Still Remain Distant?
One of the biggest things that has changed between us is the knowledge that we affect each other’s health. It takes a pandemic to realize that the proximity we have to each other is directly correlated to how we get sick. In the past, it seems that most people would “pick something up in the air.” Since the onset of Covid-19, we have seen more than ever that the air comes from within our own bodies, particularly our mouths and breath.
Will we continue to keep a safe distance from everyone else in our lives? For the most part, it looks like no because major concerts are back in full swing with hundreds of thousands of people in attendance standing shoulder to shoulder with everyone else. Sporting events, clubs, bars, and restaurants are all packing everyone in again. Let’s hope we don’t forget that we are the ones giving each other germs.
Rely On Thy Neighbor?
According to Jozef Opdeweegh, one of the biggest things we have begun to practice since the onset of Covid-19 is that we are relying on each other for truth more than ever. We have become a society that needs to have faith in our neighbors and families in order to remain safe. Did the person sitting next to you at a restaurant really get vaccinated? Are we sure the grocery store worker has been sanitizing their hands on a regular basis? These are questions that we may never know the answers to, but we still must rely on these people to ensure they are doing what is right for our own health and their own health. Opdeweegh calls it social trust, and exactly how much trust do we have in each other?
Will We Lose Our Compassion?
There have been major strides in compassion since we locked down. The elderly were taken care of more than ever, frontline workers were given rave receptions and parades for their hard work, and the doctors and nurses who have been saving lives and watching lives slip between their fingers have been given more respect since most people can remember. Once we are fully reopened and the threat is gone, will we forget these individuals? The goal is to not lose this mindset, however, how soon we all forget. Public figures who have done heinous things have been forgiven, sports stars are let back on teams and in leagues, and politicians seem to be re-elected as if they have never done a thing wrong. Will praise for doing the right thing die only to be replaced with our usual “turn a blind eye” mentality for people we seem to adore?
What Will Become of Our Life/Work Balance?
We have come to learn that it is just as important to be home as much as it is important to be at work, but since the pandemic, home has become more important. With offices closed and workers working from home, many have seen the benefits of not only working from home, but being a presence at home. Many have found it is not that hard to cook, bake, clean, and interact with the ones we love. When the world is fully reopened after the virus has faded down below pandemic levels, will we be hungry for the days where we were fully distracted by everything to such a high degree that we will forgo actual human interactions with the ones we love the most? People have begun to discover their true selves. Will they fall in love with these selves or will they go back into hiding?
What’s Next For Us?
No one knows for sure what will happen next or how the world will forever be changed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but let’s hope some of the lessons learned in the past couple of years will become our new normal.