On Febuary 22, 2020 our family celebrated my nephew's 50th birthday with a dinner at a local resturant. It was very nice. No masks, no social distancing; just a regular, enjoyable dinner party. It makes me feel nostalgic to look at the pictures taken that night. A few weeks later California had it's first lockdown. I'm wondering: Will we ever go back to those innocent, pre-coronavirus days? Are masks and social distancing and frequent handwashing the new normal, even after we are all vaccinated? What do you all think? I'm worried we will never go back to the way things were before. I hope I'm wrong.
I guess that depends on you and yours personal choices. A large number of people have carried on in, or 'returned' to about 90-95% normalcy. The off time of wearing a mask when demanded of them being the 5-10% What wears on most, is the hue and cry of those who demand others follow their rules, when there is not an overwhelming need for them. Society has survived many viruses even to this day, that didn't require isolation, mass vaccination, and hysteria.
I don't pretend that we will have to live with coronavirus rules for ever, even if as flue it seems to be a quickly evolving. But here are the things : Coronavirus started one of the most violent economic crisis since 1929. In a global manner, what is in the past remain in the past, some people try to bring back things out of nostalgia, and it can give pretty things, but nostalgia is always only the reenactement of a past, not the past itself. The next decade will be violent, rough. My point is : things won't be the normal because if it's not sickness, it would be the economic crisis.
We will go back to normal just like they did after the Spanish Flu in 1918 and 1919. Guess what came after that... The Roaring 20s! Part of the reason everyone was partying like crazy was they had just endured what we've been enduring. The only exception would be if we get hit with another pandemic in short order.
As for 'going back to normal', I think that we will see - once the virus is erradicated - a reduction in things like hand shaking. Really not a necessity and definitely a germ spreader. We have all become more aware of transmission risks and I'm hoping we carry this awareness forward for things like flu and colds. Like you, I look forward to not having to wear a mask again!
So long as the governments of the states can use their power to keep you at home and afraid, there will be no return to normal. Between the new regime in DC and state and local tyrants, the economy is well and truly on its way to collapse. Once they have installed defacto Socialism maybe they'll give a little freedom back but I wouldn't count on it. All of that because of a virus that nearly 99 out of 100 survive naturally. Just as a comparison, between 1918 - 1920 a new flu virus made its way around the globe and killed between 50 and 100 MILLION people. This little video is an accurate portrayal of how much the children worried over it: This is a new virus and it is deadlier than average flu but the case fatality rates have not increased. You'll note that the gloom and doom is around the number of cases, NOT its lethality. IOW, this virus is being used for control over the population to achieve a deeper goal. A goal they KNEW they couldn't achieve without instilling irrational levels of fear in their populations. The global death toll after roughly 2 years is about 2 million. I've read several reports that between 150-200 million will die from starvation as a direct result of the crippling of the world's economies. I live in the southeastern U.S. and we've been carrying on with life as normal since the late spring of last year. The schools were closed from April until September but are open without any surge in cases. IOW, how far life has been disrupted depends almost entirely on the politicians at the top of our state governments. I hope things improve for you soon.
~ To the "progressive" administration currently in the White House this is the " new normal". Remember - YOU voted for it .
IF "Normal" is defined as the status quo ante of how things existed before the Covid "Lockdowns": The Answer is a Resounding NO. There is ZERO Chance of ever returning to (100% of) Pre-Covid "Normal". It would be a Major Miracle if America was even at 90% of "Pre-Covid Normal" by the summer of 2023. Things like Full sports stadiums, Major Rock Concerts like Coachella and Lolla, Vegas with shows at Full capacity, Etc.. ^You MIGHT be able to get to about 70-75% of that Pre-Covid Normal by summer of 2022. Probably, another year to get it back to about 90% of the Pre-Covid Normal (by 2023). Obviously (as everybody should already realize): There Will NEVER be a True Return (100%) to the Pre-Covid Normal.
I think many sanitation changes, especially those in restaurants and places where people gather will remain mostly in effect for a while. Mask use will definitely decrease, one of the areas I live in have virtually zero mask use except in major corporate facilities that mandate them. I personally don’t mind them in short spirts but I know many people despise them so the moment they ate not “required” they will be gone. Social distancing will go away as it costs too much money. I have always washed my hands regularly after working in medical for a few years but I would wager the people that see no value in it now never did — and probably not even doing it currently — I mean we can barely get people to wear masks or be refused service, I don’t believe for a second they are washing their hands. So for the most part I think we will.
Where is the button for "No, but we will get close enough to be out, about, and economically robust within the next year"? We will probably not go back to shaking hands. Some other form of greeting with replace it, like bumping fists or (my preference) just a smile and a nod. If this virus of an offshoot thereof makes annual flu season rounds, we'll probably need annual vaccinations that cover the known strains. And during times of contagion, we may want to use masks and distancing for several weeks each year. I'm gleaning my leaning ( ) from what I read and hear from the scientists who have been tirelessly working on learning about this novel virus. I hope that at least 70% of us get vaccinated. That would certainly help.
I miss the days of jack booted union thugs doing the democrat's dirty work. Back then It was very linear and pure, and over quick. Not like the weeks long gobbly gook hair spitting and word analyzing, faux chess moves of boring orators reading something someone else wrote so they can pitch to an audience that for the most part has moved on. However in the brighter news segment, I didn't catch a cold this winter. Shaking hands has always been over rated, IMO.
If we continue to rely on the govt and corporations to guide policy, then no, we will just get further and further from normal and become more authoritatively collectivist. The ONLY road back to normal is individual liberty and individual civil rights.
Yes, that is indeed the next shoe to drop. The economic infrastructure always has a delayed response. Within the next couple of years, the economy will start crashing, due to events we've just gone through, plus whatever is still to come. The canary in the coal mine is the meteoric rise of Bitcoin this past year, which means the American dollar is losing street cred rapidly behind the scenes.
Well when was normal ever met and sustained there? Normal is in constant flux. I hope we will be doing things like washing hands more and those stations at stores and buildings remain. I hope the mask and distancing eases. We have learned a LOT about treating these viruses with therapeutics and the development and manufacturing of the vaccines. Yea it might mean one more shot every year or hopefully can be incorporated into the stand flu vaccine. The Warp Speed Trump and his team put together will go down like the mobilization in WW2 and how our private business and industry and medical research with the AID of government not the REGULATION by government came through. Got my first dose yesterday! Hopefully things will be more normal for me in 28 more days!
Things will go back to normal despite the best efforts to turn us into germaphobes. Even left wing sites are starting to peel back the layers on it all. Heard a piece on NPR in the last week or two saying that all the hand sanitizer stuff was basically BS as researchers created never going to happen in the real world experiments in the lab that would keep covid germs on life support as long as possible to come up with all their "Covid can survive weeks on surfaces!!!!" headlines. One of the people they talked to came up with an example along the lines of if someone sneezes twice on a plate and you rub your hands through the snot, you need to sanitize before picking up something with your hands to eat, but otherwise, not so much.
I had thought we would go back to 'normal, pre-virus days', but now I'm not so sure. Various political factions, both Left and Right, have learned that overwhelming events like a pandemic disease can be used very effectively to control the behaviors of entire populations, and if anybody bitches about it, the 'disease' itself is to blame -- not those who push one policy or set of dicta on entire countries. As it is, it's a despot's DELIGHT! So, why would any 'power-broker' want to let go of it...? Remember the words of one of the true masters of this craft --
Best case scenario we will get back to normal and be left with better hygiene practices. It seems like every time there is a huge step forward in all this, the next day there’s another dangerous variant, or some new vaccine warning. Which brings me to the complete unorganization with vaccine availability. Enough already.
I saw this today and thought of your post. They have an e-newsletter called "The New Normal". https://www.npr.org/newsletters
