HOW WILL IT EVER RETURN TO NORMAL AFTER THIS

I have had a significant amount of time on my hands to think about, and to try and resolve the issue of returning life to normal after the passing of the Coronavirus (or at least the downturn in new infections and deaths). That, at a time when a vaccine is discovered that will make most of us immune to this illness. It is my opinion that life will never be the same. My opinion will, for sure, not be shared by all or even the majority of friends and family who are reading this blog. I say that because none of us has ever been through anything like this in their past. We have no basis of understanding of how the process of recovery will happen. The closest we may have come is in the 1950’s where Polio struck down many people and especially children.

Fear was rampant, mother’s kept children from school and put up shields of protection around the young. Now you would have to be seriously old to remember these times. Myself, being of the younger generation can barely recall this time, although I knew the word Polio. It continued to be a much feared word through most of my childhood. A vaccine was developed. Then, starting in the late 1950’s and into the early 1960’s we were given sets of immunizations. Which ultimately provided lifelong protection. In the early 1950’s during one year there were approximately 10,000 cases of Polio in Canada. They resulting in 500 deaths, and a lot of infected were left paralyzed. I believe the big panic years were about 1953-1954 and then little by little life went on.

Today we are faced with an illness that is starting to cripple our way of life and have serious effect on millions of people that are losing their livelihood. Many of these effected people will not recover if we cannot return life to some semblance of normal very soon. Families will be destroyed. What we are dealing with this time around (different from the crisis in the 1950’s) is a much larger population. Much more accessible information, a huge fear mongering perpetrated by the media and the basic shutdown of government. While the swamp denizens stand around pointing fingers in order to garner political points.

My heart breaks. What have we come to. Instead of working hand in hand we appear to be working against each other. It is my opinion that the only way this situation will turn around is by the will of the people. I don’t think there is any leader in this world who has the balls to standup and say “OK enough. We need to get life back to normal”. Firstly “that may not yet be true”, and secondly it is a major no win situation for whoever does it. In some places like Sweden and Denmark various forms, of a vaccine, are being tried. and I think a large part of the world is waiting for the fallout from smaller experiments like these.

In any event it is my opinion that it will be the PEOPLE that will finally direct the path of this media fuelled frenzy. Currently there has been some lessening of lockdown guidelines in the US. With a groundswell of organized protest that has started to demand further lessening of boundaries. We, here in Canada, are still in a wait and see situation, to make sure everything is politically correct before we make any move. I feel that more and more people are starting to determine that a normal way of life must return soon.

If I am correct, I am also of the opinion that normalcy might have a far different look than what it had in the past. For example: – We may never return to handshakes or the Peruvian hug and smooch on both cheeks. – Grocery store checkouts or for that matter, an shopping line-ups will be spread apart

– Restaurant service and food prep will change forever, restaurant workers will now wear protective mouth and hand coverings.

– The travel business will make a dramatic change, large mass tours of places like Italy are now a thing of the past.

– Airlines will be much more easy to deal with in the future. As international travel decreases the Airlines are more and more going to seek our business and it will become fun to fly again.

– Large venue gatherings will take a long long time to reappear (concerts, sporting events)

– The cruise line business will hurt to the point of extinction, for a long, long time – Our place in the world will be re-evaluated. Who are our friends? How does China’s, the WHO and other world organizations fit into future plans, and in what form

– The “gouging” practises of places like grocery stores, who have removed all specials during this time, will come to haunt them in the future. People are now seeing for who they are.

I have lots and lots more of issues that I believe will change significantly, post pandemic life, but I just wanted to set a small sampling of somethings that come immediately to mind. Once again let me state, that it is my opinion that the will of the people and not any politico will bring change and normalcy to our lives. And that this normalcy will never be as it was in the past. What say you?

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