We are still in quarantine, we are still required, for our own good and the good of the community, to stay at home as much as possible to stop, or at least contain, the spread of the Covid-19 disease.
Looking to the future, what will life be like after the quarantine? Will it be back to normal or will there be a new normal?
Human beings are social by nature, which is why all the social distancing and isolation at present is bringing many to the brink of madness. The exponentially growing popularity of the TikTok app seems to attest to this.
However, we have all been harshly and rudely awakened to the fact that, in our world today, a handshake, a touch and even just a talk with someone else, can be life threatening. Won’t this change the way we deal with other people?
I think it is unavoidable that things must, and will, change, but how and to what extent? How crazy will it be?
After the quarantine, will we all be walking around with face masks, protective eyewear and wearing gloves? Will the time-honored business lunch be a thing of the past for fear of contamination through shared meals? Will the handshake be replaced by the Vulcan “Live Long and Prosper” hand-sign?
Even with our friends and loved ones, how will the degree of intimacy change? It would appear that the “beso-beso” kiss will disappear and be replaced by flying kisses. Will we have to be in complete Personal Protective gear before we can hug one another? Even our traditional “Mano” to our elders might have to be replaced by the Japanese bow instead.
While all this seems deluded, we simply cannot know how far things will change.
At the very least, the situation we are in at present gives us time to reflect on all that we are missing and how important things that we have long taken for granted really are, especially the people around us.
I miss my friends, my office mates and even my clients, and, for the latter, not just because I miss the money I make from them although I have to admit that such income is sorely missed.
I, as I believe all of us do, miss human contact and interaction and this has made me realize how important people, other than my immediate family, are, in my life.
I long for the day that things will normalize enough for me to be able to go back to my office and, in my face mask and all, I will be able to see my friends and raise my right hand to them, middle fingers apart, to say “LIVE LONG AND PROSPER”.
For now, STAY AT HOME, STAY SAFE and STAY SANE.
