Looking To The New Normal.

If you read or listen to the news, you hear people commenting about things returning to normal.

Unfortunately, we’ll never return to the normal we experienced before this pandemic. In several years time, we’ll have fond memories of the way it used to be but right now, we are experiencing a new normal.

We are experiencing the reality of live during a pandemic. For me, it means the airline that made daily trips in from Anchorage is no longer in business. They just declared bankruptcy as they wait for financial help from the government. They provided service from here to the surrounding towns but they no longer so that. Now, everything takes longer because others are working on keeping the cargo moving.

My current reality is being in a town that is basically closed off to the world. You have to apply for permission to come in and if the council lets you come in, you have to undergo a 14 day quarantine once you get here. Not many people are being allowed back since everything shut down.

Most of us are adjusting to shopping in a new manner. One of the local stores is now advocating shopper place orders on-line and then pick them up at the store. The idea is you pay by credit card on-line and someone brings it out to the front, places it down, and you get it to take to the car. This way you maintain social distancing.

We are also adjusting to shortages of things like toilet paper, paper towels, and disinfectant wipes. Many stores are enforcing limits on the most popular items so the supply goes further. Other things may not be in short supply but if ordered from an on-line business, it may take much longer to get to you if it is considered non-essential. I ordered some spice and rock sugar that won’t be here for a couple of weeks because it is classified as non-essential.

Even our jobs have changed or disappeared. Some people are now working from home. I’m not yet but if things keep on the way they are, I probably will. Others have found their hours reduced or their jobs totally eliminated because the businesses closed down due to new regulations.

Many people who work at grocery stores or one of the chains are nervous about the possibility of being exposed to the virus. I know someone who is making several masks to wear to her job. She hopes it offers some protection.

We are having to find new ways to entertain ourselves since we can’t go to the local football, basketball, baseball, or other sports game due to restrictions to keep us safe. Even going outside for a walk, or run now requires social distancing and pretty soon it might require face masks.

Even visiting the doctor, dentist, or eye doctor is being put off by many because of needing to self-isolate. Many elective surgeries are also being postponed due to the severity of the virus. I probably won’t get my yearly checkup by all three since they are a couple hours a way by air. It is my reality.

Things have changed and when the coronavirus is over, all the rules have relaxed, and businesses are trying to start over, it will be different normal. It will be a different normal just as the normal changed after 9/11, after World War II, after Pearl Harbor, after the 1929 depression. Every major even has changed the normal and when their influence wained, we ended up with a new and different normal.

That is what will happen here. Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear. Have a great day.