Harszewski Blog#1660

Reply ID: n6e8 6/24/20
(mtroy)

Mtroy,

How are you? Glad you think something I said makes sense...it's a small club these days. :) Seriously, though...I totally agree w/you that "a lot about life right now is not meant to be normal," and that we're calling a lot of old norms into question. Same as after 9-11, I'm guessing the world's gonna be a little different in a lot of ways; I just doubt it'll be a LOT different in any way, you know? Plus, wouldn't you say that the types and extents of any changes probably depends a lot on how long it takes to get a vaccine for covid, plus how long the vaccine protects us? If we magically get something really good next month, I'd guess almost everything in day to day life really will go back pretty much the same as ever. But if we're still waiting - and hiding - in 6 months or a year, I'd be things like public mask wearing, decreased average crowd density, and hyper-hand-washing might be with us for at least a generation or so. Plus, don't forget, while you and I are seeing this as a historical moment with ambiguous repercussions, a lot of people are now growing up with it, and the longer this remains a major focus, the more ingrained a lot of habits and expectations will be in tomorrow's adults, no? For example, how many 10 to 20, or even 30 year olds today balk even a little at being groped in public by TSA agents, or submitting to partial public strip searches (shoes at least, often coats and other things), just to travel by plane? But I'd bet a lot of 40+ year old ppl still resent the intrusion and indignity of it, even though everyone has to accept that (not so "new" anymore) normal.

I dunno about you, but I'm kind of happy about the mask thing - it tends to foul up the invasive, dehumanizing technologies of facial recognition, at least for now. I count that in the plus column. Also the handwashing - I'm no germaphobe and I've never been the most scrupulous handwasher myself, but it's a good habit for all of us, I think. Do you see pros & cons to possible social shifts too? (BTW, we could say a lot of similar things about the police & racial justice protests too...)
(What will change, what will last, etc. Which do you think will leave the bigger legacy, the protests or the plague?)