Week of 04/20/2020

“This” Must Never Be Normal
– by David Matthews 2

I’m going to make this as plain and as simple as possible so even the red-hats can understand.

When it comes to the restrictions being imposed on us all because of the COVID-19 global pandemic... to the social distancing, the required facemasks, the over-sanitization, the germophobic washing of hands, the closing of businesses and public places and the cancellation of social events...

All of this... must never be “normal”.

I understand the importance and the need for these measures; I am not one of those red-hat idiots that ignore the rules because they think it is all just a hoax or that they’re somehow “special”.  I know these things must be done to shorten the curve, even if it means prolonging the exposure.  I can read that bell-curve chart just like everyone else.  I have some very important reasons for me to follow those guidelines that I call my family.

At the same time, though, I cannot and will not accept the idea that all of this should be – in any sense of the term – “normal”.

This COVID-19 global pandemic strikes at the very core of human civilization.  It severs our sense of connection, our sense of intimacy, our measures of interaction, the very things that keep us together as families and as communities.  It forces us to be apart, to be distrustful of others, and to be overly paranoid.

It is one thing to keep ourselves apart for a limited time in the face of this pandemic.  To make this temporary sacrifice so that we will again be with our loved ones after this is over.  But, in order to do that, there must be a time when all of this has to end.  That can never happen if we consider this to be “normal”.

To consider this to be “normal” is to say that this will never end.  That the restrictions that are placed on ourselves and on the bonds of social interaction and social connection and personal trust are now permanent, like that stain on your shirt that you can never get out no matter how many times you wash it.  They will never go away, no matter how healthy we are.  That is what “normal” means.

Think of all of the businesses that would forever be shuttered if we consider this to be “normal”!  To call this “normal” means that we can never again have conventions and concerts.  We can never again have large rallies and parades and marathons.  We can never have movie theaters, day care centers, church gatherings, and community events.  Restaurants and bars will forever be closed except as some clandestine gatherings like under the old Prohibition days. 

I’m sorry, but I cannot accept that kind of a future beyond this momentary crisis. 

I will not accept that kind of a long-term future.

I cannot and will not consider any of this to be “normal”!

I scream obscenities at TV personalities that refer to this as “the new normal”.  I scream obscenities at the germophobes in the White House who suggest that things like handshakes will be a thing of the past.  I reject those who re-post memes suggesting that we should never get back to “normal” and to embrace this as “the new normal”.  I cannot accept this as “the new normal” any more than I would the aftermath of a train wreck or the devastation following a tornado.

Because let’s get brutally honest here... that is what this whole COVID-19 global pandemic really is.  It is a time of crisis.  Just like a train wreck.  Just like a tornado.  Only this devastation is invisible, widespread, and lasts far longer.  But it is still just a time of crisis, with a beginning and an end.

And that is what we need to know.  We need to know that it *will* end.  Maybe not as soon as we’d like.  Certainly not as soon as some of us hoped.  But we certainly we all need to know that it will end.

I can understand the frustration of a lot of people who want this to be over with already.  Or at least the ones that aren’t in it because of partisan extremism.  It doesn’t help that there is a date set for normalcy to resume, and then it’s pushed back, and then it’s pushed back again.  I think a lot of us – or at least the normal people who aren’t following said partisan extremism – would be willing to endure the hardships and restrictions if we knew there will be an end.  That there will be a time when the restrictions and hardships will end.  Not “might end”, but “will end”.

And I don’t mean this suicide cry to reopen everything now, which is nothing more than manufactured hyperpartisan conflict at the behest of a certain orange-skinned narcissist and his gang of extremist dark money interests targeting states under Democratic leadership.  History has showed what happens when you make that kind of stupid move.  The pandemic of 1918 had a two-stage attack because certain idiots decided that it was over before it really was, and it needlessly cost more lives.  And that stupidity wasn’t done for political points.

No, we need to know when this crisis is actually containable, like a wildfire.  We need mass-testing.  We need numbers.  We need these because then we can say when this will end.  Not “if”, but “when”.

Twenty years ago, America was caught in a perpetual state of fear.  We were attacked, we were scared, and then we were left in continual trauma mode for political gains, and that drained us as a nation.  The crisis that we are facing today is a hundred times worse than terrorism, because the “enemy” is within us.  Many of us don’t have jobs to focus on because of the shutdowns.  We don’t have the social connections we used to have because of the pandemic.  The bonds of society are temporarily severed and our global economy is in the toilet.  We cannot live this way forever!

This may be the new “reality” for now, but it cannot be “the new normal” and it must never be considered “the new normal”.  There must be an end to it.  A time when we can go to stores and restaurants and go to concerts and conventions.  A time when we can shake hands and hold hands and not live like germophobic prisoners, conducting our affairs between panes of glass and masks and gloves.  It doesn’t have to happen tomorrow, but it does have to happen.

This must *never*, *ever*, be normal!