One of the recurring statements that we’ve heard since the COVID-19 pandemic began four months ago is this hope we won’t take things for granted again.
Whether it be spending times with loved ones from outside your home, or attending a sporting event with 30,000 people (ie, a Saskatchewan Roughriders game), or going to a concert in an intimate setting with a few hundred people(like the Orpheum Theatre), or going to school, or even just giving someone a handshake or a hug, there’s this belief that we’ll have this renewed appreciation for these and many other activities.
I have no doubt that when the last of the restrictions are lifted, and we can have large crowds again, we’ll appreciate what a wonderful opportunity it is. And when someone extends the handshake as a sign of trust, respect or simple greeting, that it will mean something more.
But the novelty will eventually wear off. Some things, like the handshake, will lose that added significance faster than others.
(As for spending time with our loved ones outside of our own household, let’s hope we never take that for granted).
In the past few weeks, as restrictions associated with COVID have been lifted, I’ve been able to visit some facilities that were closed. Two of them are favourite haunts of mine: the Estevan Leisure Centre and City Hall.
(How do you know when you’re a nerd? When you enjoy going to City Hall).
I’ve now been able to attend two city council meetings in person. Kudos to the City of Estevan for having the online council meetings in April and May, with a few people at city hall and council members attending via videoconference from their own homes.
But it’s obviously much better to meet in person.
Entering the Estevan Leisure Centre for the first time recently was obviously a much different experience. It was a lot quieter, with the directional arrows in place. I’m sure it will be busier now that the RM of Estevan Aquatic Centre is open again.
Before too long, it won’t be special for me to be in the leisure centre or city hall, or sitting on a restaurant patio for lunch, or visiting with friends. (Although I’ll still do my best to observe social distancing).
When the Estevan Bruins get to open their season again, it will be a great feeling to be back in the rink. But eventually, I’ll get used to it, and it will feel normal, especially when it’s a mid-week game against a non-divisional opponent.
Kids will likely be more excited than usual to go back to school in September, but you have to wonder how long it will last before many of them are dreading school days.
For those of us who don’t fly regularly, the first couple of times we get to be on a plane will have a special feeling for some, and a nervous feeling for others. (I fit into the special feeling category). But after a few times, it will feel normal again.
Yes, we will return to normal. Eventually.
One day we’ll sit shoulder-to-shoulder inside a football stadium or a hockey arena to cheer on our favourite team. Children will be back to school with all of the activities they had before. Young people will be bunched close together on fair rides.
Companies won’t have to worry about rigourous cleaning processes, and employees won’t have to worry about hand sanitizer and masks. We won’t have directional arrows on floors or footprints indicating where we have to stand.
Social distancing will become one of those phrases that, for most of the public, is going to be a thing of the past. (There will be a few out there who will still prefer to social distance and sanitize their hands all of the time and maybe even wear masks).
How do I know this? Because we’ve had pandemics before, some worse than this. We had the Spanish influenza following the First World War. Once it was over, North America embarked on the Roaring ’20s.
But I also know that return to normal won’t happen any time soon. Good people are working hard on a vaccine, but it’ll be a while yet. I don’t know if we’ll have to wait for that vaccine before we get to have large crowds again; if we do, it will really test the resolve of a lot of people, especially those in areas not hit as hard by COVID-19.
One day, our previous normal will be normal again.
