By Karl Bogott on Wednesday, 25 March 2020
Category: Ponderings

The New Normal

I expect that we are in the midst a paradigm shift as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our world will never quite be the same. For the foreseeable future, handshakes, hugs and other one-on-one greetings will be causes for stress. The new normal may be, who knows, a simple nod of the head? Home delivery and hands-free delivery of nearly any commodity are becoming everyday, instead of unnecessary luxury. Will these things remain after the scourge is over and after the break of the new dawn? You can't compare the COVID-19 event with any other pandemic, and two come to mind. The Spanish Flu preceded modern communication and medical treatments; millions died. In brief, once begun, we could only live through it. And harken back to the Black Plague and "Bring Out Your Dead". One third of the population of Europe died and we're left with nursery rhymes ... Ring around the rosie. The market will recover, in time. Schools will restart and the un-graduates of 2020 will tell their grandchildren about it ... in 30 years. We'll all go back to work. But, it just won't be the same. Some businesses are gone. Others will change the way they market, produce and provide. Working remotely has received a jump start and the Internet has stepped up to the task. Take a moment, while you're sitting in your quarantined surroundings and imagine 2021. Now, go wash your hands.

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