This episode is going to fundamentally change the way humans interact with each other.

[A HERETIC I AM]

I have a feeling that there is simply no going back.

I traveled through one of the busiest connection airports in the country, if not the world, the other day, and it was deserted. I mean, for a mid-day Monday, a time when the number of arriving and departing flights rivals any other airport in the world, the place was at maybe 20% of capacity.

I find it hard to believe that things will ever return to any sense of "Normal" again. If that normal is defined as being comfortable enough in crowds to give a perfect stranger a hug, as an example. Something that many humans, if not most, have done at one time or another in their lives.


We are going to look at people who travel abroad with a new skepticism and wariness, and this will ultimately be a detriment to humanity.

We can easily be made to be terrified of our own skin, and this situation is well along its way of accomplishing that very thing on a global scale.

I'm Atheist, but at the moment I can think of no more universally appropriate saying than;

God bless us all.

[LisaM]

1. Humans are resilient.

I think that we'll get back to normal, albeit with better handwashing habits.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. Let's hope so

[csziggy]

3. Some things may change but I bet we'll get back into the same bad habits

It is likely to change some of our cultural norms, as waves of diseases have done in the past.

The Navajo have a tradition that if someone dies in a hogan, they abandon the building. If possible, the dying person is taken outside the building partly so the family can keep their home but according to tradition so the dying person can enjoy harmony with nature. It's been built into a superstition about chindi or ghosts.

I have always suspected that this is a hangover to the exposure to diseases introduced by Europeans and/or carried by rodents. If an infectious disease was the cause of death, vacating the premises was a way to protect the survivors. Even if the people did not know that was why the remaining family did not catch the disease, they would observe that those who did not return to live in a place where someone died were less likely to die. Then a rationale for why that happened would be created.

Other cultural traditions that relate to death - like why we called a room in our house a "living room:"

...However, this term was not extensively used until the early 20th century. The use of the term by the common people started after the end of the World War I in 1918 prior to which it was called ‘The Death Room’. It was interesting for me to know the reason for which this front room of the house was given such a name and how things stacked up later so that this space was called the ‘The Living Room’.

It so happened that after the end of the World War, influenza was widely spread across the globe and millions of people lost their lives. There were deaths all around and the bodies were kept in the front room of the house for mourning before taking it for funeral. Thus, this room was then started to be called as ‘the Death Room’.

With the improving conditions and decrease in the number of deaths, the Ladies Home Journal suggested that this room was no more a death room. As it was used for various activities of the house and was more a lively place than a mourning room, it should be called ‘the Living Room’. Thus, the use of the term spread in common people.

Before the late nineteenth century, this space of a house was called a ‘parlor’. The term parlor was derived from a French verb ‘Parler’ which means ‘to speak’. The term was given to the space because it was mainly a place for sitting and talking to various people. They may be the members of the family or guests. The function of this space was to carry out various formal or informal social functions of the house. With the advent of the term ‘living room’, the use of the term ‘parlor’ subsided.

More: https://blogsurabhi.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-living-room/

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. Interesting.

Fascinating read. Thanks for that.

I don't mean to be so melancholy, and frankly the behavior I've observed since I flew home from California on Monday was noticeably different, but still relatable.

But I just think people will just be more wary, if for no other reason than simply the unknown.

[canetoad]

12. Good post

You may also be interested in this four part documentary: If Walls Could Talk, presented by Lucy Worsley.

Lucy is a bit of an acquired taste (think Bubble on AbFab), but she has the academic qualifications to back it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Worsley
Lucy Worsley, OBE (born 18 December 1973) is a British historian, author, curator, and television presenter.

Worsley is Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces

All four parts are available on YouTube.

[csziggy]

17. Thanks, I'll have to check out that series

I'm been binging on British mysteries but need something more to keep my mind busy. I'll put this into my list to watch!

[jimfields33]

4. It feels like the weeks and months after 9/11

[DonaldsRump]

5. It will

We are a lazy bunch (obviously with exceptions) with little care about anything except ourselves.

Remember 9/11? I vividly remember that afternoon and the next few days when we all were in a daze and folks had t-shirts printed with the Twin Towers saying "We will never forget." Cycle to a few years later and today where, for a fee, you can get into a specialized security line if you qualify. That is nuts.

Just like Enron and the collapse of Arthur Andersen that same year. Everyone was talking about keeping audit functions separate from consulting functions wholly separate. While there are some protections, the Big 4 accounting firms are, more or less, back to where they were.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[customerserviceguy]

20. Why are specialized security lines nuts?

The simple fact is, the TSA is a group of jackbooted thugs who treat ordinary Americans like terrorists. The "if you qualify" is an important part of that, it is easy to verify that most American travelers are NOT going to blow up or otherwise interfere with the operation of a commercial aircraft.

Pre-check is a rational adaptation to the overreaction wrought by 9/11. And no, I don't automatically get it, my last two flights made me go through regular security like I was a Yemeni exchange student.

[DonaldsRump]

21. They might be, but let them be thugs to all of us equally

Not those who have time and cash to go through the Pre-Chek etc processes.

[customerserviceguy]

22. When I got Pre-Check

it was because I was a member of the frequent flyer program at United, and for no other reason. Since I quit United and went solely to American Airlines, I've not had the privilege of being treated like an honest person.

Maybe instead of having them be thugs to all of us, they should figure out who needs thuggery, and that's not 99.99% of us.

[DonaldsRump]

23. I got mine because of a credit card and an interview

and because I am not a thug

My simple point is that, after 9/11, security applies to everyone equally, regardless of skin color, religion, wealth, gender, etc. Treat us all the same (that's actually what I would like).

Fully appreciate that TSA is not exactly the most competent group, but NO ONE should receive differential treatment when it comes to security says the idealist in me.

[customerserviceguy]

24. My ideals are different

People are innocent until proven guilty, or at least there is reasonable suspicion that they might be guilty. A sixty-four year old man who is obviously not in great physical shape is not a threat to anyone. What's worse is that my lady got an extreme patdown at the Charlotte, NC airport the last time we flew. And she used to work for the airlines.

This is one of the few things I agree with Rand Paul on.

[dweller]

6. there's no going back

so let's look forward ... when Dems take over in Nov/Jan and begin to fix things that have been going horribly askew the last 3+ years and then gets another 4-8 years to continue to correct and install a "New Normal" that makes the whole populace strong, and not just the 1%... well, we may just become the Great Society we were meant to be...

i'm not going to give up faith that we can do it no matter how grim it gets,
i'm going to look forward, with a 'we can do it' mind

i may not live to see it, but i'm an irascible crusty and mostly positive person, and i'll be damned if i won't go down trying ... that's why i'm here, with the rest of the good guys 🙏🏻

ymmv,
✌🏼

[intrepidity]

13. I'm actually with you on this

I have extremely optimistic outlook on very soon having several at least nominally, if not robust, therapeutics, and soon thereafter, a vaccine.

It's not rocket science, after all... (not being snarky, just a somewhat informed opinion on the field).

I just hope that Trump (et al) pays the ultimate price, being banished from the public eye for the rest of his life, and that right-thinking Progressives take the reins of this country for a good long time, and set thing right.

[dweller]

19. back at ya, intrepidity

onward, and upward

✌🏼

[Demonaut]

7. it's a somber and terrible truth, a time in the future people will define 2019 as a golden year

but we knew it was rotting, or molting

[DonaldsRump]

9. There was nothing golden about 2019

2017-2020 (including 2019) suck eggs because of Donald J. Trump.

I am hoping 2021 and beyond will suck far less because of folks like Joe Biden.

[HarlanPepper]

8. Try taking it one hour at a time

I find that helps me get through the days easier and doesn’t let my mind wander off into areas that really aren’t constructive for my overall mental and physical health.

I suspect this is something we’re all going to have to live with for a while at least until we have widespread immunization which is years away.

It’s unrealistic to lock the world down in perpetuity. If you travel in the future getting Covid 19 might be something that becomes part of calculation of whether or not to go to a particular place, like terrorism and common disease risks associated with travel to some parts of the world.

I’m fine with the handshake dying it’s long overdue death and I’ve thought we’ve been too “huggy” anyway.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Oh, I'm not harboring a gloomy attitude, far from it.

And I am in fact, not modifying my activities too terribly much at all, really.

I take the expected precautions, of course, but I still go to the store. The time between my OP and this post was spent walking to a nearby store for ice cream, so it's not as if I am too wrapped up in the now, as it were.

It's just that I see people changing, even if for subtle ways, that's all.

[Blue_true]

14. In some situations I am thankful for this reality.

People have pretty short memories. My guess is when this threat is abated, people will get back to full normal within six months.

[lunasun]

15. Try a new normal. Be inventive . I just watched #HOMEcoming with crowds of people on Netflix

Everyone commenting on everything and having a good time .
Things will change but communities can still come together .
Hope it is only temporary but it is what it is right now

Using Twitter and Wiretap for the comments

This person started it

Link to tweet

?s=21

And it took off from there !

Link to tweet

?s=20

Right now im trying to adapt as best as can be.
We have been in since Saturday whole family trying new ways to keep it real while doing our part to stop the growing numbers

Btw first time wiretap came up
Wiretap unites friends and fans by letting you leave messages during and between episodes on Netflix.com!

Wiretap gives a voice to Netflix shows. Connect with friends, fans, guest stars, and filmmakers of your favorite shows so you can watch together. Everyone’s comments are kept and synced for whenever you watch.

The comments you see are prioritized - by your network of friends first, then by the best comments available.

Get Wiretap and never watch alone again. Find your people as you watch your fave shows. Share your take. Get recognized.

Fan-tastic Features

- Jump in and share your thoughts with friends and fans as the story happens. Never watch alone again.
- Add and edit your comments easily.

This may all seem wrong to some but it was a fun diversion shared with many at the same time
Maybe not what I would have planned 2 months ago but it’s something

Link to tweet

?s=21

[NutmegYankee]

16. There have been plagues and pandemics before.

People always bounce back and we will as well. We are social creatures and we will be longing for social contact before long.

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. That's true, but there has never been one during a time of such connectivity.

The speed at which information travels now is unprecedented, and I just kind of feel it can have a snowball effect, that's all.