The finish line was almost in sight with the cases of infection going down, easing of the lockdown laws, and human testing of the anti-virus happening when the second wave struck - hitting some areas in Victoria. It might be unfair to say that the news was not enough for people to understand the gravity of the situation but what could’ve been the reason behind people forgetting about social distancing, proper hygiene and well… possible death.
So why don’t we discuss here another way to look at things. A more speculative look when we do get to the other side where COVID-19 is gone or at controlled, at least. The “new normal” would probably look like this:
More thoughtful spending. Understanding that life is unpredictable is the understatement of the year. Though our parents and their parents’ parents have always reminded us that we should have something saved for the “rainy days,” it could never be more true now with the pandemic and unexpected social unrest that’s keeping people from their usual source of income.
Otto
There will be more focus on safety. This will be in the areas of food handling, physical security and most especially cyber security.
Food safety – this was one of the initial points of discussion that led
to news articles and features that informed us that not
everything that has meat can be eaten.
Cyber security – the internet has made the world smaller and now, it
has become a necessity to keep most business running
making it a target to hackers and cyber attackers who
gets paid for selling information and private information
from businesses and the like.
A clearer understanding of what the environment needs. The lockdowns gave the environment a respite from the usual destroyers and people got a glimpse of clearer skies and fresher air. This allowed a lot of people realise what this “damage” to the environment really is with a visual of an unpolluted sky.
Relationships are accorded more value. In the advent of a life slowly losing the need for social interaction, people realise the importance of family, relatives and good friends. As some people say, you would only realise the value of anything only when it has been lost. And because of the strict lockdown and social distancing laws, the value of the human touch would be far more valuable.
These are all very enticing possibilities that can only be full fruition if we see this pandemic through. The chances are really big if we continue to use the lessons that we learned in the past – harder if we throw-away the wisdom that this pandemic brings.