The sky is gray. The sunlight struggles to come out, muted by the clouds. The air is cold. It is unwelcoming outside. Nonetheless, my dad, brother and I ventured out into our neighborhood to stretch our legs and rest our strained eyes. During our walk today, we discussed the changes society will face as a result of this pandemic. How people are realizing what things are essential, and which jobs are necessary for them to be done in person. We entertained the possible outcome of this becoming a yearly event. How it would become like Thanksgiving, in the sense that certain relatives or family friends wouldn’t be invited back to spend quarantine together because of previous years incidents. How our societal structure would change to 3 months out of the year being spent inside our homes, distancing ourselves from each other and the new strain of virus. We’d have storages of food and toiletries stocked up, so we can live comfortably like mole people. At this point it had started to drizzle. This being the only time we’d leave the house today, we marched on. No obstacle is great enough to keep us from our daily government sanctioned walk.

I keep thinking about how this time is going to be written about in history books. It’ll talk about how COVID-19 started and then slowly spread to the U.S. It’ll say how people coped at home, how many people were forced to collect unemployment and the new trends that came out of this, like wearing face masks and an increased interest in public health. Then it’ll say “after [the time period this lasts] this many people were infected and this many died.” Like all history, these months will be easily summed up in a few sentences, our loved ones remembered as mere statistics. They’ll write books about this, I hope someone makes a musical.

The surge of debauchery that will occur post-quarantine is interesting to think about. If people haven’t learned anything by then they’ll go crazy, drunkenly urinating in the streets, climbing buildings and poles, and singing. The more cautious people will slowly emerge out, gradually returning to their previous schedule, still wary of the people around them. They’ll cautiously maintain a distance around them and refuse to shake hands with people. Societies where it’s customary will have to come up with a new noncontact greeting. A smile with a wave doesn’t seem like an appropriate way to solidify a deal. European countries that kiss upon introduction, can forget about that. The Asian custom of bowing, they got it right, no physical contact, but still shows respect and is disarming. We should go back to medieval times. Only curtsy and bow from now on, but because younger generations have embraced free gender expression anyone can do either or both if they want.

In Braiding Sweetgrass Kimmerer talks about how grief can be handled with anger and self destruction or “comforted by creation” (265-266). I think this explains people’s self destructive behavior in our situation. The impact of a global pandemic is scary. Some people were barely getting by in our structured society, now that it has crumbled, they must find new ways to cope. It’s common to use small inconsequential things as a distraction from bigger significant problems. Now that everyone is stuck inside, many without jobs or any purpose for their day, people are having to face the things they have been avoiding. As Kimmerer suggests this can be done through creation, any task no matter how small, provides the sense of purpose essential for people’s sanity.

On the other hand, some people can’t or haven’t realized the gravity of this situation and won’t change their behavior after this. If they’re selfish, they are going to continue to live life how they want to; with complete disregard for how their behavior affects others. Pretending this isn’t a big deal or going to change anything is a very unhealthy coping mechanism. Most people don’t care about things until they’re directly affected, someone they know, and care about must get sick before they can fathom the severity of this virus. It’s only a matter of time until that happens. The harsh reality is people are getting infected, healthy and sick, young and old. Some are dying, but even those who survive will still have to endure the horror of not being able to breath and the pain from the pressure building in their sinuses. There is no way to make people care about things.