A couple of months ago, we were all living life normally. We were discussing politics with friends and family members, deciding what to cook for dinner, and eagerly looking forward to the next episode of our favorite show.
Sadly, that all changed once the coronavirus hit our shores.
People were locked in their houses fearing for their lives due to a deadly virus that was infecting millions of people across the country. Even to this day, there are still hundreds of deaths occurring each day that can be related in some way to COVID-19. We were locked down, people lost their jobs and there was seemingly no end in sight.
Just as things were starting to recover another tragedy struck; the death of George Floyd. This sparked protests across the entire world, rioting began and a major blow was dealt to society. This brought back racial tensions, it highlighted police brutality and the public began to lose its trust in both the police and itself. To make matters worse, the coronavirus hasn’t exactly disappeared and there are fears that we’re going to see another huge spike in cases due to the peaceful protests that have been occurring around the nation.
With so many things to think about, the “normal” of old seems so far away and impossible to return to.
Are we still on lockdown?
In order for society to return to normal, we need to start easing lockdown measures. Thankfully, most US states have eased their lockdown orders and things are somewhat returning to normal. Despite this, the coronavirus still exists and everyone is being encouraged to continue social distancing and staying safe. Wash your hands, wear a mask and be wary of touching surfaces that you know aren’t clean.
This is perhaps the first thing that we must focus on in order to return to normal. We must start reopening our businesses, going back to work and making it normal to see our friends and family assuming everyone is still being sensible about social distancing.
Of course, we all need to do our part in helping those that have been irreversibly affected by the pandemic. While prominent figures such as Cynthia Telles are pushing for relief for coronavirus victims, we must also be considerate of others and help everyone return to some semblance of normality. It’s difficult given the circumstances in the world, but if the lockdown has taught us anything, it’s that human connection is a powerful and much-needed form of contact that we cannot neglect.
The protests and riots
Of course, that still leaves the protests and riots. Can things return to normal despite all the tensions? It’s something that we hope to see, but given that many cities across the nation are suffering from an unprecedented amount of looting and rioting, it’s difficult to see us returning to a normal state given the reasoning behind the movements. Like it or not, perhaps our sense of “normal” is about to change forever.
