A New Normal: Redefining Everyday Life Amidst The Coronavirus
Nevin Barich
March 16, 2020
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I’m writing this blog in the early morning hours on my iPhone notepad. I’ve been lying in bed for the past hour trying desperately to let sleep overcome me, but not being able to do so. And yet, I don’t want to get out of bed because I know that when I do, I need to figure out a new normal. A new normal. It’s a phrase I’m sure lots of us have thought about over the past few days as the spread of the coronavirus has forced the closing of bars, restaurants, movie theaters, gyms, casinos, airports, cities, countries. In what feels like the blink of an eye, we went from living everyday life to seeing grocery stores riddled with rows and rows of empty shelves. My “old” normal was pretty simple. During the week, I’d get up, go to work, come home, exercise, play with the kid, eat and watch TV somewhere in there. Sometimes after work (and often on weekends), I’d run errands at various times: the market, the bank, the pet store. I’d find time to see the occasional friend, or for the wife and I to have a date night consisting of dinner and a movie while Grandma babysat my toddler son. It was a normal, everyday life filled with things you’d never think would or could be taken away from you for any reason. These were things I was doing just a few days ago with never a thought of consequence. Now? I’m working from home indefinitely to ensure more isolation. I only go out for errands when needed and I get to the stores a half-hour before they open in the hopes of finding bananas and toilet paper. And I try and get these items as fast as possible to limit my exposure to other people and then wipe them down as soon as I get home. Date nights like my wife and I knew them are out as movie theaters and restaurants are closed. My friends and I have agreed to stay away from each other just to be safe; my best friends and I even coined a phrase: “See you on the other side of oblivion.” And my son’s grandparents? We as a family made the extraordinarily difficult decision to keep them away from my son for the next couple of weeks just to make sure that my wife and I aren’t exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 that we may pass on to them. My son’s grandparents live 10 minutes away. My wife and I moved into our current house, in part, because they were so close by. And now my son can’t see them. That one really hurt. That made this real. And that’s the thing. This is real for all of us, not just some of us. When the Dow drops 1,000 points, that affects some of us. When the U.S. fires missiles at the military bases of a foreign enemy, that affects some of us. When a hurricane hits on the East Coast, that affects some of us. This affects all of us. No matter where we live, no matter our social status, no matter our religion, we’ve all been affected, whether it’s physically, mentally or emotionally. We’ll get past it. Humanity always does. But for now, it’s time to get out of bed. A new normal awaits. Nevin Barich is the Consumer Products Analyst for Industry Intelligence, which can help YOU better address your own industry challenges. We invite you to come take a look at our service.Call us today at 310-553-0008 and we’ll schedule you for a 15-minute demo.
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