In many US cities and other countries around the world, society is beginning yet another "new normal" as people are becoming fully vaccinated.
What are you experiences? What have you noticed? Is the re-entry phase going as you expected or are there some surprises.
Here are some surprising things I noticed this weekend while attending my first in person wedding since covid began. (This was a wedding which had been postponed twice during Covid so there were a lot of happy people)
Not everyone has a plan.
This particular church had been only open in limited capacity until this weekend. Masks had been required last weekend and there was social distancing. At the wedding yesterday, there were many young adults in attendance. I would say about 10% were wearing masks and no social distancing was observed with most people. This wedding was in Scottsdale, AZ .
I was actually surprised there were so many choosing to go mask free and not observe any social distancing in any way. I actually wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I had my mask on and off and on again. haha. I was in the Austin area of Texas just a few days ago and even with the change of mask mandates from the CDC, many OUTDOOR places still had a mask mandates. There were timed entries to museums and botanical gardens too. At this Scottsdale church I attended, it was like they went from 0 to 60 in zero seconds.
Other things I noticed at the church wedding and reception-
A lot of people (more older but some younger) stuck out their hand to shake hands for an introduction/greeting with me. This caught me off guard. I had not mentally prepared for so many people doing this again. Well, probably anyone doing this yet. I did not have a plan in place. If I had anticipated hand shaking, II could have made sure I had things in my hands so I could avoid actually shaking hands with others or had a prepared line to say in a friendly way but grounded way letting hand shakers know I am not comfortable shaking hands yet.
But I had nothing prepared. Nada.
So I went to the bathroom to wash my hands a lot and used a lot of sanitizer.
Another unexpected surprise, it was a buffet dinner and WE served ourselves. So we all used the same serving utensils and there was no sneeze guard. And nobody observed any distance between each other in line.
It was so weird and many people were talking about it.
So, from my observation, we don't all have a plan in place for the new normal yet and until we do, we shouldn't be operating at old normal.
Also, I don't want to shake hands yet. SO, who has a good line besides, "DUDE! What are you thinking!?! I don't even know you! I certainly am not going to shake your hand yet!". Or " Hi! When did you last sanitize?".
The last thing I was not prepared for was not really owning any real wedding guest attire anymore. I have not bought a new "nice" outfit in over 18 months and over 2 years for one for summer weather. So, I was totally lacking for appropriate attire. I also have lost some weight in the past 2 years so I have many less outfits to choose from. So, that was unexpected. I now need to go shopping for some nice clothing again.
So, my advice, be prepared for weddings and other "social" situations which might occur in the new- normal. Plan for the unexpected.
Well, i cant speak for everyone in the UK, but my family are still taking caution. Half of us are fully vaccinated, but we have a new variant circulating and while the protection against it looks promising, we are just being extremely careful still. In the UK we fully open up more in June, so it will be interesting to see what occurs.
I've heard there is a plan to give everyone a booster covid vaccine annually with the flu vaccine, to help keep on top of different variants which sounds promising.
As for the new normal, I just hope people appreciate how precious everything is that we all take for granted and that helps give people a new found perspective and appreciation.
I do feel like there has been lots of spiritual lessons throughout this pandemic, in terms of life lessons, like a collective test. But sadly some people really have not learnt anything, and we are seeing a repeat of the same mistakes and ignorance. How this all translates moving forward I don't know... But it does seem like some people and some ways of living will never be the same again - both good and bad.
I will say - not from me - from another person who is psychic - that there is a new virus from China hitting us this year. Please can we all meditate on this? I really hope it isn't true...
@luminous I heard from a psychic on YouTube that we would reach herd immunity by the second quarter of next year. I feel that those who refused to get vaccinated will suffer from the consequences. From the 2/22 read the future night readings, things slowly become normal, and COVID no longer becomes a concern by Spring of next year.
I went to the grocery store, inside today, being fully vaccinated, I wore my mask. I was one of 3 people in the entire grocery store, wearing one. In my neck of the woods here... which is redder than red and tRumpian delusionals and not getting the vaccine ( cause of the microchip out in there by the pedophile baby killers Far left and Antifa) head in the sand Da Nile's every one. It's pretty much like it was before the Pandemic, except in the hospitals and drs offices.
I'm in a *BRIGHT* blue neighborhood of a blue county in a magenta state. About 80% of people in a nearby grocery store are still wearing masks. About 2/3 of the people at Home Depot (about 2 miles away ) were wearing masks on Saturday. But I am sure in the next county over, no one is wearing a mask, since only a minority were doing so during the height of the pandemic.
My workplace has declared masks optional. I have dispensed with my mask at work because I know my co-workers are all vaccinated (they all have common sense). But around people whose status is unknown, I wear the mask.
@lovendures A column in today's local paper had an answer for you:
Shaking hands
Don’t offer to shake hands if you are introduced. Simply say “It’s nice to meet you” with a smile and a nod of the head while keeping your hands by your side. If someone offers their hand to you, it’s okay to say “It’s so nice to meet you, but I’m not shaking hands yet,” implying that someday you will. Note: elbow bumping, while it was novel at the beginning, is unnecessary and now comes across as gimmicky, so skip it.
Hugs
At work, don’t even think about it. If offered a hug, use the same formula as before: smile and say “Great to see you again but I'm not hugging yet.”
I've noticed a few random things here in Southeast Virginia that just seem weird after over a year of changes due to Covid. Harris Teeter reopened their salad bar and hot bar. Walmart has reopened both sets of entrances. They had previously only had the entrance on the grocery side open (presumably so they could keep count of people inside the store, even though they appeared to have stopped counting months ago). I was surprised that cart wipes weren't available anymore at one store I visited recently. On the flip side, I went to a local shopping mall last Sunday and the security guard was strictly enforcing their still in place mask policy. I heard her stop at least two maskless folks as I walked past wearing my mask. Traffic is picking up again.
I work for a university and have been working from home all but one day a week. After July we will be going back to the office more days and with overlap of staff in the department. By the beginning of the fall semester we are mostly expected to be staffed at a pre-Covid level.
As for the handshake question, I remember this thing we did in grade school. You reach out like your going to shake their hand, but quickly move your hand to slick back your hair. You can then say something like "Too smooth" or "Too cool" (referring to yourself) or "Too slow" (referring to the other person). I'm not sure how well it will work with adults, but it might be a way to add humor to the fact that you're not ready to shake their hands yet.
Despite being Pfizered twice, I'm still reluctant to return to the pre-Covid way of life. As an introvert and a germaphobe, I'd very much like for social distancing and hand sanitizing stations to become a way of life even after Covid.
@melmystery I agree with your last paragraph. This coming fall is the last semester of my graduate studies, where I will only have class two days a week while working on a final project. The university will not start in-person lectures immediately but will permit it gradually.
In Massachusetts, no one goes into a store without a mask. No one. Mask wearing outdoors is mixed.
Being double faxed now, I'm swimming again at a health club indoor pool but you have to reserve a lane each day so no one ever shares a lane. I wanted to join an outdoor pool, but there aren't any near by.
No one can wear a mask when swimming. Some people keep their heads in the water and use snorkels, but I'm not sure they can shield themselves that way. If they have some kind of shield built into the snorkel then that's quite clever. I suspect that nearly everyone there is vaccinated, but there is no way to know.