Getting back to normal is difficult...

After nearly 208 days of self-isolation and eating at home, my wife and I decided to eat in a restaurant last night. We had just traveled 50 miles to get flu shots and wanted to eat before the ride back to our cabin in the woods. I didn’t think too much about it since the news was filled with restaurant openings that required safe practices. We went to a large restaurant, figuring its size would allow appropriate distancing. As we were seated I noticed several tables with 10 diners each, and shortly after that the hostess seated 8 businessmen at the table next to ours. All wore masks while walking; none wore masks at their tables. Everyone was smiling and talking and drinking and eating and acting like they should under the stated guidelines.  But it still unnerved me. I’d been out before, but mostly to grocery stores and other places where everyone was wearing masks. I clearly underestimated how hard it might be to go back into an environment filled with people without masks and how long it might take to get back to acting and feeling normal. Going back out into the world and getting back to normal is definitely going to require some serious mental preparation and practice. Don’t underestimate how hard it will be getting back to being yourself today.

 

Miles Davis (1926 – 1991): American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer