Change is constant, and it may help to remember that as the coronavirus outbreak continues. Even if everyone was able to get vaccinated tomorrow, it’s unlikely the world will ever slip back into all of its old habits and ways.
From Plexiglas separators in stores to no-contact food delivery, many of the changes that have come our way are likely to stick around permanently. Here’s a look at some familiar parts of life that the pandemic is slowly pushing to the sidelines.
1. Traditional movie theater experience - Moviegoers have flocked to home streaming services, where the concessions are free and the bathroom breaks unlimited.
2. Reuseable restaurant menus – Disposable or digital for the future.
3. Snow days – Now that nearly every school system has figured out how to teach classes online, weather cancellations seem unlikely, as schools can just switch to virtual learning.
4. Print Magazines – Have gone the way of the restaurant menus – digital for the future. Take your smart phone with you to the doctor/dentist office.
5. Buffets - All-you-can-eat buffets - this method of meal delivery is fraught with issues. Pre-packaged food in the future.
6. Birthday candles – No more blowing spit and aerosolized germs onto the dessert. There are ways to celebrate the magic of a birthday – spit-free!
7. In-person voting – Mail-in ballots may be the wave of the future.
8. Crowded Elevators – No more jammed elevators or awkward small talk – numbers will be limited and talk will be discouraged and definitely mask-wearing.
9. Handshakes – Handshakes with almost everyone can be replaced with waves, verbal greetings and even peace signs or Mr. Spock’s Vulcan salute.
The good news is hugs, at least among close family members who share germ circles anyway, will likely never go out of style!!!
Excerpt from Money Talks News
Photo by Tomasz Frankowski on Unsplash