Back to ‘normal’?

I’ve heard many people say that their ‘life is back to normal’ now that almost all restrictions have been lifted now we’re a number of months on from the start of the coronavirus pandemic. But is life really ‘back to normal’ for us all?

I can only speak for myself, so would be interested to hear you thoughts on this. For me some parts of life are almost back to normal, but others are still far from anything I would previously have called normal.

I’m back attending church in person and attending the band practices, but we still have to wear masks when we’re not playing our instruments in the band, and we still have to check-in/check-out when we are there.

Work is still entirely from home, with working hours being longer and less predictable, will no sign that there will be any mass return to the office soon. Many of my colleagues I use to chat with in the office or kitchen, I haven’t seen or spoken to since the pandemic started, simply because we’ve been working on different things, so our paths haven’t crossed. I find that quite hard, particularly as any of these folks are people I’ve known for many years.

Other than that, I must be honest and say we haven’t done much else, other than going to a couple of concerts. I must admit I felt very uncomfortable at them, as the venue for them both were allowing people to take drinks into the auditorium, so folk were then using that as an reason for not wearing a mask – even though they obviously weren’t drink constantly throughout the show! No-one was enforcing the wearing of masks, and in fact several people ask why we were wearing our masks, and proceeded to tell us we could take our masks off!

My husband has attended shows at other venues, and has found that at one particular venue, the wearing of masks must adhered to by the majority of the crowd – I wonder if that had something to do with the venue changing their rules so that you could no longer take food or drinks into the auditorium?!

I get the feeling that a lot of people think because they have had 2 vaccines (and some will have had their booster as well), that one, it makes them immune to catching coronavirus, and two, it means they can’t pass coronavirus onto anyone else! I find all this very frustrating, as there are many who may be more vulnerable to severe illness if they contract coronavirus.

I for one, will therefore continue to wear a mask when with others in public, not just so I don’t get coronavirus, but also so I am not responsible for passing coronavirus onto others if I have the virus without my knowledge. In other words I continue wear my mask, not just for my own safety, but for the safety of others. If only everyone else would do the same.