Back to Normal? Hmmm. It Almost Feels Like That

Joe and I are now fully vaccinated, and both of our kids have received their first vaccines last week. WooHoo! Is it time to party? I’m not so sure, although it feels like many people think it is.

On Sunday we visited my parents, who live two hours away, for the first time in 14 months. Boy, that’s a long time. Among the many loving gifts of time, energy and food we received were the cookies you see above. I’m sorry, we’ve looked everywhere, and we still can’t find cookies that taste as good as Bronx bakery cookies. We figure that they either have the secret formula OR the New York City water makes them taste better. Either way, they are the best.

We really haven’t been out much since this pandemic business began. We tend to follow rules, at least rules that make logical, practical sense. And it makes sense that you don’t want to go out in the middle of a pandemic where you just don’t know how it will affect you and the people you love. There are only a few stores I’ve shopped at in person over the past year, we don’t visit other people or have them into our home, and our socializing has been mainly outside for walks, bike rides for Joe, or Zoom calls. Oh, Zoom fatigue, I don’t think I’m alone in feeling wiped out after one of those. There’s just something about that screen with the little boxes all staring at each other. And yet it’s one of the few options to stay connected with people.

Therefore, our visit to my parents almost felt like a normal activity. Within careful bounds, of course. It wasn’t the usual family gathering of 16 people. it was six of us, well within the CDC guidelines, and we all pretty much felt safe removing our masks, as weird as that felt to do in the presence of other people outside our home “pod.” Not really a normal experience at all. At least by the standards of pandemic normal.

We have to take the NJ Turnpike to get to my parents’ home, and by the look of the traffic, most people have returned to business as usual, way before we did. The traffic level was along the lines of Thanksgiving traffic. It wasn’t a relaxing ride at all, even though I’m never the person driving.

When we go for a recreational drive and look at parking lots and outdoor seating at restaurants, places seem filled to capacity. I met a friend for lunch today, outside seating, to celebrate her birthday. We went very early, at 11, as soon as the place opened. Good thing we did because over the course of an hour, all of the outdoor seating was filled. I rarely go to Target (one of the few stores I visit) on the weekends because the parking lot is full and I don’t feel it’s wise to stand in crowded check out lines. Even our local roads have returned to the normal congested levels of before-pandemic.

New normal? Or back to normal? It seems that most people are ready to go back to the way things were. Makes me miss lockdown, with quiet roads, no traffic, easy breeze into and out of stores. Am I weird? Maybe?

I feel like the only one resisting the return to some kind of normal. People are beginning to reach out to make tentative plans to get together and do social things. Is it wise? And who knows what’s the right level of activity? The guidance from the CDC is confusing, in my opinion. If you read this article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, it sounds like you’re free to move about once you’ve been vaccinated, until you read more closely. Visiting your parents if you are all vaccinated is okay. Having a party with vaccinated friends is also okay… as long as it’s limited to two, or no more than a handful of people. That’s a pretty slim definition of a party. Also, if you are vaccinated but visiting with the unvaccinated, you should still wear your mask and be careful, especially if they fall into risk categories. So confusing. So many levels of warning mixed with, oh you’re free!

It’s not the old normal, and with these confusing guidelines, I really don’t know when it will feel normal to me, even if most people are done with this pandemic business and have decided to carry on as before. And do we want to return to the old normal? That’s a subject for another post.