I’m convinced that we are firmly committed to make things as hard on ourselves as we possibly can. It’s all part of the negativity bias and how we have to look on the downside of everything. As we come out of the Pandemic we are faced, yet again, with another major crisis.
How do we make the transition back to being out in the world?
Despite the challenges we faced a year ago, for the most part, we did pretty darn well. Of course, there was tragedy and loss for many, but for the great majority we learned to work from home, found new hobbies and interests, and discovered that time at home was good for our lifestyle and for giving us more time with each other.
Now, the next great challenge is how do we go back out into the world. One article called it “Reentry Stress.” Another in Monday’s Wall Street Journal gave a preview of return to work from Australia and suggested there would be a struggle in adjusting to sanitized conference rooms, elbow bumping instead of handshaking, and prepackaged meals (rather than salad bars) for lunch. They did show a picture of people smiling while enjoying chat time around their workstation, so I guess it was not too traumatic.
Perhaps a bit too much sarcasm on my part about all this, but I really do have confidence that we’ll remember how to engage with each other and that we will quickly adjust back to life and may even discover new and better ways to come together.
If, however, you are concerned about remembering your table manners, feel free to reach out. If we have enough folks who need a tutorial, we can meet up at Park Bruges Restaurant. After all they are now open to 75% capacity!
© Richard Citrin 2021
