The World to Come

What will our lives be like when this pandemic passes?

When this scourge is finally over, how long will it really take for life to return to pre-Covid conditions, to the way we lived only four months ago? Will it ever? And, if not, what will our “new normal” be?

Please note: I am not referring here to the uneven performances of some of our governments to date. Some seem afraid of their own responsibilities, and these have lagged behind brave families doing their best to be smart and stay healthy. When public officials point fingers at each other on afternoon TV, that helps nobody. But you know all that, and we will deal with it on Election Day.

No, what I wonder about most now are not decisions at the White House but at your house. As our cities and towns re-open, how will your family and mine navigate a new terrain? Governments can only decide so much; for the rest we’re on our own. I don’t remember being here before.

The more we learn – considering the science, putting aside the politics – the more it feels we should anticipate altered lifestyles. Already we have seen what Covid-19 is revealing about our society, and some of its structural faults. Turns out, for instance, that homeless shelters, nursing homes and prisons are places where infection races remorselessly and fast. We see also how the virus and quarantines affect economic groups differently, and how this plays out unevenly among racial groups.

Of course, we can’t know all that the future will bring. But a clear-eyed look at how our daily lives used to work, sector by sector, suggests that “normal” may not return anytime soon. Many aspects of our old lives – from childcare to churches, from high-rise towers to assembly lines on factory floors – will present new complexities for keeping healthy.

Three examples:

Schools

Young parents, trying to manage through this disruption of schooling, have now seen what an uneven struggle “distance learning” can be. Many teachers have sent home good lessons and recommended reading, yes, but we know that not all homes have essential tools like computers, tablets, or internet service. Some school administrators and associated charities have provided devices and even arranged temporary Wi-Fi hot spots where possible, but lots of children in poorer quarters don’t have what others of us consider basic and take for granted.

For many thousands of Nashville families, the boastful “It City” was always a mirage. The poor never lived there. They dwell instead in the “Invisible City” where living isn’t easy. As my late friend, the Rev. Bill Barnes, used to remind me, “That’s where the most people do most of the living, and most of the dying.”

Can’t we finally figure out, in a time of great tech talent and generous philanthropy, how to help all the children?

Work

Some of us have been able to work “remotely” from home over these past few months, using our own computers and online access to do meetings. Now, as proper offices re-open, what aspects will have to change at our work sites compared to the old way – and for how long?

How will healthy offices be operated now? Will building managers, in order to provide for social distancing, need to announce new procedures for the use of elevators, restrooms, cafeterias? Will the workday change?

Restaurants

Think of your favorite place to eat out: If the intimate dining tables must now be newly separated, reducing their number and therefore that restaurant’s capacity and customer traffic, how will the management compensate for the lower revenue? Will prices unavoidably go up? That might work for some places, but for your favorite meat-and-three? Maybe not.

Will many restaurant patrons continue to choose take-out and dine at home? Will they have a bottle of wine at home? That will cut into the restaurant bar’s mark-up on liquor, part of how restaurants make it all work. Will fewer dine-in customers mean different staffing and jobs lost?

More questions than answers this weekend.

We all may wish for a quick return to the way things were. But on this weekend of scattered re-openings it already feels that may not be possible, maybe for a long while. Just as 9/11 changed forever how we travel, Covid-19 is likely to leave behind necessary shifts in how we live and work. For anyone to promise you otherwise is like thinking the coal mines of Kentucky and Ohio will magically re-open and all those mineworkers’ jobs will re-appear. Just because some politician promised they would doesn’t make it so.

Getting ready for this new world is timely thinking for us all now. It will take clear heads and stout hearts, smart cities and sound planning – and no time given over to wishing thinking.