On Coming Out of a Pandemic

Boy, it’s been a weird year. Truly the strangest 15 months of my life. I spent so much of my pre-pandemic life enjoying post-apocalyptic media that I always thought, “should the world basically end, I’ll know exactly what to do!” (Honestly, what I’d do is hunker in a corner until my supply of contact lenses ran out and my glasses broke then wander into the apocalypse, as blind as the day I was born) But, obviously, the thing these movies and games and shows never cover is what it’s like when the apocalypse starts to chill out and life begins to resemble what it used to be.

If you’ve been a good member of society for the past year plus, you’ve been hanging out at home, going to drive in movies, socializing with your friends and family through digital screen or from 6 feet away. Along with all that came checking on social media and seeing people going to parties and spring break and barbeques and feeling disappointed that some folks weren’t keeping up their end of the social contract. But, things have started to change.

Vaccines are amazing. I just want to get that out of the way. Vaccines are one of the greatest things humanity has ever created. Vaccines are the reason that for the first time in more than a year I got to hug my parents, go out to dinner with my girlfriend, and shotgun beers with my other vaccinated friends. So, vaccines are the path towards a post pandemic world, but they don’t teach you at all how to actually act coming out of a pandemic!

It’s been so long since I’ve hung out in person that I feel completely out of practice. Not to mention I was a young, fresh, 28-year-old in the old world, and now I’m pushing 30, the world is totally different! Do I shake your hand when I meet you? Do we hug because we’re stoked we’re all still alive!? What about when I’m eating with people? What do I do if someone asks if they can have a bit of my dessert or try the cocktail I spent way too much money on?!

In a world where we’ve spent so much time alone or with our isolated pods, coming back into a larger universe raises a Pandora’s box of questions! At least we’re experiencing all these new questions together. Rarely in one’s lifetime is there an event so universal that we all experience it more or less as one. 

So, don’t worry about feeling nervous being at a gathering again. Don’t worry about feeling out of sorts when someone asks if you want to carpool for the first time in forever! The best way to deal with these kinds of feelings is clear and open communication, just tell someone, “Hey, I’m sorry, but I’m not ready for you to dig your nasty fingers into this beautiful plate of nachos I just ordered.” They’ll understand…and regret not getting their own plate of nachos.

So, what about you? What’s been the hardest part of coming out of a pandemic for you?