by Veronika Morozova and Anna Luīze Rezevska
THE NEW NORMAL
Coronavirus resembles that one annoying person who keeps following you around: you don’t like him, but you also don’t know how to get rid of him. It goes further – since you can’t do anything about him, you try to avoid him by changing your schedule and not going to places you meet him anymore. Because of that, everything around you changes, and you just wait for that annoying friend to forget about you or go annoy someone else. This is something that we all are experiencing now – we’re on lockdown, avoiding human contact, and waiting for the virus to go away. Hence, we have adjusted to that lifestyle somehow. The thing that bothers us a lot is that it’s been so long that we start forgetting how life was like before the lockdown was a thing. We have gotten used to the so-called “new normal”, but if you think about it, it would have been so weird to have the same stuff going on if everything were the same as it has been before.
What changes will return back to the “old normal”? It’s weird and uncanny that you can’t go to restaurants, and the most you can get out of going to a cafe is getting a coffee-to-go. And what about queues in shops that are now twice as long but with much fewer people actually waiting in them? The weirdest of all – if you get closer than 2m to someone, you’ll get a very unfriendly look (I’ve also heard that there was one granny who got beaten up because of standing too close to another man).
It’s Christmas time, and kids this year won’t be able to crawl on Santa’s lap in some mall and ask for a new iPhone. At least, now parents have an excuse about why they got their child something other than what they wished for - their letter got stuck in the mail because everything now is so slow. It’s stupid that you can sometimes find yourself watching a TV show or a movie and start wondering why those people are not socially distancing and why they aren’t wearing masks. I think that’s the moment when you realize that you’ve spent too much time sitting at home. And yes, we sit at home. Every day. We don’t go outside or do it very rarely. We spend the majority of our days in pajamas, and when we go somewhere, we rarely use public transport because now it’s frowned upon!!! Could you imagine the government telling you to reconsider going somewhere by public transport and choose a car instead, or go on foot? For the first time ever, the most sustainable way of transportation (except for walking) is not recommended. Actually, if you think about it, the only people who are always on the go are food delivery guys.
10 / THE INSIDER
This year has been the best for conspiracy theories. Every second person doesn’t believe in facts, and more and more people think that they are being controlled by the government. It’s funny how easy you can spot conspiracy theories’ believers – they either don’t wear masks at all or wear them incorrectly, as if letting everybody know that they are “protesting”. The only thing they probably haven’t accounted for is the fact that the government already has all possible information about them, including bank accounts, family status, and so on. We are not excited about upcoming events or concerts because they all will get canceled or rescheduled anyway. Booking a flight, or even traveling anywhere except for your home country, is insane now. Hotels are now more popular by locals than foreigners, and locals sometimes stay at hotels either for one night (just to change the environment) or for 14 days straight. Streets are empty, there are no tourists, and there is no “Christmas shopping” during the weekend anymore. The best you can buy is a hand sanitizer or a bar of soap for your friends, who you won’t even be able to meet in person. Even more, the “let’s meet up!” phrase is now usually implied as “let’s schedule a Zoom meeting! No, not Google Meet, it’s lagging. If it’s not Zoom, then I’m not coming.” What is dating like in quarantine? You can meet up, but at what cost? You have to socially distance, you can’t go anywhere except for outside, and the most powwpular compliment now is “you have beautiful eyes” because pretty much the rest of your face is covered with a mask. It’s funny that single people are now less concerned with their date having STDs than Covid-19. There is absolutely no surprise why 2020 can be used as a “yolo” equivalent. We’ve already learned that anything can happen this year.
