Accepting a New Normal

Hey, how's everyone holding up?

Me? Well, I actually managed to brainstorm a bit about One and the Same this week! I know. Shocking. I didn't get around to actually WRITING anything, but it was a start. Even more surprising, I was brainstorming an akumatized villain! I HATE doing those! I still have a lot of wrinkles to iron out, but, again, it's a start.

I also managed to beta read a new chapter for Cyhyr's story Displaced by Time. I wasn't able to get the notes to her until late Saturday, so the chapter isn't quite up yet, but keep an eye out for that.

And, honestly, I was going into today thinking I'd talk more about those two things. I mean, this IS my writing blog after all, right?

I just couldn't though. I couldn't pretend everything was normal again. Not yet.

Protests, demonstrations, riots, and, basically, uprisings have been sweeping across the United States, and even around the world. In the wake of all of this unrest, people are still struggling to stay safe as the pandemic also continues to rage.

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a complete dumpster fire of a year, and we are more than ready to fast forward to 2021, in hopes that we can get back to "Normal." We are all just aiming for that "Normal."

Here's the thing, though, we shouldn't want to get back to "Normal." So, sorry, peeps, but I'm again going to "get political."

Also, side note: I absolutely HATE that it's STILL considered "political" to care about the well-being and basic rights of fellow people: LGBTQ+, women, minorities, those with mental health issues, men trying to combat toxic masculinity, disabled peoples, entire towns in developed nations that don't have clean water, children fearing for their lives due to gun violence, people in any nation being oppressed and/or killed by their own government, the future of the entire planet, etc....

Anyway, back on topic.

Yes, the term "New Normal" is scary and frustrating because it brings to mind masks, and cleared off grocery shelves, and purchase restrictions, and social distancing, and unemployment, and staying inside the house like a caged bird. And maybe even curfews and near-constant protests.

Here's the thing though. Even when we're past the pandemic and the social distancing and the masks and the purchase restrictions and shortages and we can freely roam wherever and whenever we'd like, we should still look for a "new normal" in the post-COVID world. We should never want to get back to our original version of "normal" because it clearly didn't work out for the vast majority of us.

Everyone was looking optimistically towards 2020. It's a magical sounding year. A futuristic sounding year. Heck, a lot of sci-fi was set in 2020 because of that. People were hopeful that 2020 would bring change to their lives.

And, well, it did. Or, at least, it SHOULD.

This year has been a disaster. It's been a struggle. It's been painful. It's been deadly. We all probably will look back on this year with disdain. However, ever the optimist, I also see 2020 as the potential start of something so much better. This could be the change we all needed, even if it's not the change we wanted or even realized we craved.

The pandemic has re-calibrated everyone's views on so many jobs. Nurses, doctors, EMTs, and all others who work in the health profession in some way - the administrators, the clerks, the techs, the maintenance workers and janitors, etc - are getting the recognition they have long deserved. Average citizens are truly seeing the struggles teachers face, and the effort and love they pour into their jobs. Teachers are getting the respect they should have always received. Grocery workers, delivery drivers, mail carriers, sanitation workers, and tons of other essential workers I know I'm forgetting, are all being lauded as heroes that help keep the country moving. Businesses are learning that they can function remotely, and communities are supporting the small businesses that live and die by their neighbors' choice to buy from them.

These should all be our new normal. We should never wish to go back to before. We should always realize how stressful health care work is, we should always make sure they have enough supplies to keep themselves safe and help cure their patients, and we should keep these telehealth means to help people remotely if it works better for the patient and/or if it keeps the waiting rooms from getting clogged. A means to check that a doctor's visit is truly warranted, versus a quick bit of instruction and rest at home.

We should always remember the stress and strain and financial burden that comes from being a teacher, and all strive to help relieve that. Also, we should be able to keep optional virtual classrooms so students who are unable to make it to school, or otherwise thrive when learning on a computer, can still continue their learning, or even learn better. Even if it's just one classroom of all the virtual students instead of every classroom and every teacher having to include this added feature into their curriculum.

We should never forget how important every job is. The workers at the grocery stores. Those at retail stores. Fast food workers. Delivery drivers, from food delivery to big-rigs. Mail carriers. Sanitation workers. Phone, cable, and electrical techs that come to your house and maintain the lines throughout your community. Construction workers. Public transport workers. Janitors and maintenance workers. Factory workers, especially those at food processing plants. The list continues, and I am again forgetting people, and I'm sorry. The point is, we need these jobs. We need these people. They do things we take for granted. They make sure things we just assume will always work are, in fact, working. It's because they do their jobs properly that we tend to forget that they are crucial jobs in the first place, and so many are talked down to, demeaned, and forced to live in poverty because of that. Let's remember how much of our society actually runs on these jobs, and help raise them up. Don't make working at McDonald's some indication that someone wasted their life. Don't shrug off trash collectors as someone unworthy of your time. Don't snub a delivery driver their tip because they're a couple minutes late. Don't complain to a cashier about a company policy they have no control over. Let people know that these jobs are as essential as they proved to be during this pandemic, and fight to have these workers get a decent enough wage to survive and thrive on. Make sure they have the benefits to keep them healthy and safe.

Again, though, we should also remember how COVID-19 showcased how the "Normal" we all used to know didn't really work.

People who struggled to make it into a specific building to work for a variety of reasons - they're a caretaker of family members or parents who can't get child care, they suffer health issues that prevent them from making it into a place of business 5 days a week, they are literally physically incapable of entering the building due to a disability the building doesn't accommodate, they have no reliable means of transportation, they have to endure abuse and/or harassment from their coworkers and/or management, etc - have suffered for so long. They were unemployed and then blamed for their unemployment, they struggled to force themselves into the building, they lived paycheck-to-paycheck because the money they were making instantly went to child care or transportation, and I'm sure there were tons of other issues I can't even imagine.

Then companies were forced to adapt or die. Magically, telecommuting became the "new normal." There's still struggles with that, just like there are with virtual classrooms, mainly because not everyone has access to reliable internet, but I'll get to that.

In a post-COVID world, companies need to remember that a lot of jobs don't need to be done on-site, and that people ARE capable of self-managing. Also, as long as the work is done before the business opens again the next day, a work day shouldn't have to be 9am-5pm. If someone works better from 11am - 7pm they should be able to shift their 8hr day. Or if it's easier for them to work while students are in school, and then finish when the kids are in bed, they should be able to. That way they can spend the rest of the time with their children. Or, if there is x-amount-of-work that needs to be done before the end of the week, and the employee can do it in 4 10hr days instead of 5 8hr days, they should be able to tweak their schedule. If someone can be productive enough to get their normal 9-5 work done, but only work for about 6hrs sporadically while taking care of their household, they should be able to.

We're not built the same. The same tactics don't work for everyone, and this pandemic showed how more flexible and fluid definitions of a "work day" can still be efficient. Also, assuming someone has that reliable access to the internet and the programs needed, so many more people are now capable of those jobs. All those people who were previously unemployed because they couldn't physically make it into a building five days a week are now employable. We need to remember this, and remember that our previous shortcomings were our own doing. Our own unwillingness to change and adapt to the needs of others.

As I mentioned a couple of paragraphs up, another issue is that telecommuting, telehealth, and virtual classrooms aren't ideal for everyone. Not everyone has reliable access to the internet, which is kind of ridiculous considering how much of our society now hinges upon it. So our "New Normal" should also focus on helping everyone get that access, and we saw that saying things like "they can go to the library for the internet" might not be a viable option all the time. Also, technology can be hard, especially if you didn't grow up using it. Forcing people to be their own tech-support isn't going to work either. We need to understand that shortcoming and find ways to adapt to that struggle as well.

The big issue in the United States, though, was the inequality of finances and access to health care. For the majority of Americans, health insurance is directly tied to your employer. Your employer offers expensive insurance, or cheap insurance that barely covers anything, or no insurance what-so-ever, or you're self-employed and therefore have to provide your own health care? Well, you're just S.O.L., aren't you? You have insurance that's fairly decent for everyday or preventative care, but has a HUGE deductible for any sort of hospital care? Here's hoping your job also gives you enough that you can have a financial safety-net set up, and that you have a large enough net for whatever health issue you might come across.

Yes, the United States had an issue with just having enough tests for people to take, but even if that wasn't a problem, the next one was getting people to actually test. Because, for a lot of Americans, it was a large out-of-pocket expense to just take the test. Then, if it was confirmed that they had coronavirus, it was an even LARGER burden to pay the medical bills, as well as figure out how to pay the everyday bills while on medical leave from work. Assuming, of course, that they COULD get medical leave and aren't just outright fired for needing to be quarantined for at least two weeks.

There's just too many Americans that had this mental battle: get tested and find out if they're sick, or risk it but be able to still get food on the table and keep the roof over their head. The need to go with the latter option meant the potential of the disease spreading further - especially when their coworkers have to make the same decision - and more deaths as people don't bother going to the hospital simply because they cannot afford it.

And this spotlighted that it's the Black and Brown communities that had to make that decision the most. Their access to health care and decent health insurance, and being financially capable of handling the burden of treatments, is atrociously subpar compared to a lot of their White peers.

We need to remember this. We cannot go back to our original normal where people are literally dying because they cannot afford to take care of their health without sacrificing food or shelter.

This disproportionate loss of non-white lives brings me to the other "Normal" we HAVE to avoid.

There are demonstrations going on right now. There are protests. There are riots. There are uprisings. This is because White people still consider themselves superior to Black and Brown peoples. Now, I don't mean EVERY White person, and I don't mean ACTIVELY consider it. I, for one, believe all peoples are equal, but that still doesn't mean I don't have racism ingrained within me so deep I haven't weeded it out yet. Believe me, whenever something new shows up that demonstrates my implicit racism I become enraged. First, I get mad at the implication that I'm racist, then I get mad at myself for not noticing it before and changing, and then I get mad at the society that subtly taught me that racist view.

But the fact that those implicit racist views are still creeping up on me shows how ingrained into society they are, and that "Normal" HAS to go away in this post-COVID "new normal."

We cannot go back to the "normal" of a militaristic police being idolized and praised as heroes when the only ones they're protecting seem to be the White community. We cannot go back to ignoring the cries of our fellow citizens. We cannot return to a country that values businesses over lives.

Businesses can be rebuilt. Human lives cannot.

Now, my mom is a business owner. She is the sole employee. I understand that for small-business owners that their business is their life. If it goes, they have no way of supporting themselves, and that's another change that needs to be made. Again. We cannot continue allowing businesses to trump human lives. We HAVE to find ways of creating safety nets so we can focus on public safety over financial stability.

We have to find ways of funding Black and Brown communities and mental health care, instead of the police.

We need to learn to become a proactive society instead of a reactionary one. We need to learn to raise up those essential workers so they don't need to work three jobs or run on four hours of sleep or rely on social programs to supplement their finances. Nor do they have to choose between working while sick or getting fired.

We need to adjust how we view the work week structure and what jobs truly need to be "on-site" versus telecommuting. We need to also find a happy balance between online and offline availability. We need to re-evaluate how ableist our society is, and figure out how to adjust. We need to realize how entitled we are as a people, and re-calibrate our priorities so that our fellow citizens are the focus, not the businesses oppressing us or the luxuries we mistake as rights. We need to make health care a right that all has access to, instead of a privilege where people literally pay to be able to live.

We need to see all of the shortcomings and misconduct and oppression COVID-19 and the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have spotlighted. We need to realize that so so SOOOO many people have already known and lived through all of these failures of our society. These issues have been their way of life. It's not new news to them. It's not something that started with COVID or 2020 or even with Trump's administration.

But it's something that we can change now. Perhaps 2020 is like a fever during an illness. Nothing the body had done up to that point had stopped the disease, so now the body is taking extreme measures. Not everyone survives intense fevers. They are dangerous. They are scary.

A lot of times, though, they are necessary, and the body does indeed defeat the infection and becomes stronger.

Let's survive this fever. Let's end this disease. Let's become stronger.

Let's embrace a New Normal.