Recently, I sat in on a zoom meeting where one of the participants used the term now normal several times. She made the point that we’re in a time when we can forget about how things were last year, whatever we’re doing now and how we’re doing it is normal. I got the distinct impression from listening to her that we do whatever we have to, during now, to get things done. I would say it’s all about adaptation; the uniquely human form that throws caution to the wind. History shows we’re good at trying to bend things to our whim when circumstances dictate.
The now normal may be the reality; however, accepting that reality doesn’t make life any easier. Case in point, while pushing my grocery cart through the supermarket yesterday, a total stranger interrupted my agonizing experience of looking at the now normal prices on the shelves. He said with seemingly much disgust that,” These prices are ridiculous!” He said he’d seen a report on the news indicating that we’re going to be seeing fewer items on the shelves, while simultaneously seeing prices rise. I told him that I certainly felt his pain, and that prices are rising weekly. He respectfully corrected me by saying that prices are rising daily, at least it seemed that way.
I majored in sociology, with a minor in history for my undergraduate degree. Economics were a part of my studies. I must admit, I never fully comprehended the principles presented in those studies. For example, why doesn’t the humungous industrial complex prepare for those global rainy days like the ones the pandemic has presented? Common sense should tell us that production could be interrupted at any given time, affecting supply chains, and offering fewer finished products to the consumer. Remember the supply shortage of paper products we had to deal with early into the pandemic? I’m sure you’re more astute at understanding all of this than I, so forgive my ignorance.
We’re entering the third year of the pandemic, and there have been innumerable changes to occur in terms of how we do business, how we worship, how we live from one day to the next. Our ability to keep up attempts to squeeze the best life we can out of whatever comes our way continues. This penchant for keeping on keeping on reminds me of the Borg. Excuse my science fiction metaphor. Please, let me explain. The Borg are a cybernetic group of creatures who are part of the Star Trek franchise. They improve their race by acquiring other beings from different worlds, implanting them with technologies to increase their physical abilities, and making them part of a larger singularly operating group. Whenever a Borg is attacked, it automatically goes into a mode which allows it to adapt, preventing, for example, the beam of subatomic particles shot from a phaser weapon to harm them. In other words, they go with the flow, as most of us have done over the last two years. To keep a Borg down, your weapon must continually rotate frequencies, preventing the Borg from adapting. That sounds like the covid-19 virus, rotating from one variant to the next, trying to take us out.
Normality is continually changing. You’re changing to keep up because you must survive and thrive. It doesn’t make it any less stressful, does it?
I’m old and blessed…hope you will be too.
oldblessedwordpresscom 
We’re all parasites of a virus of some sort; good or not so good. We all live in a Parasitic Relationship. But viruses has this strange tendency to find parasites, unrelated to others, mutate, and create changes. I suppose that’s what we’re up against currently. Thanx for sharing “The Now Normal”.
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Thanks for taking the time to write a reply.
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Love the Borg association!
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I watched a lot of Star Trek back in the day. The Borg. Yes, it definitely fits.
Tomorrow is my husband’s 73rd birthday. He will be checking in to the hospital tomorrow morning to have surgery to fuse 2 discs in his neck. My husband is my best friend and my true forever love. I am trying very hard not to panic.
The now normal. It is what it is, right?
Without our faith in the Lord, I don’t know how we would manage!
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I’m glad we always have access to the super normal, which remains the same yesterday, today and forever. That normal allows me to pray for your husband without the slightest bit of doubt. I pray that his surgery goes well and that his recovery will be absent of any problems.
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Thank you So Much. Grateful tears… bless you!
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My husband’s surgery lasted over 3 hours. Normally the procedure only takes 1 to 2 hours. The surgeon said it went well, but it took so long because one disc was severely compressed, much worse than expected. He said my husband’s mobility and pain should be greatly improved after he heals. God is so good!!!
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Great news! I’m glad to hear it.
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Do you ever think about how you would handle the New Normal if you were back in your VP of HR position? I do but it hurts my head🤪
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I’ve made it my duty to put all things HR behind me. It’s been nine years since I retired, and the closest I’ve gotten to anything HR is serving as a commissioner on the Little Rock Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission. My term expires March 31. I’m uncertain as to whether I’m going to ask for reappointment. My decades of working in HR was rewarding, but I was burned out when I left.
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I respectfully disagree that “adaptation is a uniquely human skill.” I’ve observed continual adaptation in both plants and animals. I’m thinking of trees that sprout out of the crack of a rock, animals who adapt to changing weather and forage patterns, … There’s a lot of adaptation going on in the world.
I rather suggest that humans are uniquely resistant to adaptation, which is why so many have resisted the changes needed to confront the virus. It is also why so many people look back at their childhoods and assume that time was the glory time that we should all be striving for now, rather than learning how to deal with the enormous changes that society and a changing climate are forcing upon us.
But I do agree with your point that change/adaptation is stressful. Which is perhaps why it seems our society is so explosive and filled with mental illness. People are really stressed by change and it is happening at increasingly fast rates.
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Good point. Of course, I was referring to the uniquely human style of adaptation. Now, I’ll edit to that wording. Thanks.
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oops.
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