Covid-19 arrived about a year and a half before I retired, so we did have remote worship for a while– a pre-recorded service uploaded to YouTube. Committee meetings were held via Zoom, and we eventually gathered outside for worship when the weather cooperated. YouTube services are still a thing, but most are live now.
I’m more aware that wearing a mask isn’t as taboo or weird as I once thought. I see folks anymore wearing a mask as a routine when they have a cold or want to protect themselves in a crowd. Maybe there is a heightened awareness and greater acceptance of the benefits of and wisdom in social distancing, or just taking sensible precautions.
I know that there were changes to supply chain planning, that remote work has taken hold in a big way, that some brick and mortar businesses really suffered, to the point of not coming back.
The practices put in place to minimize the spread were unpopular but needed, and maybe will help protect us from future microbial assaults– especially in light of ill-advised vaccine protocols pushed by RFK, Jr. and others.
Realistically, many were in such a hurry to return to “normal” and were chafing so badly over being told they had to modify their behavior for a time that they may have not learned a thing. You know– because true-blue Americans don’t really value the advice of scientists and medical experts, nor do they bend the knee to any microscopic spike protein that kills people when they’re gathering in close proximity to one another.