After 9/11, life in America changed in
significant ways. Assumptions of our safety and security were shaken
to their roots. Our behavior and our beliefs were greatly modified.
Air travel was completely transformed, as
well as security measures in our buildings, sporting events, and
schools. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its
sub-agency, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were
created. Our freedoms and privacy were negatively altered with the
introduction of the Patriot Act. Our heightened fear resulted in
increased government authority.
What will our post-Wuhan world look like?
When we emerge from our erstwhile sanctuaries like nuclear war
survivors coming out of their bomb shelters, will everything appear
the same, or will it be a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape
(metaphorically speaking, of course)? A lot depends on how long our
self-imposed national quarantine continues.
We are witnessing another 9/11-esque
event, with economic structures crumbling in slow-motion all over the
country. When we wander through our towns in the aftermath, many of
our favorite shops and restaurants will be gone. Our personal
situations, investments, and incomes will be negatively impacted.
No matter what happens at this point,
some things will never be the same.
For
one, we are all transforming into germophobes. This will result in
numerous cascading effects in our lives.
Our
collective consciousness on personal hygiene and cleanliness has been
permanently raised. Most of us are experiencing a heightened
awareness and an altered kinetic feedback affect toward shaking
hands, touching our face, licking our fingers, and “social
distancing”.
Hand
sanitizers will likely be standard accessories in homes and
automobiles from this point on into the future. Sanitizing wipes
will be used more frequently. Our motor learning reflexes have been
re-tuned to urge us to wash our hands more often, especially after
touching potentially contaminated objects like public door handles
and stair rails.
More people are likely to turn into
“Monk”, the fictional multi-phobic detective on the television
series of the same name. Played by Tony Shalhoub, Monk
lived in constant fear of germs. He would never get near anything he
perceived as dirty or anyone who was sick. If he was forced to shake
hands with someone, he would immediately shout for “a wipe” from
his assistant. I thought his behavior was extremely neurotic (and
funny), but now I’m not so sure.
The
Japanese have been culturally programmed on hygiene for generations,
particularly in food preparation and serving. Shoes must be removed
before entering traditional Japanese restaurant rooms (and hospitals,
where sanitized sandals are provided). Contamination of cooking
utensils, kitchen areas, and eating surfaces is strictly verboten. I
once sat down in a casual airport restaurant in Tokyo, putting my
shopping bag on the dining table. You wouldn’t believe the
horrified looks on the waiters’ faces as they ran toward me to take
the bag off of the table.
Most,
if not all Catholic churches
no longer share the “Blood of Christ” communal chalice among the
congregants during Mass. The holy water receptacles at church
entrances are dry. The shaking of hands after the Apostles’ Creed
has been eliminated and will stay that way. (No loss there. I
always hated it when the guy behind me was sneezing and coughing into
his hands before the Greeting.)
Social
media and video communications are on the rise due to the need for
social distancing and to avoid unnecessary travel. This will
most likely continue increasing in popularity over personal
interactions
after the crisis is over.
As a
result, the university system in America may face permanent
disruption when more students turn to alternate learning platforms.
And it will be much harder for professors to spew their leftist
propaganda over internet connections, where their indoctrination
sessions become more visible. I won’t be crying over the downsizing of excessively wealthy leftist-controlled ivy league schools.
This
past week, my granddaughter in her school program for three-year-olds
had several video classroom sessions in lieu of physical classes.
She also went on a virtual class field trip to a butterfly zoo and a
virtual play-date with a friend. Next month when she turns four, her
parents are planning a virtual birthday party with friends and
relatives Skyping in. What a brave new world evolving before our
eyes, for better or worse.
Delivery
and pick-up services from restaurants and grocery stores will
continue to be booming businesses. They are already gaining
incredible popularity during this crisis period. Online providers
like Amazon are getting swamped with orders as well. Avoiding
crowded restaurants and retail stores will increasingly be imprinted
into our psyches.
Crowded
cities may also be increasingly less desirable habitats, contrary to
the wishes of Green New Deal advocates. Their goal is to eliminate
private transportation by cramming everyone from the countryside and
suburbs into mega-cities. This also includes the homeless, whose
unsanitary and disease-spreading presence will be less tolerable.
Unfortunately,
as a consequence of this high density living the wealthier residents
of NYC are rapidly fleeing like rats from a sinking plague ship to
South Florida and the NY Catskills, bringing the contagion with them.
Many
are also waking up to the dangerous myth of a perfect world with open
borders. Apparently, millions of “racists” and “xenophobes”
are being spontaneously generated around the globe, as more citizens
and their governments become advocates of strong borders. Suddenly
all nations, including the states within the EU, are realizing the
critical importance of border security in light of pandemic
vulnerability. Hopefully the lesson will stick.
My
wife’s brilliant thought today (no sarcasm intended) was her belief
that RV’s will become even more popular, as fewer people will want
to fly in germ-ridden planes or be exposed to all of the potential
foreign contaminants lurking in hotel rooms. Maybe we will need to
sell our Hilton stock (like hedge fund manager Bill
Ackman recommended in his fear-mongering tirade that tanked the
market while he walked away with $2.6 billion), and buy an RV park.
It’s
a well-known fact that the most germ-infested thing in hotel rooms is
the TV remote. For the past several years, I have either cleaned it
with a sanitizing wipe or put it into a plastic zip-lock bag before
using it. Many hotel rooms now have a sign next to the remote saying
it was “sanitized”, but I don’t trust that and I don’t think
others will, either.
I used
to chuckle derisively at media stories of celebrities bringing their
own bed sheets. pillowcases, and towels into hotel rooms, but I am
re-thinking that dismissive attitude of mine. On our next vacation,
we will be bringing our own supply of Lysol to the hotel, if not some
of our own linens.
Subtle
changes to our collective lifestyle will be all but unnoticeable.
The potential downsides of small unsanitary habits and activities
that we previously ignored now loom larger in our subconscious.
Handling money, licking a finger before turning a page, using a dirty
public restroom, even buying a used book or dusty curio from a thrift
shop will start triggering a stronger avoidance response in our
brains.
Drive-in
movie theaters
are making a resurgence as people are getting less comfortable in an
enclosed theater with a hundred coughing strangers while sitting in a
filthy chair with a sticky floor. However, the drive-in movie fad
may fade when movie-goers try to use the grotesque rest rooms usually
found in those places. Meanwhile, Netflix stock is rising because
more families are choosing to stream video while cocooning in their
nests.
Public
wearing of surgical masks will be more commonplace in America, as
they are currently in most Asian countries. Salad bars and buffet
restaurants will likely become much less popular, if they continue to
exist at all. Diners will not be as enthusiastic about using
communal serving spoons at these places. And there will be a lot
less tolerance of any unsanitary behavior in public, where coughing
on people and licking groceries is now considered an act of
terrorism.
There
will be many negative consequences in the aftermath. Training
ourselves to practice better hygiene in our daily lives may be one of
the more desirable and positive outcomes of this Wuhan virus crisis.
