What Are You Doing In The Age Of COVID?

On days that I work from home, I always have the need to get out into the Great Outdoors

As the Peach State reopens, I’m starting to witness the traffic building. I’m not thrilled by this fact on one hand. On the other, common sense says that traffic is an unfortunate reality when the economy is humming along just fine. I’m hoping as we emerge from early 2020’s quarantine phase to living with what so many label, “the new normal,” that many businesses will continue to have a great deal of their employees work from home. As the economy comes up to full speed, perhaps Atlanta metro traffic will not come up to full speed -- not because many are not working, but many are working from home. 

As is well known, many jobs that cannot be performed remotely. From service/hospitality/utility workers to healthcare employees/first responders, we know these people as society’s heroes -- and rightfully so. They keep the lights on, the Internet buzzing to making sure that we are all safe as best as possible. These folks will always be “on the road.”

Obviously COVID has changed us as a society. Most of us are cognizant of its threats so mask wearing is not the unusual sight it once was before this pandemic hit. Still, it’s tough for individuals and businesses alike to operate in this new landscape. Let’s face it: it’s a hassle to wrangle with the face coverings and the masks, but this is truly life and death. Talk about a surreal world, right? But, here we are. 

It was so surprising to me to see businesses like hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, bowling alleys and gyms receive the greenlight before many other businesses. It is well-known that these businesses have the most human to human contact. The theorists about that decision came out of the woodwork which isn’t surprising to me. While I’m thrilled to see businesses come “back online,” I know it must be difficult to operate under more regulations. A good example of this is at dental offices across the Peach State. Throughout the quarantine, routine procedures were put on hold. Now that offices are reopening, they struggle with CDC guidelines. 

One must admit: this is “change”on a grand scale. It’s an old cliche, but change is difficult. How many times have we seen leaders, psychologists and pundits babble on about “change” lately? OK. We get it. Change is difficult, but we must accept that fact. 10-4, right? 

The opinion makers and talkmasters have also been going on about “coping with the new normal.” Yes, we know that going outside for fresh air is great as we have been hunkering down. It’s important to get exercise and eat right for mental and physical fitness. In this space, I have been prattling on about running, walking, jogging and doing yoga. Of course I recommend it, but one needs to do what positive thing works best for himself/herself. What are you doing to cope? I really miss doing the races that I have been participating in for the last five years. Very recently, I have been doing virtual races. Yes, it’s not like the real thing, but it comes close. I’m not sure when I’ll be comfortable doing “real races” again even if they will be held this year or next. So, lately I have done virtual races, both fun and for charity. Even before the pandemic hit, I did the Atlanta Mission 5K race virtually to benefit that organization which helps the homeless. I also like to do the social awareness runs where I do the run and post about it with the social media hashtag. Recently, I did the #irunwithmaud social media campaign. 

As part of my personal 10K for the week, I did the #irunwithmaud social media campaign

Back to reduced traffic. Another benefit to reduced traffic is reduced air pollution. Hopefully these levels will stay down even as the economy comes back to full speed.