To Covid or Not Too Covid
What happens to us if there is no Covid-19 vaccine? If you’re like me, I believe we will have a 70% effective vaccine by early 2021. But what will happen if the experts aren’t able to create an effective vaccine? The term “new normal” might become a reality for all of us for the unforeseeable future. How do we deal with wearing masks at every public function we visit? No longer able to gather in large groups and if we do, masks on. Normally I do not have facial hair because I shave it off. Lately, I decided to let it grow. I thought, “hey this looks kinda cool”. But then I went shopping with my wife and had to put on my mask. Coolness just went out the window.
I wonder how the make-up industry will fare? Actually, my wife wondered this, but I’ll take the credit anyway. With all the mask wearing, women will not indulge in lipstick or other facial make-up. Why bother. You leave your home and once you get close to someone not in your house bubble, you cover up. Maybe Estée Lauder will make simulated lip colored masks for women. Again, I take the credit and any royalties.
The reality is careers will look a lot different. Companies and industries will drastically change. Robotics might be an excellent career choice and stock option to consider. Of course, restaurants and movie theaters will undergo drastic logistical modifications. Hospitals might have sections or wards dedicated to the virus because of its contagiousness. Are there long-term effects on children who catch the virus? Not much is known, and only time will answer that question. What we do know is this virus is complicated and can change an affected person. Will the airlines survive? How many of us will actually fly and when we do, how much will it cost? The fourth largest airlines by market share have break even spreads at 72–79 percent capacity. I don’t see enough people willing to box themselves into a closed cabin (even with masks) willing to take that chance. Businesses are learning to survive through technology without having to spend extra dollars on business travel. Only on a rare occasion will a business have to send an employee out of town. My thought is if this pandemic continues, some airlines will have to combine which will offer them a chance of survival.
Because I am a stay at home employee, I have to occasionally dust off my car. Will vehicle manufacturers go through what the airlines might go through? In my household, do we need two vehicles anymore? Why am I paying for a car I occasionally dust off? I recently heard that grocery stores are downsizing the number of same product types on their shelves. Why have 20 types of ketchup (catsup for others) when they can stock 5 or 6. This makes financial sense and could keep prices lower. Less driving, less flying, less eating out, more Amazoning (my made-up verb for Amazon) and probably more mental stress. This is a very narrow image of how a longer pandemic future might look. There are countless variables and unforeseen possibilities for many people, as dreaded as this may seem.
If we are faced with no vaccine, my hope is that we all learn from this tragic experience and realize how fragile mankind is. It is so very easy to quickly destroy what takes millions of years to build or develop. Man has the ability to do so much good and at the same time, so much destruction. But what we sometimes forget is that the smallest of things can stifle what we consider life. Let’s look at this virus as a warning that we are not that tough. We are very fragile and young on a 40+ billion year old world that has seen millions of viruses throughout its existence. With that being said, I pray for an end or control of this ugly round sticky infection that should actually have a different name. Covid sounds too good for something that has decimated so many countries and families. Maybe Satancrap or Shitzfola would suffice.
