While I think we all agree that 2020 has been a complete and utter dumpster fire, it is also true that we are living in pretty amazing times in many ways as well. Just a few years ago no one has heard of FaceTime and Zoom meetings were only for large companies with employees in multiple time zones. Had this pandemic happened even 5 years ago we wouldn’t have all the options for communication that we have today.
While the election has dominated the national news lately, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that COVID cases are on the rise in almost every state and holding steady in the rest. I was literally a coin toss from going back to working from home again last week, and it still could happen. Many schools are preparing to go back to online learning. Many churches in my area have cancelled in person worship again.
Every expert predicted an uptick in cases come fall, sure, but there are a lot of things we should be doing that we aren’t to help ourselves. People are taking fewer precautions than they were a few months ago. I was just in my local Subway and outside of the employees I was the only one wearing a mask. I was furious. It is quite literally the LEAST we can do to keep each other safe!
I get it that people are sick of hearing about COVID. I get it that people need to connect with other people. But the technology exists to do it remotely and we have no one to blame but ourselves if we don’t take proper precautions, especially with our older family members. Most baby boomers have a laptop, tablet or smart phone with internet access. Almost all of them have a phone (Old school I know, but it still works!).
The technology exists. It is up to all of us to use it, and use it correctly, to make sure once we finally get COVID under control all of our loved ones are around to enjoy that happy day with us.