One of the hardest realizations

One of the hardest realizations I've come to accept lately is that a "before" and "after" of COVID-19 will be apparent. 

This week, I began taking an online course called the Future of the Business World, tailored to the recent happenings globally surrounding the health pandemic. I've completed just my second day of the two-week program and it's become quite apparent that the world of business will change. And beyond business, it seems that life will no longer return to the pre-COVID identical state in any industry. Retail will be different. Will people have to shop virtually? (imagine shopping at Bloomingdales and virtually riding up the elevator and walking around the jean section) It's likely that remote work will become more substantial within the upcoming years, as it's possible for nearly 32% of our current workforce to work from home? I suppose this remote work trend has been taking root for several years already and COVID-19 has merely accelerated its necessity. Touchless pay programs like Apple Pay will likely take on greater usage, as well as automation which builds economic resiliency. What about remote school? How will we have to rethink education so ensure similar or better quality of learning? It's quite staggering to see how middle and elementary students are expected to retain only 70% of their reading gains and just 50% of their mathematical advancements made this past year due to the extended summer and therefore fewer hours spent in school. 

I've been grappling with all these trends we may see within the next couple of years and it's hard to imagine that there really will be a new normal. Restaurants will be operating at a lower capacity. You might not be able to go to sporting events. Sports themselves may change during the season, particularly with contact sports like football. 

What's perhaps most amazing to me is how technologically and societally advanced humans are given our ability to adapt and how helpless we suddenly become during this pandemic. Humans have evidently lost a degree of control during this pandemic, something few things have been able to do. These are clearly unprecedented times. Unprecedented times with a before and an after. Sometimes I imagine I'm in the future remembering the pre-COVID life, how we used to eat indoors at restaurants and be able to see peoples' faces when we passed them on the streets. That would be a drab reality.