A Matter of Perspective

The results of COVID-19 have been far-reaching. As sick as we all are of hearing about this, I wanted to share something else that COVID-19 has taken from us, in my humble opinion.

It’s actually a couple of things tied together into one and my conspiracy theorist brain has run wild with it.

But here it is: COVID-19 has taken parts of our humanity away.

Let me explain.

Most people are very social creatures:

• We shake hands

• We hug

• We act and react to facial gestures

COVID-19 has taken those things. Not completely, but in many ways. I might touch my mom or dad on the arm, but I haven’t hugged them in months. I miss that.

I still hug my grandchildren, though. They are younger and, with hope, have a stronger ability to recover from illness than my parents.

I think my grandchildren get plenty of hugs, but some kids maybe don’t.

You know those kids. They are the ones that love school because they get a hug from their teacher. They are the ones who may not get much attention at home. School is the place they go to so they can get the attention they need.

I’m not bashing any parents here, some people just aren’t as affectionate. Some parents have to work two or more jobs to make ends meet. Some parents can’t spend a lot of time with their kids.

But now, those kids don’t get that attention at school either.

And trust me, adults are not immune to what the “social distancing” rules have taken from us, too.

I miss giving hugs and handshakes. I miss seeing people smile. Although, I must say that I have gotten a lot better at looking at people’s eyes to see what they might be feeling!

In my opinion, social distancing has made many of us “feel” distant.

I think it has gotten a bit better with school back in session. However, at any moment this could change.

I won’t go into my conspiracy theory on what all of this is for. Maybe later or...maybe I will use it in my book for National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO) in November. Now that might be a “novel” idea!