The "New Normal"
One major recent event that has affected us all dramatically is the CoronaVirus, and it has still lingered on to this day. This is obviously something that none of us were ready for and are still adapting to to this day. There are many different opinions of how to deal with the virus going around but we can not all seem to agree on one. Some people think that this is an overreaction and we should live our lives with no changes and others are afraid to even leave their house. Personally, I do not think either side is completely right but I do lean toward the view of it being an overreaction. Over time we have been given so many different stats on how dangerous it spreads and kills, but then other stats say that a majority of the deaths are not due solely to Corona. I understand people are afraid and I don’t believe that we will have a viable solution until there is a vaccine. I have done some research on the progress of vaccines with wishful thinking of a quick and easy cure. I found two articles, A leading coronavirus vaccine trial is on hold: scientists react, and Coronavirus vaccines get a biotech boost, both from nature.com. They both talk about how the accelerated process of this vaccine has had its ups and downs over the past couple of months. Long story short, they need more time to make sure that they are not creating another problem. Over the summer I worked at a restaurant called the Menotomy Grill where I saw first hand how Corona was affecting businesses. The culture of our country has dramatically changed due to the pandemic. During the first couple of weeks back the restaurant was dead. We were only allowed outdoor seating and people were still skeptical about going out to eat. Everyone working was required to wear a mask and gloves and we were doing everything right. The owner was continually stressed because of this sudden change where he was losing a lot of money. Over time we opened up indoor seating, but people coming in was very inconsistent. Word started to get out that we had adapted to this new restaurant culture and people appreciated that. We started to receive more consistent customers but we were still losing money. By the end of the summer we were almost back to breaking even and business was starting to pick up again. I think it is important for people to support their local businesses especially after seeing the behind the scenes.
Source:Menotomy Grill Facebook Page
This is one of the pieces of art that was hung up in the restaurant. This piece of art shows how we are adapting to the “new normal” and dealing with the pandemic while trying to stay in business. I think this piece does a great job of representing this.
Hey Sam, I also wrote my post about how COVID-19 has affected our lives and modern culture. Peoples’ safety obviously comes first, but I can agree with you in the sense that there are people (like the ones who have yet to really leave home) that are overreacting a bit. I like the insight you give from a personal perspective about the way small business and restaurants have had to adapt to these changes. It’s important for them to stay afloat as supporting them plays a big role in the recovery of our country. The vaccine will eventually come but its our responsibility to keep things on track and try to live normally until it does.
ReplyDeleteHey Sam, I wrote something related to COVID-19 and how it's been affecting many others and modern culture. I do agree with you on how people can't leave the house because of the virus and want to keep their families safe but a lot of still haven't adjust to this pandemic which is fine because people weren't prepared for something like this. Schools now are remote and it's a shame that kids can't learn the way they want to and have to look at a screen all day to learn and some kids find it difficult to learn like that.
ReplyDeleteIt's neat that you found an example from your workplace to share here. I think this is a really interesting image and I'd be interested in your thoughts on the kind of impression the image gives off. This would be an interesting place to use some of the critical analysis techniques, specifically for artwork, in considering how the image conveys a message to its viewers.
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