Post-Corona Modus Vivendi
Op-Ed
The current universally induced home arrest is a funny weird thing: the longer you’re confined to this bittersweet leisure, the more you get used to it, and not only that! You also become somewhat indolent in mind and body when involuntarily but safely locked up in your comfy little abode, the everyday routine exigencies no longer burdening your shoulders, and the worries hidden away, at least for a brief happy while. But this can all too soon turn in to a disastrous impassivity which affects every bit of one’s erstwhile vivacity and corrupts one’s customary zeal for life. I’m a believer in making good use of the leisure time, but I also love to go for divertissement, which definitely helps one to be an efficient performer at work and a helpful member in the family.
One of my favorite pastimes has always been walking. I adore strolling in the quaint narrow streets of my neighborhood, never getting tired of looking at the centuries-old metal gates and balconies of Old Tbilisi. But behold, the other day I decided to take my brief customary walk and found myself tired and bored. I even felt a little indisposed. OMG, could it be the perfidious virus of the century? Back home forthwith! I checked my temp: all OK. I attacked my food, my appetite in place in all its voracity. I did a couple of pull-ups and was physically fit. So what happened? I asked myself, and the answer soon followed that I had become unused to an outdoor lifestyle.
I suddenly felt myself an alien in the familiar streets of the town. My outdoor instance had made me somewhat uncomfortable, especially when the scrupulously masked passersby sought to shun me, meticulously observing the officially decreed social distance of several meters. It made me want to return to my library and plunge into my habitual solitude; to carry on with my self-education. Time and space for self-education, auto-training, personal development and individual perfection – this is Corona’s valuable gift, but the question is what are we going to do with all those accidental rewards when at large again after the infection has left us, say, forever.
What is the post-corona Modus Vivendi to be like? Cars back on the road? Schools back in the academic stream? Eateries back in business? Factories back in production? Political activists back on the streets? Movies back in the theaters? Cash back in our wallets? Doctors back in their regular routines? Is it all going to be as simple as that? I don’t think so! Minds and attitudes are going to be different in the post-viral era.
It was not a very plainly explicable flash when I felt I did not want to stay under open skies; found myself yearning for home coziness and warmth. As the saying has it, habit is second nature. In the confines of house-arrest, many new things are becoming habitual which will certainly take time to be rid of, if any of those new habits are not exactly acceptable. Some of the habits will of course be priceless to maintain, like avoiding kissing each other at every possible encounter in the day; shaking hands whether necessary or not; hugging each other endlessly; breathing into somebody’s neck in a queue; using used crockery and cutlery no matter how closely related the possible users are; avoiding crowded get-togethers; eschewing the throngs in the streets, notwithstanding the political indispensability and personal motivation for being part of it; using slippers both at home and when guesting; washing hands whenever and wherever a chance is given; and on a more sophisticated level, shopping, conferencing, planning, teaching, entertaining and chatting online.
This noted, questions still remain: how are we going to produce food online, or assemble cars and industrial machines, take care of major constructions, build railways, run armed forces, operate airports and enjoy those famous cruises? An optimist would inveterately insist that any disease will finally disappear, but a pessimist might retort: what if it stays or a new one appears? Both attitudes are justifiable to the extent of their own righteousness, but I still suggest getting seriously ready for our post-virus way of life.
By Nugzar B. Ruhadze
Image by Ann Kiernan for The Washington Post