What can be more random than a Virus?

[wiebe@CARYA]

The new today was that the social distancing (I like physical distancing better) will probably be needed for the next two years...

I doubt society will accept it for that long, but we'll see.

[RobertoBozzolo]

They have prohibited public ceremonies in churches from the end of February here, the same as almost other forms of aggregations: cinema, theatre, bar, restaurant, sport events... They initially let sport facilities open for professional athletes to continue preparation for Olympic games and other high-level meetings, but eventually excluded also these possibilities (and Olympics were postponed anyway...).

This hasn't protected us from the pandemic, basically because the virus was already stabilized in the country, but yes, isolation appears to be the most effective countermeasure against Coronavirus at least until a vaccine is found and massively used on population.

I don't suppose we can fulfill two years of this isolation, though, unless they intend to use the army to prevent uprising and guarantee the public order.

[Hooovahh]

Similar to some of the effects of the great depression, some effected by this will likely take on habits for the rest of their lives.  My grandparents (one still alive) were very anti-bank.  Always having cash (and lots of it) and talking about where money was buried if something happened.  These types of changes in behavior stem from years of mental reconditioning.  Likewise I wouldn't be surprised if people perform some of the habits they form today for the rest of their lives.  Will individuals open doors with their sleeves?  Wear masks in public?  Push buttons with their knuckles?  Shake hands less or find alternate ways?  Wash their hands more often and thoroughly?  Perform some kind of social distancing?  Reducing the risk of illness isn't something that was really on people's mind all that much and now is all some people think about when we are in public.  That kind of mental activity is the same kind of thing my grandparents had.

So our current isolation won't go on for two years, but some kind will likely continue with us (or some of us) for the rest of our lives.  I'm not willing to make predictions about when the world will be "normal" again, because we will just have a new normal.  When did my grandparent's lives become normal?  The world never stopped changing.  Their normal never came back, but it wasn't the end of the world.

[crossrulz]

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@Hooovahh wrote:

Similar to some of the effects of the great depression, some effected by this will likely take on habits for the rest of their lives.  My grandparents (one still alive) were very anti-bank.

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My wife's grandmother has a basement full of deep freezers, all completely full with food.  There are jokes about there being raspberries from 1940 in there.  And she will not share it even with her grandchildren.  Yes, she was a survivor of the Great Depression as well.

One of the things I'm expecting out of this is an explosion of people demanding to (continue to) work from home or remotely.  This goes along with the isolation factors.  But people are getting used to working from home and it will be an adjustment to commute again.

[wiebe@CARYA]

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@Hooovahh wrote:

Will individuals open doors with their sleeves?  Wear masks in public?  Push buttons with their knuckles?  Shake hands less or find alternate ways?  Wash their hands more often and thoroughly?  Perform some kind of social distancing? 

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Hoard toilet paper?

The Dutch word for hoarding is 'hamsteren' (hamstering). One more thing I learned from this crisis: the sign language sigh for hamstering. It went viral. The interpreter is brilliant; here's she the following press conference..

[LV_Pro]

Ironically, handshakes evolved as a way to signify you weren't holding a weapon. No it is the weapon. A hand over the heart, a curt nod/small bow, maybe a common salutation "May your hand be washed" will be the future. 

[Ben]

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@LV_Pro wrote:

Ironically, handshakes evolved as a way to signify you weren't holding a weapon. No it is the weapon. A hand over the heart, a curt nod/small bow, maybe a common salutation "May your hand be washed" will be the future. 

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I like a salute.

It like a hand shake was a way of indicating one was not an enemy. Knights would lift their visor to show they were not an enemy using a motion that evolved into the modern salute.

Ben

[Ben]

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@crossrulz wrote:

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@Hooovahh wrote:

Similar to some of the effects of the great depression, some effected by this will likely take on habits for the rest of their lives.  My grandparents (one still alive) were very anti-bank.

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My wife's grandmother has a basement full of deep freezers, all completely full with food.  There are jokes about there being raspberries from 1940 in there.  And she will not share it even with her grandchildren.  Yes, she was a survivor of the Great Depression as well.

...

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My father was born during the depression and my mother was born in a chicken coop since that is all my grandfather could afford. The very idea of throwing away food revolted them as I learned when I was a wee-babe.

I live in the old mining home my grandparents lived in which is now about 100 years old. The back-basement my grandmother used to store food is where my better-half keeps her preps, some of which are rated to last longer than me ( smiley-wink). She has four freezers all fully stoked.

Spoiler

Imagine what the house smells like if a freezer full of meat fails when away on vacation for a week! I do not have to imagine, I remember!

Now with the models predicting fewer deaths and unemployment numbers climbing, my concern is turning toward the effects of a depression. On the one hand I have close family in the heath-care industry but on the other hand I had an uncle I never met because he died of malnutrition because my grandmother was able to nurse him since they could not afford food.

Both virus and depression are life threatening. Ignoring one due to fear of the other could be disastrous.

The scene from The Matrix choosing the red pill or the blue pill has come to mind many times recently.

Spoiler

The below video is what turned me to the " dark prepper side" many years ago. It was a BBC production that aired on PBS in the 70's. It is over 40 minutes long and if taken seriously could the life changing. It changed mine.

Spoiler

Ben 

[altenbach]

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@LV_Pro wrote:

Ironically, handshakes evolved as a way to signify you weren't holding a weapon.  

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It's definitely a cultural thing. When I traveled Japan about 15 years ago I was surprised by the cleanliness and our society probably needs to adapt some of these habits permanently.

Examples

• Bows instead of handshakes.
• Railings on escalators are cleaned often with disinfecting rags (employee placing rag and grabbing with both hands for a full revolution.
• All taxis have washable covers on e.g. headrests and are always superclean.
• etc.

(OTOH, traveling in China showed the complete opposite. We were in that fancy Hotel in Shanghai and one of the locals spit a gigantic loogie on the shiny marble floor in the middle of the lobby. Everybody just ignored it. A little girl in the train station had to pee, and her mom directed her to just use the floor between the chairs in the waiting room, which she did without hesitation 🐵

[Ben]

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@altenbach wrote:

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@LV_Pro wrote:

Ironically, handshakes evolved as a way to signify you weren't holding a weapon.  

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It's definitely a cultural thing. ...

🐵

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When being taught about "Culture shock" the following jokes was used to illustrate.

A minister from the US traveled to the Middle East to meet with a religious leader there.

After being greeted at the air port they were walking along and the Middle Easterner had to blow his nose. He put his finger aside his nose and blew out the other nostril on the ground. The US guy looked at that and thought "How disgusting!" to himself.

After walking a bit farther the US had to blow his nose. He took out his handkerchief, blew his nose, folded the handkerchief, and returned to his pocket. The Middle Easterner seeing this questioned to himself, "I wonder what he is saving that for?"

Seas Story Time!

circa 1978

I was talking to a bar maid in Italy (her job was to keep me drinking) an eventually I asked;

Ben "Why do all Italians smell of body odor?"

Barmaid: "Why do all Americans smell like flowers?"

Ben