Rant #2,403: Get Back

OK, I am going to try to answer the million-dollar question:

When are we going to get back to normal?

I just don't know.

There, I have answered the question.

Next ...

I think the real question that needs to be answered is this:

When are we going to get back to a somewhat normal existence?

That is the real million-dollar question, and the answer is this:

Soon, although it is going to be very, very complicated to conform to the "new" normal that we have before us.

Some states have opened up in what you can describe as an "early" manner, and they have seen their coronavirus numbers rise. Perhaps that tells all of us that NOW, right NOW, is not the time to do this.

But perhaps it tells us our new reality: no matter when we open up, there are going to be casualties. There are people who are going to get sick from this, and yes, there are people who are going to die from this when we open up our businesses.

You can pass it off as the survival of the fittest, and you wouldn't be wrong in doing so.

You can go the other route, saying that even one casualty is one too much, and again, you wouldn't be wrong in doing so.

But there has to be a middle ground, and there are some leaders who choose to ignore this, probably because they simply don't know what to say or do. They would rather err on the side of caution, then to have deaths on their resume.

Believe me, I can understand that.

But there has to be a middle ground, some type of compromise ... open up our businesses and our economy, and do it responsibly.

There is no reason that businesses cannot practice the current buzz phrase of the moment, "social distancing," by limiting the amount of people in the establishment at a given time.

And there is also curbside pickup, which restaurants have proven can work if done properly. Place your order, come at an appointed time, and pick it up.

Other businesses can handle their customer intake through appointments. Call up, get a time when you can go in, and be there on time, do what you have to do, and leave.

Non-retail businesses can also open up using social distancing right in their offices. Space employees working in the same environment at least six feet away from each other, and create work schedules that allow for this.

Certainly, any office that I have ever been in could have done this quite easily. Make full-time workers shift workers if you must, and stagger the shifts. It can be done.

Schools are another matter, and other than morning/afternoon schedules--and social distancing within those schedules for teachers and students alike--yes, this is a major problem, and must be studied a bit more, thinking outside the box.

Based on what I have seen and heard--my sister is not only going through the coronavirus, she is also a teacher--home study on the computer is a bit of a farce, and it simply doesn't work. You need that classroom time on an educational and social level to really succeed in your studies.

Now let's go back to what I said earlier. There are some of our elected officials who, I believe looking at their own resumes and agendas a bit too much--are putting up parameters for areas to open that simply cannot be met, not in the near future.

It has to do with cases and deaths, and even though both measures are going down in respective areas due to the general obedience by the public in following these guidelines, these officials, even though they say that they aren't, are being blinded by the light that many owners of businesses can't yet see because of these legislators' stubbornness.

Many small businesses--both those in retail and those in the general business world--have been shuttered for weeks now. They have had to either lay off or furlough all their workers, but the bills keep coming in.

Remember we spoke of the concept of "survival of the fittest" earlier in this entry? Well, you just know that many of these businesses will not return, cannot return, and will be shuttered forever if this thing keeps on going like it is.

And no, I am not talking about places like Kohl's and McDonald's and places that are part of big corporations. Yes, they are suffering, too, and they also need to come back to full force.

What I am really talking about are those smaller businesses--the true heart of America--that might never open again if this thing goes on for much longer.

I am talking about the corner newspaper stand, the small office with 30 workers, the Main Street businesses that are the lifeblood of this country, Remember, every business in this country started out as a Main Street business, became successful, and became behemoths. Think about if, let's say, a Macy's 100 years ago was told that it could not operate for weeks at a time. Do you think anybody would know what Macy's was in 2020?

And let's figure in the personnel who are the engine behind companies, both large and small. So many people are out of work now ... how can that be good for anyone? People aren't working, but the bills aren't stopping. Having been there and done that, with so many people on things like food lines, I have to think that the majority of American workers really do live from paycheck to paycheck, and when the paychecks stop--even for a relatively short period of time--their lives are in total ruin.

We need to get back to work, but no, I do not agree with protestors across the land who feel that we should simply go back to work as if nothing ever happened. They are fools, talk about the abridgment of their rights, and some even go as far as saying that this whole thing was created to upend world governments, and in particular, the government of the U.S.A.

No, I cannot agree with them at all. There is something out there, it is deadly, has impacted nearly every country on the globe in different measures ... no, now is not the time to kick the bucket and just open everything up, and do it now.

Those people are crazy, but I understand their passion to get back to normal ...

But what is normal after what we have been through?

Now is not the time to throw open the doors without major structural changes in the way businesses do business, at least for the foreseeable future.

And while I do not agree with the protestors, I also don't agree with our legislators, who have set parameters that will never be met, in particular in the hardest-hit areas.

There is a middle ground, and it must be applied here.

We simply cannot go on on shutdown and lockdown and quarantine and whatever you want to call it.

It is not good for our country, and it is not good for our collective psyche.

And it is not good for Main Street U.S.A.

I would like to see our leaders give a little, bend a little, understand that there is not going to be a cure or a agent created any time soon that will either wipe out or lessen the disease, and move forward to allow the nation's businesses to do what they were doing prior to the coronavirus hitting us, and that is, prospering beyond even the most optimistic person's wildest dreams.

It is time to do this, and the time is now.

If we wait any longer, we won't have a Main Street anymore.

I mean, what is the sense of having the local golf course open if the businesses that feed off that golf course--the pro shop, local restaurants--are shuttered?

That is not par for the course at all.