Thursday, April 23, 2020

Rationalizing bad behavior? Follow some rules, please.

I just re-read the last post about breaking rules. Part of me wants to delete it but the other part says to leave it alone. Honestly, it sounds like rationalizing bad behavior, something I am loathe to admit.  But hey, bottom line is that I do defy authority now and then but I also respect  authority as a necessary boundary to keep civilization in line.  Without some rules we would have anarchy and I never really want that.  I just want my own personal kind of anarchy and everyone else should follow the rules.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Right now we are living with new rules. We are not supposed to mingle, we are supposed to stay in our own place and take shelter there. Socialization has come to a halt, at least in person. While no one likes this, most rational people understand the need for it.  The virus is deadly.  No one wants to become infected. However, there are people out there breaking the rules, of course, and in this case I want to slap them. Break rules that won't hurt anyone.  Don't break rules that can spread death and injury.

This pandemic is changing how we interact with each other and with society.  The future is unknown, of course, but we can bet there will be parts of this social distancing that will never be erased. Shaking hands, hugging strangers (yes, we do that in the hospitality industry, happy guests sometimes want to hug their hotel contact), sharing food, crowding together on subway and public transit trains and buses. But maybe the lack of contact will make us all appreciate whatever contact we can make.  Maybe this absence of touch will make us only settle for important touch and maybe our bonds will become stronger for that.

(Isn't it odd that the two words "stronger" and stranger" have just one little letter different and yet they are universes apart?)

Stay healthy and please be happy.  If you can.

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