Will We Social Distance Forever?

The Quarantine Zone
1

I can’t see people shaking hands in a few months due to fears. Even if say I was totally carefree and open to being in crowds, if my friends are averse to it, then I won’t be doing it, either. I also have been hearing those in LA saying how nice the air is to breathe since everyone is video-conferencing instead of flying airplanes.

Even the regular flu is terrible enough - I had two weeks of it. It seems the world has been going this way, anyway. Instead of face to face, people use e-mail, phones, even using Skype (or porn) to get off sexually, and then moving along with your day.

2

No. People will go back to being people, always have before and always shall. You might see a bit less handshaking, but not a whole lot else is going to really change.

Most jobs can’t be done by Zoom, so the traffic will come back. I think folks who can telecommute don’t appreciate just how many jobs have to be physically done in person.

3

Some people are feeling starved for human contact, and are just getting through this period of social distancing by remembering that it’s not going to last forever.

Those who want to self-isolate may find it easier to keep doing so.

4

Even Fauci says its going to come back in the Fall… I’m not saying EVERYONE will, but there won’t be many people to be social with if those you know are going to play it safe.

There are a lot of people I know (including myself) who only go to certain events (music, standup comedy), if say your favorite bands stop touring (and focus more on album sales), then your choices are limited.

5

I didn’t want to start a new thread but there’s something bothering me today. After looking through all the Quarantine Zone threads, this seemed like the best place to post even though it didn’t get much traction when it started eons ago on April 1.

How long will it be, if ever, that we feel safe being shoulder-to-shoulder in a crowd, shaking hands, hugging people? Before you feel okay with the dentist looking in your mouth, the ophthalmologist looking in your eye, the hairdresser touching your head? I think about the two choirs that I was singing in until all this happened, and being close together with a bunch of people singing (which means we’re basically spitting on each other) makes me very uneasy. In church during the Sunday service, there is the exchanging of peace with handshaking and hugs… the whole idea makes me squirmy.

Will I feel like going back to these things in a month? In six months? A year? Ever? I don’t know. … I mean, the virus is going to be around for a long time, isn’t it? It’s not going away. Businesses will have to open, schools start up, the normal activities of society will have to slowly resume. Even when the “curve flattens,” individuals will still get the virus and either recover or not. Statistics only describe group events, not individual events.

I’m 71, have had breast cancer and have type 2 diabetes-- won’t I always be at risk until there’s a vaccine or until I get the virus and survive? Just like *your *kids, spouse, parents, friends, and yourself, for that matter.

When do you imagine yourself feeling reasonably “safe” from this?

Yes, I know you could walk outside tomorrow and be hit by a falling satellite, or choke on a fishbone… I know you can’t let fear and anxiety stop you from living blahblahblah… there are no guarantees in life. I know. I’m a widow. I’ve lost loved ones. Not to COVID, but they died anyway. No guarantees.

I’m asking WRT to this currently looming viral threat-- asking for speculation, how long do you imagine it will be before you feel free of the imminent threat?

6

Of course, we don’t know.

The closest example I know of is SARS in Taiwan (2002 -2003). Much less common than COVID-19, but much more deadly.

A lot of people still wore masks as of last year, especially if they had a cold. Normal? Answer: Normal with a feeling we are all in this together. (Yes, a stereotype, but there is something to it.)

Once we get to where anyone can get a test whenever they want it, almost for free, it probably will feel OK. If COVID-19 is a reportable illness with contact tracing, more so.

While boards like this exaggerate the important of political leadership, times of disaster can be the exception.

In many nations (not mine!), there has been a tremendous increase in popularity of national leaders, and faith in government generally. This is true even in countries like Italy where things are objectively terrible.

Now I’m going to write as if ThelmaLou = American. Your name does sound like that :smiley:

If Biden wins by some tiny margin (the only way he can), he will, like almost every new President, get a big popularity bump at the start. Such a boost even happened to Trump. But if the fear is still there next January – and I’m afraid some will – Uncle Joe is going to be hit with a love bomb. That will help.

National mood, next February – I hope:

7

When there is a vaccine, no sooner. I’m fine with waiting.

For me, stay-at-home is no hardship. I work from home and am accustomed to being on my own. I miss seeing my friends face-to-face, but we stay in touch and it will have to do for now.

8

ThelmaLou, while it feels like this COVID stuff has been going on forever, it’s still far too soon to say what we’ll feel like doing when this is over. So much depends on whether there an effective vaccine or treatment. If so, I’ll get that and happily shake hands, hug when appropriate, etc. Some people may not, particularly those who hated physical contact before this all started. If I lived where one of those idiot governors chomping at the bit to lift the stay-home orders did so too soon, I wouldn’t do any of those.

9

People will accommodate temporary obstacles but at some point will need to get on with life. This would be especially true of young people who want to move on with their lives - finish high school, finish college, start a career, eventually maybe pair-bond and have children.

In order to do most of those things, and to develop your personality, you have to get out and do things and be part of the world.

I’d just like to get my dental work finished, so my goals are modest. I really need new glasses, but that’s not happening right now either. I would do those things tomorrow if I could because it’s really challenging to chew and it’s increasingly more difficult to work when everything is fuzzy.

Quality of life is important too and, as time goes on, people will be more willing to take risks in order to achieve their goals and make their lives better.

I’m not sure how much will change or if those changes will be permanent. It will be interesting to see, but I think RickJay is on the right track.

10

How long after the 1918 Spanish Flu until things got more or less back to normal?

11

I watch old sitcoms like they’re horror movies now. Sitting in a coffee shop with two dozen people?! Dancing in a night club?!? A business meeting with handshakes??!!?

It really is hard to remember when things weren’t like this, and it’s only been a month. I have a feeling it’s going to take a while for things to get back to how they were, if it even ever does.

I remember on March 8, our pastor was on the third week of giving people an “out” not to do the traditional handshake during the passing of the peace. Then two seconds after he said that, the woman in front of us turned around and gave my wife a big hug (it was almost like an overtly-pious middle finger to the notion of spreading disease). Both of us were horrified, but what can you do? Personally, as someone who hates physical contact with people who aren’t my immediate family and close friends, I hope handshakes and hugs go the way of the dodo once people start getting together again.

12

Yup. There will be a selection bias.

But overall we are social creatures and distant socializing is not what we are evolved for. Maintaining distance like this requires a sense of imminent threat. That sense can maintained only so long until the threat is perceived as either having mostly passed or is the new normal that we adapt to and accept. As soon as restaurants are open they will be busy. The first hugs might be awkward but living in constant fear is too much work to maintain. And frankly it kills as surely as COVID-19 does.

13

Between 27 and 72 years. That’s when Germany surrendered and was allowed to peacefully reunite, respectively.

Spanish Flu was intimately linked with WW1. The “recovery” and “return to normalcy” were predicated on the recovery after the War generally, not specific to the pandemic.

14

I concur with this. It’s hard to look at things objectively right now, but how dangerous was a handshake or a hug just a couple months ago, and is doing so in a couple of months going to be any more risky? Same for being in or around a crowd, on a bus, train, or airliner. I do think if someone is coughing and evidently not well, people will move way from them, but that is relatively easy to do. I think human contact and being around groups is just, well, human, and it will be difficult for most to break that habit.

15

I predict a great surge in interest, with expedited Research and Development, in teledildonics.

Teledildonics: The Weird, Wonderful World of Social Sex Toys, Gizmodo, Feb. 2014.

Ins and Outs of Teledildonics, Wired, Sept. 2004.

16

There isn’t a whole lot of economic data available from that time period, but what there is shows recovery from the Spanish flu took “several years” on the whole, but that

17

I’d love to thank the handshake is over, but based on the utter stupidity of people I’ve seen from people even in the most avoidable social distancing situations, I have a bad feeling this will come back, and you refuse one you will be considered a douche-bag.
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18

Here in Taiwan, people very very vigilant in February and March because of the memory of Sars.

Starting in the middle of March, we experienced an uptick in cases as more people returned from overseas, either from work or vacation. That scared people again, but as the numbers of new cases continue to drop, then people have become less cautious again.

If Western countries get the numbers down, I think it will be similar to Taiwan, but probably worse in terms of rebounding. I also don’t think many countries will be able to do the contact tracing which is really necessary.

19

I think the handshake may be on it’s way out, just based on the fact that it seemed to be on its way out already, when the pandemic hit.

It used to be a general greeting, but before the pandemic, it was pretty much reserved for first-time meeting, shaking over a deal, and occasionally congratulatory shakes with older people not in the “high-five” paradigm.

20

Masks, gloves, handwashing and other sanitation reduce many risks to levels I personally am comfortable with.

ON EDIT - sorry if I was unclear that I added parentheticals to the quote.