The ‘New Normal’

I’m back. I returned to the office from maternity leave June 3.
It’s a quieter office than the one I left mid-February, with the majority of the staff still working from home.  
Those in the office remain socially distant from one another, giving each other a wide berth when navigating cubicles and stairways. Meetings are held via Zoom, even between those of us who are in the building.
Signs posted in the lunchroom and bathrooms remind employees to wash their hands frequently and thoroughly. Want to enter someone’s office space? Don’t even think about it unless you’re wearing a mask.
The morning of the day that I wrote this, I held the door for a coworker entering the building behind me, and she was hesitant to pass me for fear of getting too close.
Some are calling this the “new normal,” a phrase I’m quickly beginning to dislike. I refuse to accept that.
I understand why things must be this way for now, and that certain behaviors should, and will, change forever, but we can’t let this be the “new normal,” at least not in all aspects.
I want to be able to hug people outside of my immediate household again, sans elbow bump. I want to be able to cough or sneeze in public without receiving judgmental looks (it’s allergies, I swear).
I want to be in the same room with someone without wondering if I’m too close, or if they’re too close. I want to be able to leave the house without worrying that I’ll bring the virus home to my daughter.
Being three months old, she knows nothing of the pandemic she was born into. Luckily, she entered this world before things took a turn for the worse (March 5).  
I can’t imagine how those who gave birth in the weeks after me must’ve been feeling, especially those first-time moms being told their partner couldn’t be in the delivery room with them. I don’t know what I would’ve done without my husband there with me.
In the weeks following my daughter’s birth, businesses shut down, events were cancelled, and a stay-at-home order was issued. Friends and family stopped visiting for fear of passing anything on to the baby. Only a select few could meet her. Many still haven’t.
It’s true that so many things have been ruined by this virus. Students have been robbed of their graduations, birthdays have gone uncelebrated, weddings have been postponed, and the list goes on. It’s also true that communities have come together and found new ways to bring some joy into each other’s lives.
Middle Township High School organized a Front Porch Prom event May 15, in which students dressed in formal wear and had their photos taken in place of their prom that was cancelled. Last week’s Herald (June 10), featured a story on Wildwood Catholic’s drive-by graduation ceremony. Sea Isle City Council, at its June 9 meeting, planned to organize a parade today, with fire trucks and other city vehicles stopping at graduates’ homes.
I’m happy to feature these stories in our pages. If you know of any, please let me know at editor@cmcherald.com.
They give me hope that the “new normal” will be what we make it. Be well.
ED. NOTE: The author is the managing editor of the Cape May County Herald.