It's left me with too much to do, so let's sort through it all with a classic Proper Admin.
Mask mandate senioritis?
We left off last month with initial reactions to Massachusetts relaxing its statewide mask mandate, which had been in place since May 6, 2020. I wondered a couple of times these past few weeks if the decision would prove to be a proverbial "slippery slope" moment for the state, perhaps the start of a local descent into the national pandemic senioritis I had read about this spring, but from my observation this wasn't quite the case. For the most part, the people I encountered seemed to be masked in alignment with the relaxed order, with my guess being that around 75% of people were masked in regularly trafficked areas (this number dropped to 25% in open spaces).
My approach has been to keep some kind of covering on wherever there was less than six feet on one side - like a sidewalk - while going with the relaxed approach in wider spaces - like walking through the park. It seems like a sizable portion of others have adopted a similar practice. The biggest difference I've noticed from last spring is the interpretation of "impossible to social distance". Last year, the average person coming down the sidewalk seemed quite optimistic about this concept, often pulling up his or her (but usually his) mask just as we passed each other, but this past month more people seemed to prefer the simpler approach of remaining masked even if most of their journey would pass without close contact with a fellow pedestrian.
To go back to the idea I mentioned above - I concluded in May that the broad comparison relating relaxed measures to senioritis, although amusing, was generally off the mark. What I've noticed in the way folks are emerging from restrictions is markedly more tentative than the carefree "job done, why bother" mentality that defines senioritis. I'd say a better comparison is the process of waking up in a crowded house - the early birds tip-toeing about, failing to keep the space perfectly quiet despite knowing others are still asleep, the decibels rising one by one until the late risers come around, begrudgingly, to the idea of a new day.
Zoom...
Reopening has moved along much faster than I'd anticipated. I'm wondering if the accelerated pace explains why quite a few folks seem confused regarding their approach to rediscovering normal, like the way rushing through a familiar task leaves even seasoned experts prone to amateur errors. I think it's always helpful in these potentially overwhelming moments to think back to core principles and reorient around the basics.
One consistent number that keeps coming back to me is ten thousand. This is what Dr. Fauci seems to think is a reasonable target for the pandemic response - get the count of new cases down to ten thousand, nationally, per day, then start loosening restrictions. He said something to this effect last year, said it again over the winter, and has been repeating it throughout the spring. If I translate 10K into the Massachusetts population, I get two hundred and ten cases per day. These numbers work for me - once Massachusetts, over a seven-day running average, gets its new case count below 210 per day, I'll start feeling confident about getting out and about in the spirit of 2019.
...fatigue
One of the defining features of my New Normal has been the shift in my social life - I am now doing nothing during the week, whereas in the Good Old Days I tried to keep myself occupied from Monday to Thursday night. I don't see an issue with this - some may argue its long overdue - but there have been some noticeable repercussions. The most important change has involved social fatigue. I've found myself lately waking up on weekend mornings completely wiped out. Initially, I rounded up the usual suspects for further investigation - sleep, alcohol, exercise, overwork - but I didn't notice a particular pattern implicating any of these as the guilty party. After a few reunions and catchups, I realized the culprit was likely that defining characteristic of the introvert-extrovert divide.
As usual, I don't see this kind of revelation as a problem - it's actually quite nice to continue learning about myself. The important thing is to incorporate the new information into my decisions. The key in the coming months will be to acknowledge social fatigue on certain weekend mornings so that I don't waste hours forcing myself into writing when I understand the impossibility of the task. There is also some opportunity I must explore on weekdays - having once made early morning writing impossible for myself, I had ruled it out as an option during the pandemic, but I am recognizing now that it may be a good moment to reconsider the pre-pandemic conclusion.
Some proper admin...
Due to some Google admin, I will need to make some adjustments to the email subscription method. Stay tuned! Worst-case scenario is that we'll have to go old-school for a few days, though of course I'm sure I can avoid this outcome.
Thanks for reading, see you in June!
