(HW 4/21) None of our parents or grandparents ever experienced a pandemic like this. This is our first time being as a species since the Spanish flu, though that wasn’t quite a global pandemic. Modern infrastructure has allowed for this virus, which is already extremely contagious, to spread at rates never really seen before. Thankfully, the virus isn’t as lethal as, say, the black death, but despite this is still causing economic disaster and forcing nations to shut down. To say the least, we won’t be the same going forward as a species. I think this experience has all humbled us in some way, showing us how we can be powerless to a microscopic organism. 

So how will this pandemic change things moving forward? I think that people will continue to wear masks and social distance for a while, possibly even over the course of the next year. Within the next month or two most businesses will be operational but still follow CDC guidelines. With how fast paced our lives are nowadays, I think that after a couple years people will have forgotten about the virus and go back to business as usual. 

There will be a period after everything reopens where we’re all extra appreciative of everything because we’ve experienced how fragile the system can be, but I’d say it’s more than likely that’s everyone’s attitude and outlook will return to what it was before the pandemic. It will be something that we’ll always remember, but I don’t think it’ll have the lasting impact that something like 9/11 has. This is assuming it doesn’t get worse however, since right now the number of deaths in the US is relatively low. I’m actually surprised that we managed to flatten the curve, but I fear that we may see a resurgence of cases since everyone seems to be coming out of quarantine now. Everyone is still being cautious and wearing masks, which helps a lot. Philly was projected to be the next hot spot for corona but thankfully we haven’t seen that prediction come to fruition.  

As for how we should act after this pandemic, I think we should be much more appreciative of the people who worked to make the world function during all of this, and be a lot more thankful of everything we have overall, because life is so delicate. Everyone should be nicer and more considerate of each other because you don’t know who was affected by what and how. This virus has put families through not only the prospect of losing loved ones, but extreme financial strain. 

Our planet has shown tremendous resilience by reversing the damage we’ve done to it over the years. California has the cleanest air it’s ever had and global warming is being reversed. Many species are repopulating since there is less hunting and fishing. We should be more environmentally conscious going forward.

We also need to take things that come around like this more seriously. I’ll admit, even I underestimated the virus at first. If we see warning signs, like we did, we need to quarantine as a country and make sure to keep the curve flat before it even begins. 

Despite this, I think in the long run we’ll forget all about this and go back to our old ways of doing things. I will try to live according to these lessons learned though, and if a lot of other people do the same then I think pandemics like this will be handled much better the next time there is one.