“Coronavirus Changes”

c. 2020 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(3-20)

The Coronavirus pandemic has reshaped our habits with frightening rapidity. It has upset norms long accepted by most societies across the globe. Yet its effect on our language has been just as dramatic. While writers everywhere work to create the prose that will describe this shift, they grapple with terms that have become fluid in nature.

Yesterday and today look very different from our current perspective. Tomorrow beckons with unknown challenges. But all of these words fail to evoke the sheer sense that we have entered a new and uncertain age. One with a kind of connectivity unknown to those who endured the worldwide Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918. Or to those sturdy souls who survived the ‘Great Depression.’

What follows here are a few examples of modern terminology, redefined:

Hand Washing, Before – A good habit, taught by responsible parents and adults, but too often ignored by regular folk.

Hand Washing, After – A ritual to be performed regularly as a defense against the Coronavirus. Accompanied by song, if needed, to mark the proper amount of time.

Going Viral, Before – A term often used to describe a video or story viewed many times over via the internet. An achievement to be celebrated.

Going Viral, After – Catching the sickness.

Social Distancing, Before – Being aloof. Out of the community. Willingly absent from society or banished from the same. Marked by fate. Viewed with a measure of suspicion.

Social Distancing, After – A participant in the plan. Sacrificing for the greater good.

Shelter in Place, Before – Finding a safe location during a crisis or hazardous situation. Remaining there until given an ‘all clear’ assurance from authorities.

Shelter in Place, After – A necessary strategy to slow the spread of the Coronavirus. Though the term has been disavowed by some, like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. A necessary separation from others. Willful surrender of physical closeness.

Panic, Before – Outlandish and crazy behavior. A sign of weakness. Or fear.

Panic, After – Chaos as a result of uncertainty. Buying copious amounts of consumer goods, like bath tissue. To the point that the supply-chain itself is depleted and a factor in causing further unrest. Hoarding items while others are forced to go without. Runs on banks and ATM locations. Stockpiling fuel and weapons.

Wartime, Before – Battling a foreign adversary. Or a terrorist group. Maintaining military and police defenses to preserve order.

Wartime, After – Battling an unseen force. A virus spreading worldwide, with alarming ease. Facing the challenge of preserving unity by spreading ourselves apart from one another. Gathering resources to treat those who have been stricken.

Self-Quarantine, Before – A necessary precaution, when dealing with sickness.

Self-Quarantine, After – A strategy being used all over the globe with those who have tested positive for the Coronavirus.

Isolation, Before – An unnatural condition for human beings. A social vacuum that tests our ability to cope and survive. A tactic used to punish inmates in a correctional system, or prisoners during war.

Isolation, After – A necessary method to halt the Coronavirus. One that carries drastic side-effects of alienation and loneliness. Or, for some, a chance to focus on the inner self and religious traditions.

Lockdown, Before – Punishment. A loss of liberty.

Lockdown, After – A path toward stopping the fury of this pandemic. Temporary surrender of free movement and free will.

Social Media, Before – Platforms for interaction and disseminating information. Also, a conduit for gossip and ‘fake news.’ A two-headed serpent of sorts, both good and bad by nature.

Social Media, After – A way to remain in touch without touching.

Sanitizer, Before – Something able to clean and disinfect.

Sanitizer, After – Like gold. A valued commodity in this new age of crisis.

Risk/Reward, Before – Pondering investment strategies. Buying a home or a car. Business planning.

Risk/Reward, After – Deciding whether to open your front door. Choosing trips to the supermarket. Avoiding possible exposure to the virus. Or the unintended transfer of sickness to others with compromised immune systems.

Partisanship, Before – A political habit that has us constantly in combat with each other over the supremacy of our team. Tribalism. Habitual divisiveness.

Partisanship, After – Dangerous and damning behavior. Literally a suicidal impulse with such a threat looming over everyone.

This mandatory pause offers time to reflect on the gift of life, love and fellowship. Even as we strive to preserve our neighborhoods and our world, each of us faces this moment in sharper focus. As we consider that the gift of being could vanish so quickly, there is a greater sense that what we possess in our existence is valuable above all else.

A world of things and money is hollow and dead. This global challenge reminds us of that truism. Yet one fashioned from kinship and familial love shines brightly even under dark clouds of crisis like the Coronavirus.

Comments about ‘Words on the Loose’ may be sent to: icewritesforyou@gmail.com

Write us at: P. O. Box 365 Chardon, OH 44024