Pandemic Fatigue

 

Last week as we were all speculating about whether there will be another lockdown and if so, how will it differ from the spring edition, etc., I came across the term "pandemic fatigue" in various articles. I may not suffer from it in the actual sense as I am still a compliant "good citizen", but I've certainly tired of a lot of the things that seemed bearable when you thought they were only temporary. I have mentioned it before, but I am becoming more and more indignant with people who are not able to pull themselves together and accept the fact that we need to obey a few things in order to be able to enjoy others. I had an interesting discussion with a friend last week when I said that one of the reasons why I try my best to take all precautions is that I don't want to inconvenience other people (who, by becoming my contacts should I get tested positive, would have to stay in quarantine and not be able to do what they might have planned for that period of time). She said that this was ridiculous as nobody thought that way about giving anybody else the flu or any other disease. Apart from the fact that I would actually feel bad, I do think it is different if you need to be quarantined and there is a certain aspect of social stigma involved as well. It might not be within everybody's comfort zone to have paramedics with protective suits turn up at your door for all neighbours to see.  As we're faced with a home-bound November with no idea how the rest of the winter months will unfold, I'd like to have a fast-forward button to that period in the future when we will hopefully have a certain stability again. It does not even have to be all rosey, but it would be nice to familiarise yourself with that New Normal, whatever it may be, without having to fear that it won't last longer than a month or two.