By Tim Hayes

Jarring transformations make us sit up and take notice. You look around and nothing looks recognizable anymore. Scary, exciting, confusing, adrenaline-pumping.

We see it in superhero movies all the time. A cosmic mishap or a super serum or a surge of radiation or the arrival of a denser molecular alien among us. Something unexpected occurs and – Boom! – suddenly everything changes. Old assumptions seem silly, stupid, illogical, wasteful, outdated, and a new order emerges.

Well guess what, gang? We’re all living through one of those spasms right now. When this insatiable virus finally goes back out to sea and we can regain some of our old equilibrium, the world, our American society, our neighborhoods, our family traditions, will not – cannot – be the same again. Not exactly the same, in any event.

I’m no futurist. I’m no sociologist. But I am a thinking, rational adult. And here are some scenarios I’d like to throw out there for discussion. These are not predictions or any kind of wish list of things I necessary want to happen.  They’re simply questions that have been rolling around in my noggin since this exercise in patience and endurance began.

See what you think, and let me know by responding to this essay. Okay, here goes…

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Millions of people now have adapted to working from home. It seems to be functioning okay, all in all. So think about it. Why do thousands of people need to drive and ride buses into a downtown area, just to fill up all those big tall buildings every day? Why can’t remote teams be the norm, or at the very least, a permanently acceptable option? And as fewer people occupy those skyscrapers and office buildings, how could that real estate be repurposed to serve the greater good?

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As more remote working takes hold, why should employers get so obsessed with sick days and personal days? That always struck me as a fairly dumb reason to get one’s panties in a bunch. Why can’t all of that administrative hassle get streamlined or go away entirely? If a person is working from home, he or she could probably still do some of it while not feeling great, or even take some “mental health breaks” during the day. Keep it simple.

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The education system has been ripped from its predictable schedule and traditions, with the last three months of the academic calendar abruptly shifted to distance learning. For elementary, middle, and high schools, could this new model lead to a rethinking of the entire school year? Could summer vacation become a relic of the past, with mini-breaks of three weeks or so coming between nine-week academic sessions?

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Even more striking has been the impact on higher education. As college students complete the spring semester from home or other off-campus locations, will cyber-learning become an expected option for a higher percentage of those enrolled moving forward? Paying for credit hours while saving on housing costs and meal plans would certainly reduce the debt burden after graduation. But would the true college experience of living and learning on your own be lost? And how badly would alumni loyalty – and donations in years to come – suffer, when a degree can be earned while conceivably never setting foot on the actual campus?

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During this crisis, as people lose their jobs due to businesses suffering or collapsing, any employment-related health insurance they may have had also has gone up in smoke – precisely at the moment when it might be needed most, should someone contract the coronavirus. Will the fallout of this harsh reality shift the national attitude toward acceptance of government-administered health care insurance coverage for all Americans, with no dependency on one’s employment status? Will people be willing to trade higher taxes for eliminating the cost of paying for health care coverage, whether taken out of a paycheck or paid out-of-pocket?

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Amazon, for all its faults, has shown us a model we like. Quick, convenient, hassle-free shopping with goods that come to your door. During this time of social isolation, online shopping has exploded to levels never seen before. So why stop when the coronavirus emergency ends? Why do we need to crowd into supermarkets, spend hours of valuable time walking around, plucking items off shelves and cases, wait in checkout lines, load then unload cars, then put stuff on shelves and in refrigerators at home? Why can’t the stores adapt to this new reality, this new paradigm, and do all that work themselves and bring what we want to us directly?

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Online commerce, entertainment, and the very act of conducting daily business have risen to a primary and essential capability during this crisis. This has been a godsend, but it also places digital providers like the major telephone and technology companies in an unbelievably strong position. Think “supply and demand.” So what’s to stop them from taking egregious advantage of their good fortune, blackmailing the world with unreasonable rates, restricting access to bandwidth unless the demanded tribute is paid? Whoever has the gold makes the rules, they say. That doesn’t make it right. Will regulators ensure consumer protections, should something like this begin to take shape?

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We have seen a colossal failure at the federal level, leaving states, local government, health care systems, and regional business leaders to pick up the slack. In the aftermath, how will this change the relationship between these vital parties? Will Americans insist on a fairer federal tax collection system to pay for the billions in stimulus? Will states assert their roles and resist federal overreach? Is the era of big government hitting a wall, and if so, what shape will it take? And what sort of leadership will be needed to carry it out successfully?

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And finally, we all have been forced into isolation and for better or worse are becoming accustomed to the situation. It begs the question: What will it take for people to feel safe enough again to gather with friends and family, hug someone dear, share a night out over dinner and a show – the kind of human, person-to-person contact we have been frozen out of, and that we crave more than ever because of this unnatural interruption?

Let’s pray that this global “time-out” leads us to treasure each other all the more, and not give us more reason to separate and walk away from our fellow travelers on this earth.

We must endure this jarring transformation together. Let’s be positive, and assume that we will be more together than ever – in every definition of the word – when the clouds lift, sunlight brilliantly breaks through, and we can step out again under a golden sky, to rejoin and reconnect with our world in new ways.

Copyright 2020 Timothy P. Hayes