By a working definition, NORMAL is described as “conforming
to a type, standard, or regular pattern: characterized by that which is
considered usual, typical, or routine.
Just 20 years ago, nobody much knew anything about this
thing called the Internet. I believe it
was around August of 1991, that the world-wide-web first appeared. At that time, “www”, was nothing but a
repetition of letters that one typed by mistake.
Not so long ago, but yet it seems like an eternity…we
reached over to press the button off on the alarm clock by our bed, got up,
read the newspaper, made our own coffee at home, on occasion picked up the
receiver on a rotary or push button dial telephone to check on a friend or
relative, and then went to work to address stacks of paper that needed to be
filled out in triplicate using a mimeograph machine that had that weird ink
smell. Students went to school, carried
loads of books strapped together with a belt and wrote on paper. That was “normal.” We made the copies,
dropped them in a paper file and put them in a metal file cabinet. That was
then.
This is now. We wake
up to the alarm on our cell phones, check the social media platforms, check the
news and the stock reports, send a text or a DM to a friend or relative, dress
and head to work or school, stopping to buy a coffee on the way…that we have
already paid for in the App on our phone, get to the office or school, open our
laptops or pads and make a copy, scan or edit a document, then store it in the
cloud for future use, and send a copy by email to those that need access. That
is our normal, now.
Remote or virtual capabilities for meetings or classes for
work or school, are now a part of our everyday life. Having to work from home, or do school from
home, may not be what you want to have to do, knowing that in-person learning
is essential to us as humans, and the more effective way to teach, learn and
provide feedback as a part of the process, but we do what we have been doing
since time began: We monitor and adjust.
We want to be back together in the workplace, in school and
in our everyday social lives. In the meantime, through this pandemic, for every
situation, we learn how to expand the pros and overcome the cons. We thrive. We survive in what is now
normal.
Stay positive. Stay safe.
Keith Brown
