Life in 2021 is nothing like normal
Life in 2021 is nothing like normal. Will it ever be again? Is this the “new” normal? What is normal? Can anyone remember?
I remember back at the end of 2019 as we were approaching 2020. I was watching the daily protests and insurrection in Hong Kong. A friend I met on Facebook was reporting daily from Hong Kong. Michael Yon is America’s most experienced living war correspondent and he was right on point in that jewel of Asia as it slowly unraveled, due more to the actions of the CCP than any other faction.
I call Michael a friend, even though I have never met him in person, and even though our communication with each other has little at best. Michael is a friend to all who cherish freedom, and he is a great friend to Hong Kong. But I digress…
Late in 2020 – I can’t remember with certainty if it was as early as the end of November, but I’m pretty sure it was – I was seeing alarming cellphone video out of mainland China, as I monitored various channels for information on Hong Kong and internal trouble in China. There was chatter about an unusual form of pneumonia going around. It caught my attention, because people aren’t in the habit of sending unsanctioned video out of China unless something big is going on.
Something made my warning bells start going off. This could be big, whatever it was. This could affect the whole world!
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Michael noticed it immediately. Soon he was reporting on it and warning us that it definitely was serious. Soon we were seeing videos coming out of Wuhan in Hubei province of people collapsing in the streets. Hospitals were overflowing and bodies were being stacked in the hallways. Morgues were overflowing.
Michael and others in Asia were warning their followers that this was serious. It was time to stock up on masks and other supplies. I called my kids, here in Canada and also in the USA. “Stock up on supplies,” I told them. “Make sure you have at least enough to get you through a month or two, in case supply lines break down. Get plenty of water. Buy N90 masks if you can. Prepare for something really serious.”
Others were saying the same thing. Again, Michael was doing a great job. He’s been all over the world and knows how to survive. Where I come from, you’d better know how to survive, but many in our cities, today, couldn’t make it through a week if there was any kind of disaster.
Many said we were all a bunch of conspiracy theorists, scaremongers. When President Trump finally stopped air traffic from China in early March, it was only after a big fight with the Washington establishment, including the present President Biden, who said he was overreacting and racist for his actions. I said he was too late, and time has proven that to be true. It was the right thing to do, but it was a couple of months too late to really stop anything. Thousands of passengers traveling to and from Wuhan had already landed in US airports. COVID-19 had already established itself in the United States.
In Canada, it was even worse. Flights from China continued to pour into our airports, especially Vancouver International Airport on the west coast. People were presented with a sign asking them three questions as they entered the airports from abroad, and if they simply said no to all of them, they were free to enter.
Canada could have been in way better shape than the USA, but instead ended up with the disease racing throughout the country.
Canada has fared better than the USA so far, according to the statistics, but it’s not over. We can only know how well and country has done after it’s over – whenever that day might come.
2020 was a year of lockdowns and other restrictions. Many people across North America and around the world have lost their jobs, their businesses, and their savings. Families have waited helplessly as their elderly loved ones (and far too many younger ones) died alone in isolation in hospitals, watched over by strangers, unable even to say good-bye.
Funerals have often not been allowed, and even when they have been allowed, it has only been with a small handful of people.
Weddings have been postponed, or occurred only with the couple and a few witnesses. No gatherings of more than ten people have been allowed in many places. Churches, theaters, and halls have been shuttered. Families were told we couldn’t have our yearly Thanksgiving or Christmas gatherings. Nor could we ring in the New Year with friends.
2020 was a year we all wanted to see in the rearview mirror. Many of us pinned a lot of hope on 2021. But here we are. Life in 2021 is nothing like normal. Whatever that is. It’s hard to remember, sometimes.
As we saw the end of 2020 approaching, everything was opening up a bit more. Churches, theaters, and halls were open again. We could not gather in large numbers, but we could have up to fifty people or 25% of capacity, whichever was less, in a church or other gathering. We could breathe a little.
Then that all suddenly went away. The numbers started climbing again. The government health authorities reacted. Everything went back into lockdown. In many places across the United States and Canada, churches, theaters, and halls were once again closed. Families who were just starting to have play dates for their children, visit with friends, and have family gatherings were told we could not longer do that. We were not to have anyone outside of our “core bubble” into our homes, or even in our back yards!
So much for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
We hoped for better in 2021. After all, they finally had vaccines and it was all going to be over…
But not so fast. Then it became apparent that things were not so rosy. The vaccine manufacturers oversold and thus could not deliver as fast as we thought. So the lockdowns continue. Life in 2021 is nothing like normal. Whatever that is.
But we are human beings, endowed by divine grace with the ability to adapt like no other creatures on the planet. As long as this world continues, we will find our new normal when we have to.
I just wish we were already there… How about you?