No, We’re Not All in This Together

Every single time I open one social platform or another, I am bombarded with positive platitudes about the pandemic – “We’ll get through this together.” “We’re all in this together.” “We’ll weather this storm together.” “Together, we’ll be stronger at the end of all this.” And honestly, I’m sick of seeing and hearing the positives. They are beginning to grate on every nerve of my being.

Don’t get me wrong. There is a lot of good that can and has come out of this new reality. People are spending more time with their families. More people are helping out others – both neighbors and strangers. More businesses are helping communities and making donations to families in need. Businesses and families are providing essential supplies and gratitude meals to frontline workers. There are free deliveries on food and essential products. There is more patience at the markets. There is better sanitation, personal hygiene, and more collaboration than I’ve ever seen.

For those of us who have experienced some real and significant losses and challenges as a result of COVID-19, these big picture positives do nothing to ease our day-to-day challenges and end up causing more angst, frustration and anxiety.

But there are also some very ugly truths in all of this. For those of us who have experienced some real and significant losses and challenges as a result of COVID-19, these big picture positives do nothing to ease our day-to-day challenges and end up causing more angst, frustration and anxiety.

And talking about the angst, frustration and anxiety, here is another ugly truth. There is nobody – no doctor, no organization, no government – who truly knows what is really going on or how and when this will all be resolved. And no one really knows what our ‘new reality’ will be like. There are simply too many unknowns and contradictory recommendations to even begin to get a handle on what is happening and where we are headed.

There are two significant and, not necessarily aligned, challenges. First is the virus itself sweeping through every corner of the world. And second is the collapse of global markets and the ripple effect on businesses – large and small – and individual families.

After months of research and testing and collective combatting of the virus, nobody can say, with any certainty, how we are going to get ahead of the contagion and begin to piece our lives back together.

After months of research and testing and collective combatting of the virus, nobody can say, with any certainty, how we are going to get ahead of the contagion and begin to piece our lives back together. The COVID-19 tests are only accurate 70% of the time. Treatments are hit-and-miss. Lockdowns might work, but maybe they won’t. Hospitals were supposed to be overloaded, but then they weren’t. Smokers were supposed to be more susceptible, and then they’re more likely to survive. Pretty much every projection model has been wildly incorrect. If there is one thing that has become clear, it is how little we truly know about this virus.

And the unknowns regarding the economy are just as scary. If world governments continue to offer assistance to businesses and individuals, what will the results be when this is all over? What will happen to inflation rates? What will sundry items cost once the market readjusts? What about international trade? Will shuttered businesses even be able to reopen when the “stay at home” mandates are lifted? Every economist offers a different hypothesis regarding our economy. And every forecast is bleak.

And what about the new social norms? Will you really be willing to go to a movie theatre, concert or sports arena anytime in the near future? I certainly will not. Will you be giving up your facemask any time soon? I won’t. How can I? Who wants to risk it, especially if a second spike can break out once the stay at home mandates are lifted?

We are operating blindly. We have no idea how all of this is going to play out.

So here is the reality. We are operating blindly. We have no idea how all of this is going to play out. We are in the midst of a terrible, terrifying reality. There is no way to sugarcoat the competing complexities of COVID-19. And really, we will not get through this together. My reality and your reality are different. Very different. I will get through this in my way, and you will get through it in your way. Our paths will not be the same. Please stop saying that we’re in this together. The only comfort that I’ve found in all of this came from one post that simply explained how, “We might be weathering the same storm, but we’re not in the same boats.”