We’re getting our vaccines this week. After the second booster shot, we’ll be good to go. But where? How soon will we get our lives back? If you visited East Germany decades after the end of WWII, you could still see the effects of that devastating event. Shattered windows, bombed buildings. The post war period was a time of hard-sharp and suffering that lasted for years. This covid-19 pandemic has been compared to a world wide war. How can anyone believe that everything will be the same when it’s finally over?

About a month after being vaccinated, we should  feel a bit less apprehensive about shopping, socializing, and visiting relatives. But we octogenarians comprise only 4% of the population. Which means that 96% of the people we see every day are still vulnerable. Yes, we can feel safe eating in restaurants  and visiting relatives, but we’ll still have to wear masks and social distance.

The stock market is booming. People who kept their jobs now have bulging bank accounts, because they haven’t had anywhere to spend their money. Investors are betting that a huge buying spree is on the horizon. But is it? Will you ever feel the same in a crowded theatre with the sounds of people coughing and sneezing? Remember all those conferences you attended for work? You got to see cities and visit places you’d never been before, and it was all paid for. But do you really want to sit in stuffy conference rooms listening to presentations, while seated next to strangers from all over the world? And what about indoor sporting events? Remember the first cases of Covid in this country came from the gymnasium of a basketball game.

I grew up in the era of the big department stores. Even in our small town, we had a couple of them. You could spend half a day smelling the perfume, trying on clothes, going from department to department just to dream about all the dazzling merchandise. Guess what, most of those stores are gone. Shopping online isn’t half as much fun. And often you have to go to the bother of dealing with returns.

Are we ever going to feel perfectly safe without masks during the flu season? Will we shake hands when introduced to someone? A cougher or a sneezer will not be welcome anywhere. We all know  too much about the way viruses are spread.

Millions of people have lost jobs or closed their small businesses. Their lives will never be the same. After climbing out of debt, they’ll have to re invent themselves and start all over again.

Are you ready to face a post pandemic world?