This month here at the Wild YAMster's bloggy, you are going to be regaled with words related to feelings and happenings of the last twelve months. Oh yes, you know of what I talk. This is to be the ALPHABET OF AAARRGFIZZZ... We've all had to deal with it. This will be a reflection purely from my point of view. You don't necessarily have to agree with what I say; just appreciate where it's coming from. Normal service will resume on May Day. (By which time I may be yelling that down the ether phone loud and repetitively!)
☀♉☀
This period of incarceration has resulted in a surge of people being "Online". That's the word, isn't it? We don't say, "oh, I am working the computer to order food/research COVID/talk with XYZ in Somwherelse", do we? No. We just say we are online. Even in the preceding technology, we had to say the longer phrase of "I am on the phone". Online is a single, elegant indication of what we are up to. And we have been up to it a great deal! Personally, I would now say that without being online, chatting with folk all over the place, I might not have survived the last year.
Ordinary. This, I strongly suspect, is the word that most folk are searching for when they say they just want to get back to 'normal'. Life has been turned topsy turvy in this state of living I have termed Coviditionitis. There are a few of us who have embraced it, being already quite settled in our own company. For many, though, they really could live without the excitement. They just want the ordinary in life.
Ownership. When dealing with major societal shifts, it comes down to every individual to take ownership of their actions in that process. We have seen many who deny COVID or, even if they accept it, don't want to comply with the guidelines, which will suppress the spread of the virus. This is selfish when viewed in the total picture, but it has to be admitted that they take ownership of their personal belief. The point is, no matter how much any government undertakes to help its society along, such measure can only benefit the community as a group if all individuals own their part in making it happen.
That said, many people in society are not all that clear where they stand on things, so look to their leaders for the example to be set.
So what is the Outlook from here? Things will start to pick up, but there will be increased awareness during close interaction - or there will be forgetfulness and a resurgence of the disease. Boffins here are already indicating that there will be a need to maintain the FACTS regime, even with the mass inoculation having taken place. It will not be until the global population has been injected to the appropriate level (probably around 80 to 85%, I would suggest... more on that soon) that we can consider an appropriate level of immunity. There may well be a good state of affairs within any given country - but as long as there is Overseas interaction, there is increased risk, for many countries will be far behind in the program. Stay home, stay local is still likely to be the call for those seeking to travel. One thing is certain - we must continue striving Onward, for there's nowhere else to go.
See
you Monday for the ongoing saga. Please be aware that there is more I amAZing
over at
I had to look up the word boffin. Totally new to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, we can only go onward.
Your 'O' Observations are wonderful. Terrific posts. I am enjoying them. I do hope you are having a marvellously happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteI seem Observe those who don't wear mask.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
Great post.
ReplyDeleteYAM well done!! We too are striving for ordinary and moving onward. We have only been about 20 miles outside of our resident county since January 2020. Very much looking forward to seeing favorite sis and bil of Angel Madi sooner than later now that we are all vaccinated.
ReplyDeleteHugs cecilia
I too had to look up Boffins, AND NOW I KNOW, if not for Covid, i would not know a new word for scientist. he he he
ReplyDeleteOnline has become my middle name. I wish I owned an internet provider company. i love ordinary and have alwasy lived a very ordinary life, normal for me would be ordinary. for some of my friends they hate my ordinary, since there ordinary is traveling far from home. I too might not have survied the past year with out the online help... I took a day off this week and I missed the internet like i would miss an arm
It's an interesting thought experiment, how we all would have coped in the pandemic without Online.
ReplyDeleteI never realised that the word 'boffin' was not in common usage in the USA!
Hari Om
DeleteI suspect we would all have been perfectly fine and probably rather more books read, knittings/crochets/sewings created and breads cooked than already were... and don't forget the telephone!!!
Boffin is most definitely an Anglicism that has not spread widely... it is used in OZ and probably NZ. Yxx
Wow, that is a lot of great O's! I love that idea of ordinary as opposed to normal. I've been thinking a lot about that word in terms of order and expectations. You're right that "online" doesn't always lend itself to "order." It's like a friend of mine and I were saying to each other about going to the grocery store. We both remember when there were a few cereals, a few channels on TV. It was actually easier to just pick one thing when you had less to choose from. It takes a lot of energy, it really does, to sift through the options and then by the time you do it's like, wow, barely anything left to enjoy it. I wonder if that's part of it? There is SO much we can do, but I miss when I had to decide if I'm going to spend 15 minutes to go here or there and gas money and making schedules align et cetera. I think there's something to that. Going to visit your other blog now!
ReplyDeleteOptions. I think this whole pandemic took away options from people. Will I stay home today or not? Will I go to the cinema or the theater? Will I... whatever? The option was taken away as everything is/was closed. I hope we will soon get that back. Not that I am clamouring for cinemas or shopping, I just want the option of them.
ReplyDeleteKlem
Hari OM
DeleteYes, that is a good point - I hardly ever went out (other than to visit places and people), but to know that there is no choice in the matter suddenly makes the idea of clothes shopping or film viewing most desirable! Yxx
A good series of 'O' words - online has become the new ordinary, and as you say, the saviour of the last year!
ReplyDeleteAll great observations of our current state of affairs. I feel that we will be using Covid protocols for many years to come since, like you say, not every country is working at the same pace as others to inoculate and some people in the countries where there are plenty of vaccines to take care of every adult still won't get one because of false information spreading about them (I'm mostly talking about the USA, sadly).
ReplyDeleteWell, I'll just say that, before Covid 19, I had made just one video call in all my life. Now? Is the phone supposed to do anything other than video calls?
ReplyDelete@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter - The Great War
Well, we had our vaccines today. It is a start.
ReplyDeleteI have zero friends here so online has helped greatly.
Nice assortment of Os. I think I like onward best. In fact, it's the only option I'll consider. :-)
ReplyDeleteYour "O" has not appeared in my feed before I went to bed last night. And at eleven of the clock, too.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent, and heartfelt statement of the state of affairs. Thank you.
Lovely string of O words. Outlook is Optimistic but not in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a part of the way human civilization has evolved.
This is the way it has been over centuries. Only difference we are now part of that cataclysmic change.
O for Obbattu
Hi Yam - there's no 'ordinary' at the moment - but in fact life does go on, adjusts ... and ordinary will be common in a while. Stay safe and go quietly ... our world is changing - take care and with thoughts - Hilary
ReplyDeleteOnline has been useful but it is not substitute for real people. What I feel sad for is when online takes over to such an extent that when real people do get together they are all sitting around lost in their online world. In circumstances like that, it is a bit like having imaginary friends and ignoring the real and present ones. Online has also taken the period of consideration out of buying something. There is no trip to the store to contemplate and the 'so do I really need that, can I be bothered enough, is there an alternative, can it wait?' thinking to do. It's want, click, have delivered. F despairs. She deliberately did not activate her bank card for online purchases because she can't manage money in Greek and because she believes in supporting local businesses ahead of the world's richest man (who clearly doesn't need it), but Mr B goes mad and clicks what she regards as pointless and silly things simply because he really doesn't have enough other and meaningful stuff to do with his time. Rant over - have a good weekend Furrings and Purrings Mr T
ReplyDeleteHari Om
DeleteThat antisocial aspect of checking the phones/tablets all the time even in the middle of a worthy conversation is not pandemically induced... that has been happening for about ten years now and I detest it, as clearly you do too. I still have a 'flipfone' and will be avoiding a 'toocleverbyhalf' version of comms tool for as long as possible/till death! The bit that REALLy gets my toes curling is when folk have the bally things on the table during mealtimes and never raise their eyes from it in case they miss the news of somebody else's fingernails being painted or a pet cat managed to jump the moon...
As I have had to rely on screen shopping due to circumstance beyond lockdowns, I have found that I am now adept at researching items for as much as a week or month before diving into an actual purchase - just as you describe for live shopping. The one element missing, of course, is the touchy-feely part. But in all this time, I have only ever been disappointed once. (I don't count groceries, that is a well-oiled system and the supermarkets are great at advising if something is not available, and you can always return stuff with the driver it is doesn't suit you.) One of the joys of the pandemic, I feel, is that a lot of the local and small business I too prefer to support, have managed to catch up and get online themselves. Here, by the Hutch, oor wee toon has relied on foot traffic for shops, but now they are happy to deliver to the door. We have two independent DIY places, a fabulous book shop, various gift and homewares shops, all the services of course...
I am not, by nature "a shopper"; even when everything is open and mingling. I am not a browser. When I head to the mall it is for a specific purpose and I am not one to be distracted by window displays or flashy sale signs. By the same token, I only go to look for things when specifically needed in shopping sites.I have never - and expect never will - understand the urge for going shopping for shopping's sake. Be it on the street or online. I have plenty pals who lean to that though, so I understand F's frustration with Mr B!!! Yxx
Online has been an absolute boon this last year. I've managed to communicate with parents and organise things only because of it. If the pandemic had happened in an internetless world - doesn't bear thinking!
ReplyDeleteAaaaah, to just have things be Ordinary for a while...
ReplyDeleteGreat Os!!
Online has been my go to for several years prior to Covid. I am a bit of a hermit and becoming more so each day. We do pick up the groceries rather than have delivered. It is all touchless so still feel safe. Gives a short period of time out of the four walls. namaste, janice xx
ReplyDelete