To loathe the phrase 'The new normal'

[opalescent]

I don't want to accept for a moment that any of these measures are permanent, and that's what this phrase implies (to me!).

This event will come to an end. Even if that just means accepting a low level of coronavirus existing in the community, and even if there are localised outbreaks in the future.

So why are we talking about a 'new normal'?

YANBU. Every time I hear it, I want to scream "it's a TEMPORARY normal", not a new normal. "New normal" implies permanence, I totally agree. It feels like when a Mr New Broom headmaster or managing director waltzes in, makes very unpopular sweeping changes and reforms, cheerfully saying "things are going to be very different here from now on..."

Also the way that everything is "until further notice": I can see why they're saying it, but it also really means "actually we don't want to tell you", like when a child hears "we'll see" from their parents. For example, the requirement of masks on public transport has been totally open-ended. If they had said "for a two-month trial", even if it then turns out to be longer, it would make it an easier pill to swallow. I'm sure the government have already decided when they're going to allow social distancing to be relaxed, but they're not going to tell us that until the day before.

And slogans in general can do one. I agree about "lockdown" being a loathsome word especially when gleefully coupled with the word "stricter" on MN . The London Underground had the slogan "see it, say it, sorted": has this now been replaced with something to do with masks? Also, although it's a factual word, every time I see the word "pandemic", I want to remove the letters "dem", because that what it feels like on MN sometimes, although I am very pleased the tide is turning from that: remember when it was all "your Amazon delivery is murdering warehouse staff!" or "I will not send my children to school until Boris can guarantee their immortality"?

Me too!!!

I must admit, I've been using the phrase 'new normal' recently. For us, this is the norm now for at least the next few months until the children go back to school and DH potentially goes back to the office next year.

I don't want to sit and wait for things to get back to 'old normal', It's a waste of at least a few months and I mentally need to come to terms this being how it is for a while.

I'd feel we'd just been biding time and waiting around so we're trying to embrace the changes and enjoy things as much as we can (which is easier said than done with two kids, one part time school, one home school, me back to work most of the week and DH working from home whilst being teacher) It's stressful, but nothing is going to change that at present so for us as a family, this is our 'new normal'.

Made me think of this

I think that the pandemic has changed life for ever eg we'll have more people working from home, better hygiene, less work-related travel

So, there will be a "new normal"

I don't want to sit and wait for things to get back to 'old normal', It's a waste of at least a few months and I mentally need to come to terms this being how it is for a while.

The two arent mutually exclusive? I hate the phrase and the idea this will become permanently normal but I have young children so am baking, crafting, encouraging learning, exploring our local area and trying not to murder wfh dh. I accept it in the short term and am trying to make the best of it but I need it to be temporary.

YANBU.

Can't stand it. There's no such thing as 'new normal', it's an oxymoron.

The whole idea is almost as if they want us to get used to wearing face coverings in public, social distancing, queuing to get in to shops, dramatically cut NHS and dentistry services, homeschooling, WFH and lockdowns as par for the course.
These restrictions need to be dropped as soon as they can. They shouldn't be around long enough to become normal.

Agree, hate it.

People seem to forget that there have been pandemics before in our history, and life did carry on as normal when they were over. So this isn't "the new normal", these are temporary measures.

I agree - "the new normal" gives me the rage.

What really boils my piss however, is the word "unknowable". It's a made-up word from the BBC running stories a few weeks back, saying that the end of this situation is unknowable. It's the most unhelpful word imo.

There is no guarantee that this is going to just go away. As Angela Merkel said back in April, ‘until there is a vaccine or an effective treatment, we will have to live with the virus’. This is what ‘new normal’ means. Anyone who thinks otherwise has either not been paying attention or has not understood the situation.

So glad you said this! I've been feeling more and more shit everytime I hear this. I think it's invalidating and does not present the hope of being actually normal again that we need. There is very little quality of life for some right now and hanging onto the hope that things will actually be normal again is what some people need, not this silly damaging catch phrase.

Yep -I hate it too. There’s nothing bloody normal about this at all

I guess because some of the changes are permanent. For example I won't be going back to the office, my team and I are now permanently WFH. I never would have guessed that could happen, my company has been very resistant to WFH historically but they've just realised it has a lot of benefits.

I understand the phrase as meaning that things will not go back to how they were before COVID19 (only at the moment), however we can all still find pleasure and joy in our lives, by accepting certain guidelines.
I feel that it also implies that people have analysed their lifestyles and may wish to change them. I am fascinated by the photographs and statistics regarding pollution levels for example. The positives (regarding pollution) are irrefutable. I believe that more people have become more considerate through this, about everything. Don’t get me wrong, some have treated it as a dog eat dog scenario, rather like this was an apocalyptic situation (I am certainly not judging people, I too felt the panic and uncertainty). I believe that we will live in a changed world.

Agree

Even if that just means accepting a low level of coronavirus existing in the community, and even if there are localised outbreaks in the future.

But you've just literally described a possible new normal. It's possibly the wrong terminology as "normal" is subjective but it just suggests that things we took for granted before won't happen for a while and things like queing to get into a supermarket or not being able to car share to work become the default. Or, as such, the new normal. Sadly it sounds perfectly logical to me but it depends how long these measures last.

things will change again, and get more normal or even old normal. I reckon around end of the year!

The worrying thing is there are a lot of businesses ploughing a lot of money into making their spaces “SD friendly” etc.

I feel like the new normal will be around for a long time.

I absolutely hate it with a passion. I want our old lives back right now.

Can't get worked up about it.

Some things are going to be different to how they were prior to Covid. People will adapt, and before long won't notice any different. Things that used to be 'normal' will still be there but slightly different, i.e. a 'new' normal.

Now 'going forward', that sends me into an apoplectic rage. As opposed to what? Jumping into a time machine and 'going backwards'?

I’m bothered more by people who use hyperbolic language to describe how they feel about things, but there we are.

WFH is my new normal and will continue to be so for a very long time. I’m glad about this because I have been asking my company to allow me to do it more since I joined and they were reluctant. Better organised meals, grocery shopping online, using local businesses will all be my new normal. Taking time out of the day to go for a decent walk to recharge the batteries. Fewer meals out. More phone appointments with the plethora of medical professionals DD sees rather than dragging her hours to the hospital. All a new normal. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Lockdown wtf did that com from? What's wrong with staying in?

In some areas in the US they have been told to “shelter in place” which seems totally wrong as a response. Especially as it is what’s used when there is a deadly fire heading your way and you can’t escape.

Now 'going forward', that sends me into an apoplectic rage.

I find myself using this sometimes. I always pause and try to find something else, but when I use “from now on” DD or OH always jumps in with “these eyes will not be blinded by the light......”

But it is a new normal - one which will constantly be changing for the foreseeable, too much has happened to go back to how things were beforehand (aka normal)

Gradually over time people will 'forget' and our lives will be more like they used to be, but they will never be exactly how they were before.

Working towards things being more like they used to be is goid, but there's NO 'when this is over, things will go back to normal'. 'normal' as we knew it, is history.

Who knows...we might even like 'new normal' more than 'old normal'.

IT IS NOT NORMAL.

It is NOT normal to deprive children of an education, social lives and support services.
It is NOT normal to avoid human contact.
It is NOT normal to live the majority of your life contrained within the walls of your home without free choice.
It is NOT normal to struggle to hold normal interactions because half a face is covered removing non verbal commuication and muffling speech.
It is NOT normal for swathes of the population to be scared to leave the house, send their children to school, to go shopping, to visit family, to go to the beach. It is NOT normal to have the majority of health provision suspended indefinitely.

I accepted temporary inconveniences to reduce the spread of a novel virus that we knew little about in the first few months of the year, and has potentially severe or catastophic effects. We know more now. The virus may be weakening. The virus is not the only hazard of the world. People continue to die of other illnesses, people are dying prematurely of fear of seeking timely healthcare, lack of access to healthcare. People are dying of loneliness and suicide because this "new normal " quashes what kept them clinging on day by day. The truth of this is slower to see and may never be fully clear. We live with serious and potentially fatal viruses all the time, some with vaccinations. It is not normal to suspend life indefinitely and crash the economy to manage one specific virus.

"New normal" implies an acceptance that all of these measures are OK. That is not OK. It's like the plot of a dystopian model. We're not going back to 2019. We've learned a few useful things along the way like small businesses diversifying and accepting cards. Some flexibility about working from home and reducing traffic is no bad thing. Wholesale keeping the majority of shit that's occured since March is not OK. People should not be working and studying from their spare rooms/ kitchen tables/ sofa forevermore if they need the companionship of colleagues and the motivation of a purposeful working environment. It's OK as a stop-gap with established teams, but is not sustainable indefinitely especially as teams change and workplaces normalise their workloads.

Most of the measures imposed since March need to stay in 2020 along with the "new normal" "social distancing" and " uncertain times". We need to move on, learn and get back to something that is very recognisable as the old normal with a few lessons learned for posterity.

Who knows...we might even like 'new normal' more than 'old normal'.

Pretty sure I won't because it seems aimed at a calmer pace of life. Lockdown has shown me how much I dislike myself so I need my old life back where I can stay busy all of the time and get out of the house for most of the waking day to distract myself.

It's great that some people are getting to wfh long term and love it but for others, seeing other people who you aren't related to/married to is a big part of work. Every team meeting dh has that I've heard bits in passing seems to start with people moaning about wfh. None of them like it. I'd hope it would be a choice down the road.

It's the same with medical appointments and phone calls/video chats. They will work for some, not for others. I will not discuss my medical issues over the phone because I can't talk in private away from the children and I don't want my 5 year old hearing what's wrong with me. Nor do I want them seeing me cry. That's ignoring my psychiatrist's fondness for calling me at tea time.

Blended schooling will work ok for us but not for many of my friends. Quite a lot are considering quitting work because they don't feel they can balance wfh long term, blended learning and juggling children.

Whilst I can see there are benefits for some, there are also negatives for others. Also hyperbolic language is fabulous as is using 5 adjectives where 1 would do.

It’s not my most disliked (bubble up there, shielding, unprecedented) can’t wait till they are all consigned to the bin.

Vaccine works, that I’ll gladly hear.