“When will this pandemic ever end? I’ve had enough of it.”
The above statement resonates so strongly with you, doesn’t it? This thought occupies our minds countless times everyday. And while I, like the rest of us, want the pandemic to end, I also wish for certain things post-pandemic.
The best part of these things is that they meet 3Es- easy, effective and empowering. Read on and you’d know how easy it is to make things better for us not only as individuals but also as a society.
1. Sustained ‘boredom tingz’
A lot of us started certain initiatives to pass time during quarantine. Music pages, dance pages, art pages and what not. As someone whose social media has quite a handful of such people, I must say that I really enjoyed seeing their diverse talents. It is so refreshing when apart from memes or celebrity posts or influencers, you see your own friends or acquaintances come up with their lovely creations. Real talk: any work of art, irrespective of the number of likes, comments and shares, matters. Art makes the world better; and, if not anyone, I, a fellow well-wisher, am someone who supports you to put your art out there in the world for everyone to see. Do grace the world with your art post-pandemic too.
2. Mask Task
The mask has undoubtedly become the global symbol of the pandemic. And as an environmentalist at heart, I feel that with a massive pollution crisis already, the last thing we want is an addition to the waste crisis because of careless disposal of masks. In my opinion, reusable masks are the way ahead in the new normal. Its so encouraging watching a considerable number of people use these- could be the washable ones, or just a simple cloth wrapped around the mouth, chin and nose. Simply put: our adherence to the ‘reuse’ part of the 3R concept of reduce, reuse and recycle, is saving us from way more problems than we realise. Lets keep up the good work.
3. More Mental Health Acceptance
It is by no means easy, to live through so much uncertainty and negativity at once. The news channels show scary statistics, our family and friends often suffer economically and most of our usual means of leisure are now unavailable to us due to the lockdown. And while we try our best to pull through, it definitely is completely understandable if some days we don’t feel okay. The demons of our mind ravage our spirit with thoughts that everything is hopeless, there’s no light to the end of the tunnel, and many more dark, unspeakable falsities. And the whole idea that privileged people shouldn’t feel such thoughts, because other people have it worse, is a lie. Unlike popular perception, privilege does not equal happiness, privilege cannot buy happiness. This truth is dawning on more and more people everyday, fortunately; and I hope this continues. Some of us have this mental conditioning that we should be productive all the time, but quick question: if our purpose is just to do tasks one after the other, how different are we from machines? Lets revel in what makes us human.
4. Less UGH, more WFH
Almost every business establishment tried WFH during the pandemic. For some it worked, for some it didn’t. What we also know, is that reduced vehicle emissions due to low vehicle usage, helped improve the air quality and lower noise pollution.
How about we get the best of both worlds?
What if companies with a successful WFH program, actually implement it post-pandemic?
What if corporate employees had working weeks which were half-WFH and half-office-reporting?
Whether companies implement this or not depend on many factors like company culture, company top leadership, the nature of the work and many more.
One thing to note though: WFH is in many ways tried and tested way of CSR. It helps the environment by lowering vehicle emissions, it helps the community by lowering traffic; and, it helps the business by lowering some costs like overheads.
5. PPE
Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) have been the armour for our essential service providing warriors who are risking their lives for the betterment of the community. And the least that can be done to honour these warriors is to ensure proper disposal of their armour.
Imagine yourself as an essential service worker. You work long shifts everyday, devoting all your physical and mental energy to COVID-19 response. The laborious nature of the work, and the mentally draining sight of suffering everywhere, deeply disturbs you, and yet you continue to do your job for a living. How will you feel if, despite your diligent efforts, you are criticised because you didn’t dispose your PPEs correctly? ‘Health hazard’, ‘environmental hazard’, ‘ill-informed’ and many such negative names can come your way.
I do know that the role of essential service workers is only partial in determining the disposal of PPES-other decision-makers like the medical centre higher authorities and the government bodies are also involved. I also know that while there have been cases of littering of PPEs in the open, these entities are working together with the aim of tackling the COVID19 spread as effectively as possible. I wish that post-pandemic, the disposal of medical waste be taken more seriously, before incorrect disposal of medical waste becomes a disease, and a source of disease, in itself.
Currently, we are living through a future history lesson.
Doesn’t it feel surreal? We could make the post-pandemic world even more surreal with these five things in my opinion. Real talk: we gotta let our successors know that our generation was awesome, what say ;)
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