Last week, a friend and I discussed just this topic. While we remembered all of the events people have already mentioned, we agreed that this was like none of those. This is cutting a swath through life no matter who you are, no matter where you live. If it hasn't directly upended your life (my grandson currently attends Nonni School at my kitchen table), it has certainly changed the way we think about getting the necessities of life like food and medicine.
I can say that after Katrina, we never had less than two weeks of accessible food and water (exception being last year when we lived in an apartment between houses but even then we had a week) and we usually have far more than that. We are fortunate to live in a country that if one can afford it, one can get access to food virtually 24/7/365.
My husband has worked remotely for most of the past ten years; he is one of only a handful because his company in Denver and we live in NH. His co-workers really dislike working remotely. It is absolutely a paradigm shift and one that many simply can't/don't want to make. Our grandson's mother (she is a project manager in a medical manufacturing company) has worked a few days remotely and says it is unworkable for the long term. It should be interesting to see how this will work out in the long run. Most companies that don't have workers working remote prefer it that way for many reasons, not the least of which is the warning my husband's CEO sent out before they went remote. It said, in effect, that workers who were not working when they should be would be fired. That lack of supervision by management is one of the reasons that I am not convinced that there will be a wholescale change.
As for "snow days," I, as a former teacher think I can speak for the majority of teachers when I shout, "Amen!" Snow days are awful for students and teachers - we lose the day but we also lose a portion of the day to student distraction the day before and sometimes even the day after (depends on the length of the day). In the past at my school, we were discourages from giving at home work (particularly computer based) for any number of reasons. Never made sense to me and now we will know for sure what happens with remote learning. This, I fear, is not going to be the best example given its length, particularly for elementary grades where the laying down of basics requires a lot of face-to-face personalization.
WalnutBaron, I loved your telling of your experience (as well as your book recommendation) and agree that Americans have short memories and won't recall that they vowed to "buy local" or "buy American." For those of us who do this already, we embrace the importance for many reasons and I don't think that most folks will remember/reconsider when they realize that it will cost them a bit more. Doesn't matter that the price is well worth it, they likely will once again be lured away by short sighted pricing.
As for economics, it seems to me that this is a unique situation and one that will be difficult, if not impossible, to predict. A recession would seem most likely but I also am already hearing a great deal of pent up demand building. Only time will tell.
What I am convinced has been a positive impact is that people recognize the positive impact of human connections. We have dinner with our friends of 30 years every two weeks like clockwork. This was the friend I mentioned at the beginning. We cancelled last week and, although it seems like a trivial amount of time, we really do miss them. And I miss seeing my daughter, who is pregnant, has asthma and is self-quarantining. I imagine there are others feeling the same way. I was a history teacher and I assure you that we never really learn lessons from history but I do know we learn emotional lessons much better. I am hoping we learn something positive from this.
This started out being my 2 cents worth and ended up being more like 12. My grandson is taking his lunch and recess break and I, for one, have a new and profound respect for his teacher, his paraprofessional and special ed teacher. I always appreciated them but this is far more difficult than high school ever was.
Best,
Judi
