There should be no more ‘New Normals’ please

‘The New Normal’ is a much used phrase nowadays. Of course it’s linked to COVID and refers to such things as working away from the office, wearing gloves, wearing masks and generally keeping way from one another, even the people we know quite well. Essentially human contact is being discouraged with clear limitations so no more shaking hands, no more hugging and literally not standing within six feet of each other, a new practice popularly known as ‘social distancing’.

But I would like to say that none of the above is normal nor should it ever be allowed to become normal in the long term.

Let’s start with working away from the office. So in almost all cases that means working not in a coffee shop but from home. This should never be allowed to become the new normal since the primary beneficiary is likely to be the company. The employer saves on water and electricity usage, tea and coffee making facilities, stationery and, with the likelihood that office space will be limited or eliminated altogether, a reduction in rental costs. The employee might at first think that working from home is exciting. No more commuting means savings on petrol and less wear ‘n’ tear on the car. In addition, they get to spend so much more quality time with their family. But this novelty soon wears off when their water and electricity bill begins to rise since they are now using their own utilities during the day for work and school-related business. This soon starts to create a hole in the happy tent when many employees see a 20-30% reduction in their salaries for the same number of hours worked. On top of that the novelty of being with your family 24/7 also starts to wear off amid rising tensions between members of the household who now find themselves cooped up in a tiny, confined residence. Moreover, most people working from home have noticed how they seem to be working longer hours for less pay. This whole ‘new normal’ is simply not healthy for the employee or his family.

Likewise, social distancing should also not be the new normal. Over the past few months people have been refraining from hugging each other, shaking hands when they meet or even from being within 2 metres of each other when standing or walking around. We are human beings. Human beings need human contact and I don’t mean the online, Twitter, Facebook and videoconferencing kind. Normal people thrive on actual face-to-face contact. They need to be able to hug when they are upset, shake hands to build good business relations and stand a normal-distant apart when talking to one another and not the odd, arbitrary and constantly changing distance of two metres apart.

During the course of communications, or even when passing one another, human beings need to be able to read one another. Sometimes a message relayed is unspoken. Our facial expressions reveal a lot about what our true feelings are. The minutest muscle movement on our faces can relay a major feeling or reaction to what is being said to us or to what we are trying to say to others. For example, corners of our mouths turned down could express sadness. Pursed lips can express disapproval, frustration or anger. Biting the bottom lip can indicate anxiety or fear. In fact, we express how we feel in dozens and dozens of ways just using our lips. But what do you know, that part of our face is now covered up and the only things now on show are our eyes and eyebrows. Although they too do our talking for us, the message now is somewhat garbled because the whole relays more than the parts, half of which are now behind a mask. We are now being reduced to reading the eyes to determine if the person is smiling or not.

When we smile it usually shows in our eyes. But now we can’t really tell if the eyes are smiling, squinting or the person just has the sun or a glare in their eyes.  Can you imagine how things would be if people also wore dark glasses?

The whole mask thing is somewhat unnatural and also a tad tricky. I don’t know sign language but when I see people using it I notice how they communicate not just with their hands but with their mouths too. How are the hard of hearing managing when half their mode of communication is now hidden?