The Pandemic Blues Part 22: Once-'normal' things that now seem weird

Here’s a startling reservation about what this pandemic has done to our psyches and our definition of what we now consider “normal” compared to what used to be considered "normal."
The other night, my wife and I were watching the Fox show “Name That Tune” for only the second or third time, and it was obvious that the show had to be taped much more than a year ago before the pandemic started as it included these features that are forbidden now in TV shows:
* A huge audience. No show taped since the pandemic has included an audience.
* Little space between contestants: The podiums of the contestants were fairly close together; now they’re at least 6 feet apart.
* High-fives: Contestants high-fived each other and the hostess. The hostess later hugged a contestant who shared a particularly poignant  personal story.
* Microphone handed over from hostess to contestant: When one of the contestants was asked to sing a song that she had sung while unsuccessfully auditioning for “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson several years ago --- Jackson is a part of the show and plays the piano throughout – the hostess handed the mic over to the contestant.
All of those features used to be considered routine and were done without a second thought; now, like so much else that we do these days, they seem strange.
Similarly, when I see clips of old races with hundreds of runners, or when I see sporting events with more than a scattering of fans, it seems weird. Heck, even seeing the nearly 26,000 fans at the Super Bowl in February seemed like an anomaly.
That’s just another reason why any semblance of normal will be years, not months, away. Our psyches have been damaged far more than we realize.

FANS IN THE STANDS

Similarly, when the Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox get 12 percent of their fans back in the stands, starting in late March, it will seem odd for a while.
It will, however, remain to be seen if that’s the right move at this time, given how easily cases have been known to spike quickly after restrictions are eased after cases had gone down for a while. That's especially going to be  a concern since we’re being warned daily about all of these variants posing real threats.
Hopefully, those threats don't turn out to be as dire as some of the more pessimistic predictions we've been hearing. But what does happen if cases do start going back up, which is a distinct possibility as more restrictions are lifted before a decent number of people are vaccinated?
Will the governor then bar fans, slap the limits back on, and punish restaurants and small businesses again? Who knows, given the reactionary nature of so many governments to this pandemic with a host of confusing, contradictory and often inconsistent regulations going back to March of 2020.
Stay tuned!