The return to racing, and the slow road to normal

 

There’s no question that our lives are infinitely better than they were last July 4^th, when things were just slowly starting to reopen and we were, as it turned out, almost 11 months away from restrictions being lifted in Massachusetts and across New England.
Then, the Red Sox hadn’t even played a game yet --- they wouldn’t open their entirely forgettable coronavirus pandemic-shortened 60-game season until July 24 --- and the only fan interaction would be if you were willing to pay big bucks to put a cardboard cutout in the stands at Fenway Park.
Fast forward a year later, and the first-place Red Sox and Yankees played in front of three consecutive sell-out crowds at Fenway Park last weekend (June 25-27), the Patriots will allow crowds to attend training camp at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro at the end of July --- and road races are back.
I’ll be running my first “in-person” race tomorrow (Monday, July 5), the Arnold Mills 4-Miler in Cumberland, R.I., and will be looking forward to doing a 5K on Sunday, Aug. 1 in downtown North Attleboro.
But the return to normal won’t be like flicking a switch; even though 4.2 million or more than 70 percent of Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated, millions more aren’t, and many indoor settings --- including all health care facilities --- still demand people to be masked. And, while it’s safe to go to restaurants, there’s no way of knowing who among the unmasked is vaccinated, so those worries will persist as long as people 12 selfishly remain unvaccinated.
Nonetheless, this is a glorious Fourth. Enjoy our return to normal --- and if you’re vaccinated, don’t let the naysayers’ incessant talk about the Delta variant ruin your good times.
But, if you’re not vaccinated, get vaccinated --- now!
Delaying the inevitable only endangers the health of everyone else.

This column was published in the July 2021 edition of Jewish Rhode Island (Link to July 2021 Jewish Rhode Island column:
https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/summer-is-making-a-comeback,13432?

The landscape for this July is much improved over a year ago, and that’s an understatement. The outlook is light years away from those dark days of last summer when we were still being told to essentially stay away from everyone due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Not so this July. Fourth of July parades are back, concerts both large and small are returning, and road races, such as the Arnold Mills Road Race in Cumberland, are making a comeback. That’s right: There will be honest-to-goodness races as opposed to the mind-numbing virtual races, which forced even long-time runners to push themselves into “race” mode despite the absence of the adrenaline that’s a byproduct of running alongside competitors.
I did what I vow will be my last virtual race in May, a charity event, because I don’t enjoy such events, which force you to run alone. That’s why I’m looking forward to doing “in-person” races July 5 at Arnold Mills and Aug. 1 in downtown North Attleboro.
That’s good news, but just the fact that I’m referring to races as “in-person” shows the full extent that the pandemic has had on all of our lives --- besides, of course, the more than 600,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States.
All of that makes it likely that it will take a long time for us to return to our former lives, and the use of the term “in-person” is Exhibit No. 1.
Before the pandemic, races, concerts, film showings, lectures and worship services all were assumed to be “in-person.” A road race meant toeing the starting line, and fundraisers such as the Jimmy Fund Marathon Walk or the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bicycle ride to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund, meant joining thousands of others on the road.
But you no longer can assume what form an event will take: “in-person” or online. For instance, the 2021 Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk will remain virtual Oct. 3, while the Pan-Mass Challenge in August will allow bicyclists to return to the road.
Such confusion will be typical as we begin the slow march to the “new normal,” and it’s just one more indication that the pandemic has taken a terrible toll on our psyches, souls, spirits and minds --- all of which have been deeply scarred.
I’ve already experienced a few examples of that. I was, for instance, nervous when meeting old friends for a cookout at their house, due to vaccination anxiety. My close friends were vaccinated, but I wasn’t sure about their guests, and it’s not considered politically correct to ask people you meet at such gatherings if they’ve been vaccinated.
Being nervous about the “new normal” is also why, despite the risk of ridicule from the anti-mask crowd, I’m still masked when entering supermarkets and other retail stores.
Another indication that it will take a long time to return to our former lives is the fact that, for the foreseeable future, we can be expected to be masked and face questions about COVID-19 when visiting doctors, dentists and other medical offices.
Many other pandemic terms and habits also won’t easily go away. Here’s a sampling of them:
* Zoom and virtual meetings: Too many companies are saving money by not reopening offices and will let remote work continue. The result will be a mixed bag for workers, as the convenience of working from home will be offset by the lack of social interaction between people that had been taken for granted at offices, and that’s unfortunate. It’s hard to judge the sincerity, honesty or determination of someone working remotely.
* Remote learning: For the students’ sake, I hope remote learning will go away quickly as history will show that students at all levels were hurt by not being in classrooms. The social aspects of school --- especially playing sports and taking part in extracurricular activities --- are vital to students’ development, and that wasn’t possible with the focus on online learning. While the latter was a necessary pandemic tool, let’s hope it’s only used as a last resort in K-12 schools going forward.
* Social distancing: Eventually, this may be a memory, but it’s understandable that in many settings, this practice will hang around. I still occasionally cross the street when I pass walkers, runners and bicyclists on the road, and my first instinct when encountering other customers at stores is to shop quickly due to the disappointingly high number of people who still selfishly refuse to get vaccinated.
* Contact tracing: My dentist’s office is still doing this, and I suspect many other places will continue to hound even people who are vaccinated into revealing their every destination. With smart phone apps tracking our movements, it’s also why I’m glad I still have a “dumb” flip phone without such apps.
The bottom line is that, although we won’t be quickly putting the pandemic behind us, there’s nonetheless real hope for this summer, thanks to the miraculous vaccinations, which are 2021’s version of manna from Heaven.
LARRY KESSLER (larrythek65@gmail.com) is a freelance writer based in North Attleboro.