it's a new today...

 it's a new today...

                 

    If I greet someone with the standard, Hey, What's new, there is a good chance I would then have to listen to a litany of just exactly what is new.  On a cultural level, so much has changed since Covid-19, so, I no longer pose such an innocuous question.  

  The pandemic has been discussed in every imaginable format.  It's difficult to imagine any facet of the three-year scourge on humanity that hasn't undergone a close examination under the most stringent of tests...the court of public opinion.  

  HUH?  What's up with that?

  Last March, a post titled, It's Different... looked at some of the changes wrought by Covid.  Almost a year later, the innovations mentioned are still with us and have even expanded. 

  I asked several family members and a couple friends, all under 50 years of age, what changes they have noticed and can attribute to a new, post Covid-19 lifestyle. 

  Expectations of customer service have declined dramatically, said Sara Young, 45, director of a medical employment agency.  We go into a store and if we have a problem, we don't necessarily expect that problem to be taken care of.  

  Using supermarkets as an example of Sara's claim, Kroger and Walmart Foods in the Louisville, Kentucky area have decreased customer service hours.  You have to be in the store at the right time to get a money order, return an item, or, do any other normal customer service business.  The irony?  That's today's Customer Service. 

  A Kroger store manager told me she thinks the new contract given to employees will ease the shortage of workers.  Wages will start at $18.50 per hour.  She said she is hopeful other stores don't increase wages similarly thus giving the chain an advantage in finding quality workers, even if it is only short term leverage. 

  Taking more work home is something I've been doing, far more than before Covid, said Kristina Ellis, 28, brand director for a local family owned business. 

  According to Forbes.com, at the time of Covid-19, Millennials were the largest generation in the work force and as long as that continues, remote work will be with us.  

  Jeremy George, 44, a Servpro Restoration business owner in Florida, said there are no boundaries for his office employees to work from home.

  I think rules have to be made, Jeremy revealed.  I had an employee call in and say she was sick and she was going to work from home.  I tried to call her three different times and never reached her.  There are no guidelines, so, a revision of the employee handbook is important to do. 

  Sara Young agreed. 

  Rules definitely have to be in place.  I feel one of the negatives of working from home from an employer's perspective is the employee is not being productive.   

    We don't send the kids to school even when they show just the slightest symptom of illness, said Nora George, 43, co-owner of Servpro in Florida. 

  According to Nationwidechildren's.com, A contagious disease is one that can be spread by close contact with a person or object. Your child must stay home from school if they have a contagious disease. They may be contagious before showing any signs of illness. 

  One of the most common changes mentioned by several people were choices when greeting someone. 

  We opt to wave rather than hug or shake hands, Nora stated.

  Fist bumping is big with my group, Kristina commented.

  I don't know anyone in my family that shakes hands, John Foxworthy, 41, admitted.  It's like right after you shake hands, you want to go wash your hands.

  We will never know if the popularity of online shopping is a result of Covid, or, if it would have just evolved.  It certainly was on the way to being part of the future prior to 2019.  But, statistics prove during the pandemic, e-commerce flourished.  

  One retail-type store to benefit was supermarkets.  

  Groceries being delivered to your home goes back to the early 1900s, but, supermarkets drove mom and pop type stores out of business.  Included were green grocers, and, dairy products that were home delivered.  Times change and now it's supermarkets that want our home delivery business.  

  We definitely shop online more, Nora said.

  My husband and I do a lot more shopping online than we ever did, Kristina claimed.  

   Some changes have become societal issues and are a bit more hard edged than surface changes.  Sara thinks there are serious post Covid-19 issues to be dealt with as a culture. 

  There's a divisiveness present that wasn't there before, she believes.  Normally, tragedies bring us together, but, not now.  After a critical time has passed, most things return to normal, but, that's not how it is today.

  According to Penn Medicine News.com, The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased sources of stress for many....Now, there is less virtual socialization and more face-to-face interactions. While some have been anticipating this...those who deal with social anxiety have found remote learning, work, and socialization to be ideal.

  Along with that line of thinking, Sara added, we don't have any shared experiences anymore.  No one watches the same shows and people don't read news the same way.  

  There are a lot of opinions about working at home verses being in the office.  Maybe a combination of the two is the answer.  Who knows?  Fist bump or elbow bump?  Hug or wave?  None of us can claim to have all the right answers.  Slow customer service or even non-existent help, it's all part of our daily living after the pandemic.     

  Last week, while standing on a sidewalk in front of a restaurant discussing the state of the world with an acquaintance, I started to say farewell when he adamantly said, I just want things to get back to normal. 

  And, that's just it.  Today is normal because it's a new today.    

  Coming up:  another job$ somebody's gotta do; we'll listen to those guys who sit around the breakfast table at McDonald's at 6am and find out what they really talk about; an update on Ukraine from Dr. Graboviy; more POS, and; another oddities, observations, and ?'s. 

  And, finally.  To paraphrase a line from comedian Don Rickles: 

  The old days were great days. But, they are the old days.  Today is today.  

  HUH?  What's up with that?