This all sucks (and it's OK to say it)
Yup, everything really sucks right now, and it’s more than OK to say that, hell scream it aloud or at the very least acknowledge it. This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case as in addition to our N95 masks we seem to be wearing another mask, one of misplaced or perhaps even faked bravery.
As you peruse social media, and let’s face it we’re all doing a lot of that these days, you don’t see too many people expressing their personal feelings or even a little rage over this new era of suckage. Instead, I mostly see people showing off how they’re adapting or getting hashtag innovative with a very strange sense of pride and a certain “this is fine” laissez-faire.
Oh, we’re having parties over video now? Great because when I’m ready to party I really want a laptop smack in front of me.
Isn’t it smart that supermarkets are making special time for seniors to shop? Well yes, but remember when we didn’t have to do that?
Don’t you think it’s great that the ‘future of work’ is here? Everyone is working remote! Again, yes, but not exactly by choice. I bet the owner of the struggling retail store down the street is not as excited as you are with this new virtual economy.
Yup, this all sucks.
It sucks that we can’t see each other. Or give each other a hug when we probably need it the most.
It sucks we have to wear masks. They put the focus on people’s eyes, highlighting just how empty they are these days.
It sucks we can’t go to work and now live on video meetings. Don’t you miss seeing your colleagues in-person? Even the really annoying ones?
It really sucks that our kids can’t go to school and are also having endless video meetings. They’re getting an unfortunate early preview of our own corporate half-lives and all those (mostly pointless) meetings we must endure.
It sucks we can’t travel. I actually miss the energy of a busy airport. I even miss that awful awful food.
Yup, again this all sucks.
It’s certainly expected we would adapt and find the aforementioned short term solutions. Humans are if nothing else resilient. And at the same time, I don’t want to demean some of the amazing things humanity is doing during this crisis. Short term solutions or not, in many cases they’re saving lives.
For those of us not on the front lines saving those lives we should probably be a little angrier about just how much things totally suck right now. Instead of doing those Tik-Tok dances to generate a fleeting moment of escape we could use that anger. Channel it to help us (or inspire others) to find some *BIG* long term solutions as well. I'm not smart enough to know what those solutions are, but I want to believe they'll be more than just adapting or dealing with this new sucky life.
It’s going to be a very different world when we finally do emerge from our various lockdowns and quarantines. I really hope we not only go back to actual work but that those many smart people out there never stop working on ways to stop this from ever happening again.
I think we can all agree that having to go through this again would most certainly suck.
