The Coronavirus Is Changing Our Future I think what we are seeing is a permanent change in the way we live. I’ve heard a lot of politicians stating things will get back to normal after the virus, but will they really? I don’t think they will and there is plenty of evidence indicating if somehow they do it might take generations. If we look at the current situation, we can see the Coronavirus has caused not only many deaths worldwide but economically it may change the way the world functions. In some cases, it seems to be accelerating what many think was inevitable and that is the end of malls. Malls began to fail when people started shopping on the Internet. When you went to a mall after that, some of them were like ghost towns. With all the stores closing during the period of the virus, except for a few which carried essential items, the malls began to suffer even more. Even some of the large key stores in the more became victims and it was even worse for those that were already suffering. An example of this is J. C. Penny. In some Malls they were the anchor store. The smaller stores are having a problem meeting their rent and some want to get out of their leases. This may become a huge problem for the landlords who sign contracts stating they could be released from their contracts if the anchor store closed. After all the anchor store was the one that brought the people to the mall in the first place. Aside from anchor stores closing, malls are suffering because when they reopen the vendors realize many people will not want to go out in public until they can be assured they won’t catch the Coronavirus. I read a prediction the other day which stated 90% of the malls are going to close and not reopen. I don’t know if this will happen, but we certainly have to admit it is not a good time to be the owner of a mall. The virus has shown us there is a large segment of the population in this country who are in Coronavirus hotspots, who totally disregard the chances they are taking and also don’t seem to care about others. As I said, this is only a segment of the population, but it is a pretty big one. As far as not caring, my son saw a great example of this when a car drove by and the driver through his mask out of the window onto the ground, not caring what ramifications that could have. You have to wonder how anyone could do something like this and yet there are places where one can see gloves and masks laying all over outside of stores even if there is a trashcan handy. There is a sort of false bravado with some of the younger generation many of whom still go to parties and such, do not wear masks and gloves and are certainly not abiding by social distancing. I believe the media is responsible for some of this because they kept publishing articles in the beginning of this epidemic which stated it only affected old people. It did say however a person could become a carrier even if they didn’t have symptoms of the disease and pass it along, and this should have been enough to stop these parties and gatherings from going on. One of the saddest things about the epidemic, besides all of the people who have died, is the fact it has made many children paranoid. There have been many reports of children crying and saying things like they don’t want to die and being generally scared all the time. This is one of the reasons people who have young children should try and play down the virus to them. It is better to have the little ones think they are completely safe than to discuss the dangers of the virus in front of them. How these children will be affected as they grow is also another question. Will that leave a permanent scar on them in the future and make them neurotic? I certainly hope not. While staying home and not going out is a big problem for many families, imagine how it is for an old person who lives alone. It is almost like being in solitary confinement and there are other problems. These people may also have to go out to the drugstore to pick up medicine or the grocery store to get food. They might even have medical appointments they have to go to. This means the most vulnerable section of the population has to take certain risks if they don’t have anyone to help them out. Unfortunately for us we don’t know how long the danger will last. What we do know is so far the pandemic is not spread evenly across the country. In some places it is hardly there and in others, like New York City and suburbs it seems to be everywhere. There is a discussion going on in the government if different areas should be treated differently depending on the density of Coronavirus cases. There is some disagreement on this matter, but it seems the consensus is if an area has only a few cases it can be opened up again, people can go out and go to work, and resume shopping and social activities. One can understand why people would want this and it might be okay, but there is a certain amount of risk involved when you do this. It looks to me like the last place that will open will be New York City and the suburbs. It is unfortunate we have to balance safety against being able to provide subsistence to one’s family. This might be the cruelest part of the pandemic. There are probably quite a few people who absolutely are in dire straits because they have no money since they have been out of work, but also realize the dangers and have no choice but to return to their employment when they are allowed. I would imagine this would also take a toll on their mental health. One thing we have to hope for is the predictions of gloom and doom after the summer are wrong. These are the predictions which state the Coronavirus will abate during summertime and come back stronger than ever in the winter. While we probably won’t have a vaccine, there are indications we might have a cure. Let’s hope a cure does come to pass.
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