A couple of nights ago, I went to Amerigo's on West End Avenue to pick up takeout for the family. Dating back to before Jude and I had the boys, Amerigo has long been one of our go to takeout spots, particularly when we want a nicer meal but don't have time for a night out.
When I arrived, I was struck by the fact that Amerigo's was crowded. The bar was filled with patrons, some eating and some having a drink after work or as visiting tourists. All of the tables in the restaurant were filled, as well, and servers were bustling around the restaurant. There was even a wait to be seated, which I haven't seen there in, what, two years.
For just a moment, I stopped and watched the hum of activity, smiling to myself. I want - we all want - to get through the pandemic and have things return to normal, whatever that means. Wednesday night, to me, anyway, it felt like it did to me - at Amerigo's - before the pandemic. Before I had ever heard of Covid-19.
Normal, of course, is a subjective term. It's personal. It means something different to me than it does to you.
When Jude and I went to the Predators' game on Tuesday night with our friends, Rob and Roseann, Bridgestone Arena was packed for the game against a rival, the Minnesota Wild. Great game, by the way. Four fights, two in the first minute of play. Lots of scoring. A hat trick by Ryan Johansen, completed in the final seconds of play when he scored an empty net goal. The fans responded by tossing hundreds of hats onto the ice. Best of all, the Predators' won, 5-2.
But, I digress. Jude wore a mask throughout the game. Why? Because she's more comfortable wearing a mask in large group settings even though she's vaccinated and has had a booster shot. That's he normal, for now, anyway. Forever? I don't know. I didn't ask her.
The point, of course, is that she wanted to wear a mask at the game and she did so. It wasn't weird or strange. No one said anything to her. A few other people wore masks, too, but not many. And that was fine, as well. Normal or, maybe, the new normal.
Is the pandemic over? It's hard for me to say that it is, personally, given that Joe's 3rd grade teach tested positive for Covid-19 this week. Jude's sister-in-law tested positive, also, upon returning from a trip to Disney. So, no, I don't think the pandemic is over.
What I do think is over, though, for better or worse - and I'm not sure which - is the general public's overly cautious, careful approach to the pandemic. It seems as if people are at a point where they have accepted that Covid-19 is going to be with us for a while - maybe forever - people are going to get it and get sick, or even die. But life must go on and it will go on, Covid-19 be damned.
Personally, my sense of worry, even dread, about Covid-19 has dropped from an 8 or 9 to a 2 or 3, probably because I had it in January and survived it. I was pretty sick but my I never felt like my life was in danger. Would I want to go through it again? No. Am I willing to avoid crowds, isolate, and wear a mask in public to lessen my chances of getting Covid-19 again? No.
What does all of this mean? I have no idea, really.
I do know, however, that things seem to returning to normal again. And that's nice.
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