You more than likely have noticed a carryover effect from the lockdown in 2020 in your daily life. Or maybe you did and it has passed. You had trouble keeping up with a mindless stop-and-chat, for instance. I have noticed plenty, and most of them fall under the heading of “almost everyone is selfish now.” The sort of things we once took for granted—passengers on an airplane would wait their turn to get off, drivers would stop at stoplights—can no longer be assumed.
The change that impacts my day-to-day the most involves, unsurprisingly, walking. I walk to the extreme right edge almost always, leaving plenty of room on the sidewalk for people moving in the other direction. But at least once a day, and I am not exaggerating, I end up coming face to face with someone. A lot of the time, it is a group of work colleagues who have decided to walk four or five abreast, taking up the entire sidewalk. Sometimes, it is one solitary person, usually looking down at their phone (no judgements, just reporting the news) but not always.
I never move, and I’m not going to apologize. Be courteous. Think of others. OK! Monologue over! Photos!
I know I have included a photo of the chapel at Thanks-Giving Square in every one of these so far, and I would imagine that streak will remain unbroken. I’m as unapologetic about that as I am not getting out of the way when other pedestrians are being rude. Look at this thing! It is different every time you lay eyes on it, depending on where the sun is and where you are, physically and maybe spiritually. I haven’t even shown a photo of the inside yet, and the kaleidoscopic, psychedelic stained glass spiral.
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