I’m going to start out by saying that I really hate the term “the new normal”. It implies a permanence to me that I’m not comfortable with. I’d be OK with “the new temporary normal” which indicates that things will eventually get back to where they belong. “The new temporary normal” gives me hope while “the new normal” does not.
Thanks for listening. Now, on with today’s essay.
Last night, I saw a link posted on Facebook. The preview image associated with it showed two or three Lakers players sitting on chairs courtside. They were wearing black t-shirts with huge lace collars. The headline said that they were wearing the collars as a tribute to the late Justice Ginsburg.
My first reaction was that, while it seems a bit disrespectful to me, at least the NBA is doing something to honor her. Other people were showing their disgust with the NBA and their “tribute” in the comments. Some of them were really worked up about it.
If I was the type to get triggered by emotions, it would have been easy for me to get caught up in other people’s outrage. But, I’m not. So, I clicked on the link and quickly realized that the article was linked to a satire site and was completely fake.
It wasn’t difficult to determine that the article wasn’t true. I realized it after about two seconds of reading the article. But, so many people didn’t bother to even click on the link before allowing themselves to react so bitterly.
This morning, I saw a headline that stated a 9-year-old in Massachusetts was sent home from school because he sneezed twice.
Thinking it was another joke, I clicked on the link to read more. It was not a joke. A student was actually sent home from school because he sneezed. He felt fine and was showing no other symptoms, but he isn’t going to be allowed back in school until he tests negative for COVID. If a sneeze is the barrier that separates us from full-blown panic, then maybe it’s time to admit that we’re overreacting.
Both of these articles are so absurd that neither should be true. Yet one of them is. It has become next to impossible to tell what is true and what isn’t just by glancing at the headlines or image. So next time, instead of allowing yourself to immediately react emotionally, take a few seconds to educate yourself and then react from a position of knowledge.
Today, I’m going to leave you with two questions to ponder:
- How did we come to live in a world where NBA players wearing lace collars and a kid being sent home from school for sneezing are equally plausible?
- How long do you think it’s going to be before every kid in the country figures out the key to getting out of school for a few days is a packet of pepper?
