The Old Normal
A few days ago, Universal Studios Orlando’s CityWalk shopping and dining destination partially reopened for business. And in a few more days, Walt Disney World’s Disney Springs shopping and dining destination will partially reopen for business. (I know, you may have seen headlines online trumpeting that the parks themselves are reopening this week. They’re not. Avoid the clickbait, friends.)
The responses and photos coming out of CityWalk over the last couple days have been very encouraging. People are keeping a smart social distance, masks are being worn with no hesitation, employees are being clear and effective with instructions, and even the parking situation has been redesigned in a logical and safe manner. This is great news for anyone who wants the theme parks to open up soon, and to do so in a manner in line with common-sense public health guidelines.
Of course, the notion of common sense runs right up against the notion of personal freedoms being infringed upon, or some such bullshit, as you may have seen yesterday.
There is, in case you are curious, nothing to litigate or debate here. If you’re reading this newsletter and currently thinking, “You know, Richard, Robert, Kevin, Vincent, and the others are all correct!”, you are, among other things, a selfish idiot. Wearing a mask has indeed become a public statement. To do so is to signify to those around you that you care not only about your own health, but about the health and safety of your friends, family, and total strangers. To not wear a mask is to signify that you care only about yourself.
The comment I get stuck on, among the blog commenters above, is the idea that wearing a mask just isn’t magical! And here’s the thing: that idea is arguably correct. It really isn’t magical to wear a mask or get stopped to have your temperature checked before entering a theme park. Here is something else you may not find magical: being an asyptomatic carrier of a deadly virus and inadvertently causing a new outbreak at one of the most popular places in the country, if not the planet, and leading to the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, more people. All because you didn’t want to wear a mask.
This complaint feels like a way of saying, “I want things to be how they were before.” In some way, I sympathize with this. I also want things to be how they were before we were living in a global pandemic. Who among us doesn’t want that? The problem isn’t that the desire for normalcy is wrongheaded. I get it. I feel that way too. But the difference is this: normalcy cannot be achieved in a minute. Tinker Bell cannot sprinkle pixie dust on this situation. The old normal isn’t coming back. And to arrive at a new normal, we have to make compromises. Or, if wearing a mask is that hard for you, call it a sacrifice. (And don’t forget, as you whine about the mask, that the Disney Cast Members will have to wear those masks if they want to keep their jobs. It’s not just about you.)
But guess what? If you want to visit Disney or Universal anytime soon…wear a fucking mask. If a kid can understand it — and most of them can — you can too.