There is a great deal to be said for rapidity; but it is not especially a good way of grasping reality. People merely going the pace, in any age, have generally missed everything except the most artificial and external costume and custom of that age. Men need to walk a little slower to look at the earth and to face the facts of nature.
— G. K. Chesterton, “On the Prudery of Slang,” All is Grist
My gym lifted its minimal mask requirements a couple weeks ago, right after the CDC announcement. Within a week, the same was true of the Aldi where we get most of our staples, as well as the Walmart grocery. As Walmart goes, so goes America, one would hope. So, as we approach normality again, what have we learned? If we spent our time being “connected” and “informed” through social media, we probably were kept apprised of all the latest rumor-mongering, doomsaying and chin-stroking, but didn’t learn much of enduring value. What in our day-to-day lives would have been different had we just ignored it all?