QUARANTINE LIFE: BACK TO NORMAL?

Some shows really suffer without a crowd. 

Some show hosts have demonstrated that they can’t function comfortably, or skillfully without one, and will say or do whatever they have to in order to get butts in seats. 

Having been stripped down to basics, many shows proved to be pitiful, weak, repetitive, self-serving, and dull. Others proved to be smart, competent, relevant, and progressive.

The noise of the crowd hides a lot of incompetence, impropriety, error, and fluff taking place on stage and behind the scenes. 

The crowd realizes its been laughing at jokes because others are laughing— not because the joke (or the joker) was funny. Without the laugh track, or hype person, it isn’t. The crowd has been applauding to be polite; because others are clapping, not because the presentation was actually pleasing. 

The pandemic has been a revelation.

Given the opportunity, the crowd will question why it subjects itself to what is simply not positive, healthy, or prudent. The pandemic provided such an opportunity.

When the foundation and substance of a thing depends on smoke screens, compliance and noise, and the usual crowd is dwindling or gone, panic ensues about the future of the show, and the livelihoods of those who run it. 

Instead of clamoring and demanding that the crowd return to mediocrity, why not fix or improve what's wrong with the show? The pandemic proved that some things needed to be postponed, shut down, retooled, or cancelled.

No one is anxiously running back to places and spaces where cracks have been exposed. Over six million deaths worldwide, are difficult to ignore.

The pandemic has been a spotlight on everything, every place, and everyone from which, or whom we’ve been separated. There’s been a lot of time to evaluate with clear eyes and conclude that some things, places, and people were never “normal”, and it’s a hard NO on going “back” to them. 

Covid and denial, however, are fast friends. 

No amount of manipulation, or desperate hawking by the showmen will convince the crowd to "come back" now that it’s had time to examine what the show’s really been about, and who actually benefits from it. 

The crowd has reordered its priorities; redirected its resources, embraced its preferences, and reclaimed its time. The crowd now knows what’s necessary, true, good, worthy, helpful, right, and required, and what’s not. The crowd knows who cares, and who doesn't; who lies and who doesn't. The crowd is tired of being used as sacrifices and guineas pigs for the political, religious, and entertainment purposes and gains of The Greedy.

Opportunists, manipulators, and controlling types are nervous. They need a plan, so no one should be surprised when they aren't forthcoming about what's happening--as if the crowd doesn't see it every day. 

Just because people have been shushed, or the narrative has changed to favor the dollar, the pandemic has not ended. 

Covid and its variants don't have to stalk, sneak, or hover anymore. They get ushered in through the front door, flown first class, and are invited to ride.

The eyes of the crowd are open; specifically the church crowd. 

Leaving the safety of home, and going to the show that masqueraded as weekly convocation, requires serious thought these days. 

The crowd learned that in-person worship has always been a thing, and could occur wherever they happened to be. (Didn't someone say that God was omnipotent and omnipresent?) Assembling and meeting could be done virtually. Opportunities to be of true service grew exponentially, and the crowd learned how to channel all it had gleaned from years of sitting on pews. 

The crowd finally decided (or was forced) to BE the Church. Now, when (and if) they GO to DO church, as the pandemic marches on, it won’t be for the usual show. There’s little tolerance for the pre-pandemic disgrace and idol worship that became comedic fodder for YouTube. 

The crowd isn’t missing religious exercise, dysfunction, demands, habits, or tradition. It understands, now, how godless many shows have actually been. It is not eager to return to business as usual. It doesn’t care if it’s deemed lazy, unfaithful, stubborn, selfish, fearful, fickle, or uncommitted, by those desperate for it to fill poorly ventilated indoor spaces. Those manipulative tactics and guilt trips won’t work any longer. The crowd has buried its loved ones (young and old), faced disabilities, lost its jobs, experienced financial hardship, relocated, sacrificed relationships, become caregivers, suffered eviction, home-schooled its children, etc. 

Life is different, now. 

Good luck getting any thinking crowd back by misquoting scripture, lying, creating PR spin, pronouncing judgment, mocking reality, and minimizing the dangers and consequences of a global pandemic. 

The crowd values wisdom and intelligence. There was a time when God told his people to go inside and stay inside until the trouble passed. Many didn’t listen back then, either. It's hard to ignore Isaiah 26:20 these days.

The crowd has learned that much of what it once considered mandatory, is either negotiable or totally unnecessary. 

Mask mandates have, once again, been prematurely lifted, and the post-pandemic-we’re-back-everything-is-fine bunch are chomping at the bit, surveying who’s in and who’s out, who’s brave and who’s “living in fear”. They're crafting their talking points to see who's gullible--and some people are proving to be just that. Once again, there are spikes, and the requests for thoughts and prayers keep coming.

Sometimes people tell themselves things to make themselves feel better, but they know they’re wrong. Misery and irresponsibility love company. "If I get it, I get it! You gotta die from something! I'm gonna live my life!", is proclaimed all over, and then two weeks later the news of hospitalization and intubation spreads, but no one is crass enough to say, "I told you so".

I wouldn’t exactly call flaunting a deadly virus “living”. 

No one is envious of anyone who has contracted Covid, is still suffering with long-term symptoms, or dealing with the guilt of infecting others. Politicizing this pandemic was such a grave mistake. Notice how quiet people get when they know their thoughtlessness has impacted someone else? Notice the shame and hesitation of even revealing that an illness or death is Covid related. It's suddenly nobody's business, but the people who were in close contact might want a heads up. Notice how people demand privacy and grace when they f*ck around and find out that Covid doesn't care about their philosophies, plans, schedules, or calendars?

Could it be that so many people’s coin or side hustle depend so heavily upon the crowd being present, that the well-being of the crowd no longer matters? Are people hoping that the crowd will be stupid just so there's a payday?

When the crowd decides to no longer allow its safety to be a pawn, gambling chip, or an afterthought, pay close attention to who's mad about it; who's calling other people sheep, or daring to snatch masks off of the faces of strangers.

If COVID-19 and her sorority sisters could laugh, they'd be cracking their spiky sides at the apathy, ignorance, and arrogance of the human beings who have so thoroughly underestimated and supported them.