Bob Schwartz

Three general types have emerged from the pandemic: deniers, normalizers and explorers. We will be living with the different approaches from now on.

Deniers are those who never believed there was much of a problem, or after that became unsustainable, believe that we have overreacted to the situation. We have done too much, and even the latest response, the vaccines, is an unnecessary step.

Normalizers, acknowledging how bad things got, still keep the faith in getting back, eventually, to the way things were at the end of 2019. They never deny that a tornado hit their house, but they are determined to rebuild it more or less the way it was where it was so they can move back in.

Explorers come to believe that we have crossed an ocean and been shipwrecked on a strange shore. Attempts to recreate some of the older basics may work, but besides some of the old ways not being suitable, there is a slowly growing sense that, like it or not, planned or not, we have arrived at a new world. So maybe, rather than stubbornly resisting, we should consider new possibilities—even if they make normal life something entirely different.