As an England rugby fan, used to the new Zealand All Blacks routinely hammering England in internationals, it can only ever be two cheers. But the news that New Zealand rugby will resume imminently with full crowds and no social distancing is a beacon of light for all of us yearning for a return to normality.
There seems to be a widespread assumption in society that the future will look like a modified future of the lockdown present. Offices will have to be rebuilt for social distancing. Restaurants and bars will have to function with strict controls over distancing or they will have to shut down. Masks will be de rigeur on public transport even although everybody will be seated well away from each other. Aeroplane queues will be kilometres long and the wait even more interminable than it was before the virus. Sporting events will have smaller crowds if any at all.
The fact that many of these activities will simply be too expensive or impractical to survive such constraints does not appear to have sunk in, although the massive rise in unemployment due over the next few months may bring more people to that realisation. Some people might say that as soon as the virus retreats further, more people will yearn for a return to normality. And it is true that there are signs of that already as more and more people are stretching the rules or ignoring them entirely, like the Black Lives Matter protesters.
However, the way in which a socially distanced future appears to have been absorbed so quickly into future plans is a worrying sign. We have already seen social distancing in different ways become more normalised already in the 21st century, often, although not always, with the best of intentions. Adults have been discouraged from being near children in the name of preventing child abuse. Social interaction and proximity between men and women at work has been made an issue by the #MeToo movement to prevent sexual harassment. In a parody of social distancing, ‘safe space’ campaigning in Universities has has gone to the extreme by aiming to protect supposedly vulnerable students from the virus of ideas they may get upset by.
Some parts of society have been moving towards the acceptance of social distancing for a long time. Now it has been more generalised it may be even harder to shake off. Once it is accepted that other people are a threat,even harsh economic realities may not be enough to get us all back to work and play. So well done New Zealand and roll on the next international in front of a big crowd when you will no doubt turn us over again.
