By Joanne Byrne
Retired and Rejuvenated
Joanne Byrne
What are we going to do now that many of us have been fully vaccinated? It is one of the great questions of our pandemic time, one that pops up lately wherever I see friends via Zoom or in my neighborhood.
Will we get on a plane? Go back to the gym? Go to the hairdresser, a ballgame, the nail salon, a restaurant, a party? Will we shake hands? Hug? Go to the movies or buy a ticket to a concert? Or will we keep hanging out on the sofa and watching Netflix?
These are questions that are on all our minds. For the past year we have done almost everything differently. We can remember all the things we used to do and dream of doing them again. But as more and more of us “older folks” get vaccinated, the need to chose our next steps gets closer while the answers remain as elusive as clouds.
A friend of mine recently put the question to his Twitter followers. What, he wondered, would Americans do once the pandemic lifted? He proposed three options: Would they party hard to make up for lost time? Would they go back to “normal”? Or would they stay mostly isolated because they have grown used to their cocoons?
One respondent, noting that the jubilant decade called the Roaring 20s followed the 1918 flu pandemic, predicted Americans would “party party party!” Some will, no doubt – especially the young ones. But to his surprise, there was widespread support for the last choice: staying isolated. Several respondents happily referred to themselves as hermits and seemed glad to stay that way. He calls it “the other vaccine hesitancy,” the reluctance many people have even when they’re fully vaccinated to return to crowds and old habits.
For now that hesitancy is smart. Fully vaccinated doesn’t equal fully liberated – or shouldn’t. The virus and its nasty cousins, the dreaded variants, are still lurking, ready to multiply at any opportunity. The liberation we feel from vaccination is like opening a window on a warm day in March. Yeah, that fresh air feels good. But it’s still winter, you fool. Don’t dream too big.
It is safe to bet that even the self-professed hermits will want to eventually leave their cocoons. I liked the slower pace imposed by the months of lockdown, but even I’m finding my social calendar getting fuller and fuller. I want to be careful not to let the old rat-race take over again.
I know people who are afraid to plan. Planning – the kind that involves travel, theater, a wedding, a restaurant dinner – is a skill that atrophied during the pandemic. Some people are still twitchy about planning because so many of their plans were dashed and they are afraid of it happening again if the virus flares back up.
The wise person should proceed with caution and carefully calibrated hope. We have bought our tickets for a week-long trip to California, but only after making sure it was refundable. I’ve divided my post-vaccination “to do” list into three parts: things I might do soon (return to clothes shopping), things I will do soon when the weather warms up (eat outside at a restaurant) and things I won’t do for a while (going to the movies).
So take your time. Start planning and looking forward again. Encourage everyone you meet to be vaccinated, since this will help us all. And be happy that we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Joanne Byrne served as Senior Services Coordinator for the Town of Orange. She is now actively and happily retired. Email her at joannebyrne41 @gmail.com to share your thoughts on retirement.