Looking back at a tumultuous time in modern history.
It’s 2026. Six years since the COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide and caused a global shutdown. The economy went into recession. Millions of people were infected. And countries went into lockdown.
It was a scary time for sure. But, personally, I kind of…enjoyed lockdown. Of course, I was safe at home with my family, a privilege not everyone had. I’m not saying that the pandemic was a good thing, but lockdown just…worked out for me, I guess. I was happy with staying at home and not having to go to school. Online classes were chaotic. Countless others and I had to learn how to use online video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Google Meet. We had to entertain ourselves at home.
When we eventually went outside, we had to observe social distancing, wear masks and sanitise frequently. You guys remember how you had to get your temperature measured before going into places? It’s weird that I feel nostalgic when I look back at COVID-19 mandates. Some people bumped fists instead of shaking hands to greet one another, as if that was a safer option.
Then there was travelling. I started university abroad in early 2022, when the pandemic was still a big deal. Everything became ten times more complicated. Quarantine, extra documents you needed… yeesh.
But, somehow, humanity got through the COVID-19 pandemic. A vaccine was developed. Cases went down. And slowly, but surely, life went back to normal. Sort of. More people work remotely now, for one thing. People still bow at each other at Mass instead of shaking hands during peace (I kind of miss shaking hands, to be honest). The memories of 2020 are still relatively fresh in the public’s consciousness. This is a period in humanity’s history that future generations will learn about. I’ll tell my grandchildren about how we had to struggle to hear our teachers talking during online classes because they had a bad internet connection. Let’s just hope that we don’t have to deal with another pandemic for a long, long while. And if one eventually shows up, let’s hope that we’ll be ready to deal with it effectively.