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Together Alone or #AloneTogether

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the #AloneTogether idea that is promoted throughout media as we wait for the surge of Covid-19 to come and go. It wasn’t that long ago when many considered it problematic that so many people, (particularly young people), would spend time together, but alone. Mobile devices of varying types monopolized the attention of individual family members who were sitting together in the same room at home. A group of friends could be found hanging out together in a home or at a restaurant, all heads bent and eyes focused on their phones, sometimes even with ear pods affixed securely.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that we not remain #alonetogether for as long as needed to help reduce the spread of the Cornavirus. I’m simply reflecting on the irony of how the perspectives have changed so dramatically. When once, many frowned upon the idea of family members using their phones at dinnertime instead of having conversations with those they shared a table with, now families are using those mobile devices as a tool to connect people across households during mealtime. Families and individuals are zooming, skyping, facetiming, google-duoing, or any-other number of app-ing options to share meals and spend time together.

Platforms like Zoom had previously been used more commonly as a way of having work meetings or classes with individuals unable to attend in person. Now Zoom is one of many primary tools used to connect co-workers and classmates, but it’s also being used in other contexts as well. I’ve heard of Zoom cocktail parties and Zoom dance parties. Even physicians are holding appointments via telephone or other virtual formats with their non-critical patients. Over the last couple of months, virtual connections have become mainstream for most non-essential businesses as well as schools, families, and friends.

News programs and late-night talk shows have found ways to minimize on-site staff or revise their content delivery methods (i.e. from their homes) and are still able to produce informative and entertaining content. Movies that would otherwise only be available in the theaters are being made available in on-demand viewing formats by many cable and satellite companies. Churches have found alternative methods to meet virtually. Many restaurants have found ways to remain open in a limited capacity with delivery or curb-side pick-up. Yet, with all of these options for staying #alonetogether, some people are insistent that life return to the old-normal immediately. I’ve heard of protests and anti-lockdown rallies in various towns across the country; people either think it’s unnecessary, or are simply tired of the shelter-in-place orders and have gathered in crowds at capitol buildings or at homes of government officials, (among other places), demanding a return to life as it was.

I understand that shelter-in-place and the shutting down of many non-essential businesses has and will continue to impact the economy for the duration. Some of the worst-hit households are those of non-essential employees who live paycheck-to-paycheck and who need the income they cannot earn right now in order to pay for their homes, food, and medicine. I do understand. But I also know that this spread of the coronavirus is both dangerous and devastating to a majority of individuals and families. Instead of risking the togetherness of protests or a too-early return to the old-normal, embrace the old practice of being together alone in a new way. Be #alonetogether.