My husband and I own a condo at Myrtle Beach. It’s a nice place to go to on weekends and also a source of income when we aren’t there. Of course, the Spring rental season has been cut short, and frankly we’ve stayed away mostly because, well, everything is closed.

Not any more! The impatient public has spoken, and the beach has been reopened to the public. Our curiosity got the better of us, and we attempted a walk along the beach. I thought I was prepared (masking and practicing social distancing.) I wasn’t.

What I found was a bunch of foolish people whose idea of social distancing was keeping their group of 10+ people at least 4-6 feet away from the next group of 10+ people. One would think these folks had been isolated for 6 months instead of 6 weeks. They carried on as if nothing had changed in this world, and out of the hundreds of people we saw, I was the ONLY one wearing a mask. And someone MOCKED me for this. Someone I might add who was 50 pounds too heavy for the thong bathing suit she was occupying, so she had no room to criticize…

Sigh.

As a society, we need to WAKE UP. Life is different now. I keep hearing people say that they can’t wait for things to return to “normal.” We have a “new” normal folks, and yes, it’s scary now. Take a deep breath (in your mask) and let it out slowly. COVID-19 isn’t going away any time soon, and we must adapt. We must accept change and embrace new routines. But mostly, we need to take this SERIOUSLY. Even though the hospital I work at has not yet taken active COVID-19 patients, we accept recovering patients, and their survival rates once they are off the ventilator are dismal.

Step back folks. Take this down time to reflect and mostly CHILL. The rat race will return (in a different presentation I’m sure) but until then, relax. Alone. With a mask.