Lockdown has come with some silver linings

To mangle Dickens: It is the worst of times, it is the best of times too.

Two weeks ago I wrote about things we miss that we always took for granted, from restaurants and movies to gatherings in the flesh with family and friends.

But many of you wrote to remind me there are also many positives in this strange worldwide lab experiment that’s transformed our lives.

For starters, we’re driving much less. The roads have been almost as quiet as my childhood while traffic tickets, accidents and motor deaths have fallen.

With less traffic and industry, the air and water everywhere are far less polluted. People in India see the Himalayas for the first time in their lives, while shocked Venetians spot jellyfish in suddenly crystal-clear canals.

They’re taking pictures to remember what it looked like during The Great Pause — the best of times for Mother Nature in many years.

The world has been so quiet, some ask: why are the birds so loud these days?

Crime is also down almost everywhere. Murders have plummeted in most countries, as have home robberies, since everyone’s always home.

Pickpockets are an endangered species, since it’s pretty hard to pick a pocket from six feet away. But commercial robberies are way up, since stores are empty — while domestic abuse has also risen for too many families trapped at home.

Many people are having anxious dreams — like one I had several weeks ago about cellphones transmitting COVID -19. But most people are sleeping longer.

Studies of electricity use show people starting their day some 90 minutes later, as many get eight hours sleep for perhaps the first time.

Home life has returned to my childhood TV’S Ozzie and Harriet days. Jeanne-mance Park by my house is filled with more families than I’ve ever seen, as dads kick soccer balls and wrestle with kids, while moms play tag.

Most families are dining together three times a day for the first time ever. It’s been the worst of times for senior citizens, but many young children are having the best time of their lives.

Extroverts like me miss life’s variety: the movies, plays, concerts and festivals of the B.C. era (Before COVID).

But it’s also been a psychological rest since there are no movies, plays, concerts and festivals to decide between — no choices at all except what to watch on Netflix tonight.

Travel decisions have been greatly simplified as airplanes stop filling the skies. Many have asked:

“Hmm … should we spend our summer staycation in Living-room Land, or Kitchenville?”

There’s a certain freedom in imprisonment.

It’s been the best of times for many introverts who can stay home as usual but without any FOMO — Fear of Missing Out — because they know there’s nothing happening anymore to miss out on.

Some of you wrote to tell me you actually like self-isolating indoors — having exactly the same simple schedule every day. It’s forced you to do less, with no guilt.

After decades of living by the frenzied digital second, we have entered a Zen-like timelessness where many people have forgotten the date, day of the week, or month. Let’s hope this doesn’t last so long we forget the year.

Meanwhile many germaphobes love the six-foot distancing they’ve always thought should be law.

It is the worst of times for small businesses, restaurants and people who live paycheque to paycheque. But for many it’s also a break from consumerism, a reminder we can live with less.

My Visa bill is the lowest it’s been since the late 1970s when I used something called Chargex.

We’re also taking a break from self-consciousness as we wear the same sloppy, comfy clothes again and again because there’s no one to impress. Many people have mastered new skills. Some have learned to cook, while cooks learned to bake and motorists finally learned to walk.

Politically it’s sometimes been the worst of times, as countries and world leaders have quibbled, not cooperated. But it’s been the best of times for ordinary citizens who’ve pulled together everywhere: health care workers, neighbours, volunteers and so many others doing selfless things.

Here in Canada it’s been the worst of times for the economy but the best of times for relations between Ottawa and all the provinces. It’s a reminder that in a pinch we can only count on big government, not big business.

In Quebec, there have been no anglophones, francophones or other phones. We are all just Quebecers — and citizens of the world.

Globally, it has reminded all humanity to be more humble, that we are specks in the wind when natural disasters strike. Will this lesson remain when COVID -19 finally disappears?

Will we be more sensitive to each other and to the far greater threat of climate change? Or will we quickly slip into old routines?

It is the worst of times, but when it’s finally over, let’s hope we remember the best things we did.

Most families are dining together three times a day for the first time ever.