Ready for normal activities? Take our assessment quiz
Are you ready to eat inside a restaurant?
Go to a movie in a theater? Would you go to a singalong in a closed room this December?
If you’re rolling your eyes and thinking, “Why are we talking about December?” I understand. But I raise these questions because this week my colleague Eric Zorn and I were asked what we thought about returning this year to a live version of our long-running holiday singalong at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
Like other artistic institutions, the Old Town School is considering when and how to reopen for concerts. The singalong, which we put on with a band of great musicians, has been on the calendar for two decades. Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, we did a virtual show.
But this year, as the world creeps back into public gathering, should we return to an in-person show? Would people come? Should they? Should we?
As more and more people are fully vaccinated, these are the kinds of questions that infuse our lives in many realms. We discuss our forays back into public life, comparing ourselves to others.
We cringe at some other people’s choices — they did what? — or feel them cringe at ours.
These decisions can be agonizing, like life-and-death choices because, well, they are.
But there’s no denying that as the world reopens little by little, our minds reopen to possibilities. Keeping track of our attitudes and activities is one way we document our pandemic lives. In that spirit, I’ve created a pandemic self-assessment.
Fill it out. Consider what it tells you about your activities and attitudes. Hang on to a copy then fill it out periodically. Compare how your answers have changed. Compare with friends.
It’s not a contest. Wise choices may mean low numbers. But one day, when we’re back to something that resembles normal, you can look back at your answers and marvel at the reopening of your life.
YOUR PANDEMIC REENTRY ASSESSMENT
Scoring scale:
1 — No way. Not until the pandemic is over.
2 — Feeling uneasy. Waiting for more info.
3 — Not yet but soon.
4 — Already done it!
0 — N/A (Don’t know or not applicable)
Using that scale, how likely are you to do each of the following activities?
■ Eat indoors at a restaurant ____
■ Eat outdoors at a
restaurant____
■ Sit indoors at a bar____
■ Sit outdoors at a bar____
■ Go back to the gym____
■ Return to the public pool____
■ Go to a loud, crowded outdoor festival____
■ Wear a dress or a suit, i.e., dress like a grown-up____
■ Go to an indoor concert____
■ Have friends over for dinner inside____
■ Have friends over for dinner outside____
■ Go to a shopping mall____
■ See a movie in a theater____
■ Attend a play indoors____
■ Ride public transportation____
■ Take a road trip____
■ Take an airplane flight____
■ Go back to the office____
■ Go back to an indoor classroom____
■ Hang out on a crowded beach____
■ Go to a ballgame____
■ Play a group sport____
■ Get your teeth cleaned____
■ Have your routine doctor’s checkups____
■ Allow service workers into the house____
■ Attend a religious service or yoga class indoors____
■ Hug a friend____
■ Hug a stranger____
■ Shake someone’s hand____
■ Stop spending so much time on Zoom____
Even as a fully vaccinated person who has relished the return to some of these activities, I think it’s too soon for others.
For example, I’m not ready to eat inside a restaurant and won’t be for a while. I did recently sit in an outdoor restaurant igloo, my first restaurant adventure in over a year. It felt good.
I feel no need to go to a mall but have gone into a few small businesses in my neighborhood. Movie theaters? Not soon.
I’ve hugged some friends but no strangers. No handshakes yet, or maybe ever again, though I miss them.
I gave up on loud, crowded festivals a long time ago.
I’m looking forward to wearing a dress but haven’t had the occasion.
I’d take a road trip, though, and plan to get on a plane next week, the first time since February 2020. Fully masked, of course.
I’m still thinking about the holiday singalong.