A new normal

This past summer, I developed the habit of taking walks around my neighbourhood. It was partly because I hoped a change of scenery every now and then would reignite my stifled creativity, but it was mostly because my parents begged me to do something other than watch Netflix in bed all day (fair enough). By the time September rolled around, I had both digital and analogue snapshots of every nook and cranny in town. I made it my personal mission to capture the mundane—from empty park benches to local mom-and-pops.

Curiously, another frequent subject of mine was one I didn’t expect to see: discarded masks littering the neighbourhood. I think that I felt compelled to photograph them because these improperly discarded masks felt like a visual representation of a phrase we haven’t been able to escape since the onset of the pandemic: “back to normal.” Looking back on these photos, they seem like a reminder that although some of us can easily move on from the pandemic, COVID hasn’t simply disappeared. Considering that the country is in the middle of a fourth wave, the virus is still clearly a threat. And even if it wasn’t, the pandemic has been affecting all aspects of our lives; our social interactions, mental health, financial situations, and the political climate we find ourselves in have all been shaped by the pandemic, and these effects aren’t going to vanish now that society is opening back up. The littered masks remind me of the people that are being left behind while everyone else is excited for life to go “back to normal.”

Particularly, I’ve been thinking about how reopening strategies are working in favour of some people while completely disregarding others. A pertinent example is how Ontario’s vaccine passport system is placing significant strain on workers in the service industry. The food service industry has been experiencing a perpetual labour shortage ever since the pandemic hit; with the implementation of vaccine passports, many small businesses in particular are too understaffed to check patrons’ vaccine statuses. On top of this, food service workers tasked with checking vaccine passports have been subject to increased violence by anti-vaxxers. In a NOW article published a few weeks ago, Richard Trapunski writes, “[I]t’s not that people don’t want to work, they just don’t want to work at a job that underpays, abuses and treats them as disposable.” For the most part, vaccine passports seem like a great idea, but while things might seem to be going back to normal, this is uncharted territory for service workers and small businesses, and the government of Ontario needs to support them.

Looking at the bigger picture, we also need to think about what returning “back to normal” really means. Pandemic-specific policies such as mask requirements and vaccine passports may have exacerbated the harassment that service workers face, but the exploitation of minimum-wage earners isn’t anything new—it’s normal under the capitalistic ideology of “profit over people.” Similarly, anti-Asian hate crimes and inadequate healthcare for Black and Indigenous populations aren’t exclusive to the pandemic either, and they won’t suddenly vanish in a post-pandemic world.

Most of us using the phrase “back to normal” aren’t doing so with these charged connotations in mind—personally, I would just like to attend concerts and not deal with maskne on a regular basis! But wouldn’t it also be worthwhile to imagine a new normal? I think the easiest way to go about this is to take the helpful pandemic policies and continue implementing them post-pandemic. While many of us are sick of Zoom meetings, working and learning from home has had benefits for many Disabled people, commuters, and caregivers. Moreover, many UofT course instructors have been accommodating to students struggling because of the pandemic; I know professors who have waived late penalties and participation marks. Why shouldn’t these accommodations continue to be implemented post-pandemic?

While we all desperately want the pandemic to be over, the fact of the matter is that we’re nowhere near the finish line. In this issue, The Strand shares stories about how the pandemic is continuing to shape our lives. In News, Eugene Kwong interviews international students about their experiences returning to campus amidst the pandemic. Associate Arts and Culture Editor Rion Levy examines the pandemic’s long-term impacts on art. In Science, Serena Marek speaks to students who have been juggling academia and practical work in healthcare. But our third issue is also attuned to the myriad of ways we can create a “new normal.” Tammy Yu’s Feature highlights the ways that asexuality is misunderstood and encourages us to have a more nuanced view of sexual orientation. Associate Opinions Editor Abi Akinlade argues for cinema to decentre white coming-of-age stories. And in Stranded, Max Lees advocates for denormalizing visits to the seventh floor of Robarts.