May 29, 2020
The new social etiquette in a COVID-19 world: Part 2
Although our cities are, by baby steps, opening up again, we know the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic will be with us for many months, and perhaps years, to come. The harsh realities of social distancing are not going away any time soon.
We鈥檙e left to wonder 鈥 what is a socially distancing society like? What are the new rules of engagement in social situations? How do we function when we鈥檙e constantly on guard, in fear of strangers as carriers of the virus?
With such questions in mind, we looked to a few 草莓污视频导航 experts from a range of fields for insights and advice.
The experts here include classics and religion professor Dr. PhD, whose research on the history of emotions speaks to our current social situation in a timely way; and social psychologist Dr. PhD. Here鈥檚 what they had to share.
David Veksler on Unsplash
DR. PETER TOOHEY (Classics and Religion)
As we all now face long lineups to access stores which we once accessed freely, Toohey understands the aggravation this causes us. 鈥淵es, people say that queues are a terrible thing,鈥 he acknowledges. 鈥淚t鈥檚 boring and you may be in a hurry. And you don鈥檛 wish to turn around and speak to the person behind you, because it might embarrass them, or they might be smelly. Or, you might be smelly.鈥 But, in his new book, (written well before COVID-19, he notes) he touches on the joys to be found in queuing 鈥 especially in the staggered lineups of the current pandemic, when we鈥檙e all required to stand six feet apart.
In these times of social distancing and isolation, when people are feeling deeply lonely, Toohey suggests that queuing might provide moments of salvation.
Take time in a lineup to ... talk
鈥淭he whole process seems to me strangely sociable,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 harder to do in a tight queue, when people are elbowing you, but now that we鈥檝e got a little bit of room I find people are turning around and chatting with the person behind them. Or, if you鈥檙e with your family and you鈥檙e standing around for 20 minutes, why not take this time to talk with your children or your partner? Reconnect with them. Chat away.鈥
Of course, lineups are not the only moments where people are feeling time drag. At a time when so many aspects of our lives have been put on hold, many have complained of sheer boredom. But Toohey, the author of suggests that boredom can be a blessing 鈥 a time for daydreaming and creativity. This is something many of us seldom had time for in the hustle and bustle of our days before the pandemic.
Let boredom be your guide. You might be surprised as to where it will take you.
Another one of Toohey鈥檚 books, feels relevant in his take on the phenomenon of 鈥渟nitching鈥 during the pandemic, when people are encouraged to report others who are breaking the social distancing rules and endangering public health.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always used jealousy in the social sphere to control aberrant behaviour,鈥 he says. 鈥淎nd it can often yield positive results if it stops people from doing crazy things 鈥 like passing on a virus at a football game. So there can be some value in this snitching. But it is rooted in competitive jealousy and it鈥檚 probably not good for you to be doing it. It turns your brain around, I think.鈥
Blowing the whistle on whistle-blowers
While people might feel like they鈥檙e being altruistic and acting for the good of the public when they blow the whistle on others during the pandemic, Toohey believes that such altruism often emerges from our more base emotions. 鈥淧eople are always keen to get an edge off other people,鈥 he says. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e seeing somebody drinking beer in the park with their friends and you tell on them, are you really looking to public health there, or are you trying to assuage your own feelings? So often it鈥檚 competitive jealousy that drives these things. I think it can really be a bad thing.鈥
Gabriel Benois on Unsplash
DR. JOHN MANZO (Sociology)
As a researcher who studies lived social interaction, with an emphasis on 鈥渁ffable sociability in various public venues,鈥 Manzo has been fascinated and aghast by the societal changes posed by COVID-19.
鈥淧rior to the pandemic I had been researching the lifeworld of the modern coffeehouse, with a focus on how coffeehouses instance locations for what might be thought of as traditional sociality,鈥 says Manzo. 鈥淚 celebrate them for this reason. But cafes and every other 鈥榯hird place鈥 (in other words, a space that is neither home nor work that permits conviviality) are now closed to us, perhaps never to return. They鈥檝e been part of cultures the world over for millennia. I鈥檓 animated by this as much as I mourn it, and wonder how sociability will now take place.鈥 Manzo feels that the future 鈥渨ill have to entail new forms of etiquette and new expectations around comportment of our bodies in the social world.鈥
Face masks in. Coffeehouses out?
We also must contend with 鈥渢he now inescapable existence of face masks for everyone, everywhere.鈥 He notes: 鈥淚鈥檝e been wearing a mask for only the last week or so, and then only when I am at the grocery store or other enclosed shops, and have been noticing my own engagement with the mask and how it makes me feel. It鈥檚 deeply paradoxical. On one hand I feel claustrophobic and even smothered; they are horrible things and I can鈥檛 imagine having to wear one for hours at a stretch as do so many workers in so many places. But I also feel virtuous about wearing one; I feel protected and protecting, as if I鈥檓 doing good.鈥
For Manzo, the dilemma is the starting point for investigation. 鈥淚 can see many topics germane to my work emerging from this pandemic. As social scientists we can鈥檛 but be excited by these changes, even as we mourn so, so much.鈥
- Photo at the top of this article by on
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