Many things take longer during the current Corona crisis. With the bank closed, I wait in line for the drive-up. Since the supermarket only lets in so many people at a time, I wait in line, six feet apart, to get in, and I wait in line to check out, six feet apart, to be assigned to a cash register. Socializing on Zoom, when everyone talks over each other and the conversation becomes dysfunctional, I have no choice but to be patient with this less-than-perfect medium. My basement is full of empty egg cartons, empty bottles, and plastic bags that all need to be returned for reuse or recycling. Sooner or later I will be able to clear this backlog out – patience. Even Amazon doesn’t currently deliver as fast as it used to during normal times.

We need patience to wait for the governor’s Go to reopen our businesses, to wait for the economy to creep back, to wait for this virus to pass through the population and do its thing. We need patience during this pregnant pause to see how we will come out the other end. If you’re looking for a vaccine against the virus, you’ll need to be patient. If you’re looking to go back to school or college, or to return to restaurants and gyms, and to a new normal, you’ll need patience.

We have been used to “instantaneously,” but that just doesn’t work right now. We have been stopped in our tracks. What are you doing with this?