The COVID-19 pandemic entered everyone’s life nearly 3 years ago now. The dramatic changes that altered our daily
lives made it hard to envision a way out of the restrictions that COVID-19 put on everyone.
At the time, actions considered “risky” ranged from interacting with another person outside of the family to touching a surface that another person may have touched.

Thankfully, most of the practices done during the height of the pandemic are toned down so that people are put at ease and only a few remain for the respect of others and yourself.

Commercial flying saw an extreme decrease in activity when the pandemic struck and remained that way for a while afterwards.

Currently, airlines are providing flights worldwide fairly proficiently, although the customs of flying have changed. When boarding an aircraft nowadays many passengers are enticed to pull a disposable mask over their

face and even flight attendants hand out massive sanitizing wipes to clean down all surfaces of the seat.

While this practice may not be “normal,” I am in favor of obliging to it and urging other members in my family to do so. It seems like a safe and simple way to help prevent the spread of any potential disease, since the aircraft had the opportunity to occupy people from all over the country/ world.

Wearing masks was an all-too- common practice during the pandemic. I remember when the mask mandate was lifted in my hometown and it actually felt more abnormal to go in public without a mask.

While most people can agree that not being required to wear masks in public is a good method, in some circumstances, it might be encouraged. I have noticed that my classmates will still bust out an N95 if they have cold symptoms to ensure that they do not infect their peers.

This act of consideration is born out of the COVID-19 pandemic and I am grateful that people strive to protect others by simply wearing a mask.

Post-pandemic times do not warrant people to wear masks any longer, so the idea of wearing a

mask while sick is not traditionally normal. Although I believe it is widely accepted and that is a good matter considering the intention is to help others stay healthy.

People also seem to be more aware of their illnesses. For instance, instead of braving it through colds, people seem to attempt to incorporate all sorts of ways to fight their sickness. They try alternative routes to taking care of their health like supplements, vitamin C infusers, extra rest, limiting stress and spending more time outside in fresh air.

When people do get sick, they often keep a lookout for any symptoms associated with COVID-19, which can develop into a good or bad habit.

Something that will never go back to “normal” is the habit of testing for COVID-19 whenever someone experiences cold symptoms.

For me this is a familiar struggle because I overthink my symptoms and get overly nervous that I have COVID-19 when most of the time it has just been a cold.

The mindset of being COVID-19 aware is something that will probably not go back to normal at least in our generation.