The Pandemic has changed many lives and they way the world runs. I think about how many companies are going to continue to sanitize and keep shops healthy and safe after the pandemic is over. I think about how many people are going to continue to wear a mask and practice social distancing in public areas. I think about how many schools are going to adapt to a more virtual schooling experience. I, like you, have a lot of questions about the future of the world after pandemic life. Whatever happens in the future, I can guarantee that we will be taking some new pandemic related civic activities with us.

The first civic activity is all the mask campaigns. “Mask up Minnesota” or “Mask up or Pack Up” are just the few that come to my mind. These campaigns were embedded into our brains so much so that it seems weird to leave without a mask or go outside without a mask. They embody many civic commonplaces, we all are going through this odd life event and we all do not want to get sick or other people sick so we all wear a mask. You mights share the commonplace of driving to the store and feeling a panic that you forgot your mask or you are in the store and panic because do you have your mask on or not. These feelings of panic are a commonplace that many people can relate to when it comes to the civic artifact of mask campaigns.

The second civic activity is at home exercising. All those walks with your dog, all those youtube workout videos, all those new Pelaton app users, maybe you were one of the lucky ones who was able to buy workout equipment before stores sold out. Whatever the case for you, we all share the struggle of working out and staying motivated during the pandemic. Perhaps it was better for you, not feeling that gym judgement, but for me  walks got old after the first 10 in two days. Many commonplaces are shared when it comes to exercising during a pandemic and that is why this civic activity is going to be remembered even after the pandemic. However, I think after the pandemic is over, many people will continue to workout from home and cancel gym memberships because what else are they going to do with all their quarantine bought gym equipment.

The last civic activity is online presence. I think it is safe to assume that during the pandemic, if not everyone, the majority of Americans used Zoom or another online talking application to talk to friends and family. Many commonplaces are shared with this activity such as bad signals, not being muted, accidentally being muted and trying to talk, not knowing how to turn on cameras; we all can relate whether it happened to a teacher, friend or family member. I believe that after the pandemic is over the increase in online usage is not going to go back down to where it was before the pandemic. Yes, Zoom will continue to haunt us.

Whatever happens in the future, I can guarantee that we will be taking some new pandemic related civic activities with us. We all went through a pandemic together and we will all come out with a sense of understanding because we can all relate to the pandemic activities.