Was thinking of the future while driving around my town, shopping for any retail store that could sell me a webcam for my occupational laptop. Suppose I could've went to the Amazon, but felt like a good ole store visit would do me good, lift my spirits, restore my faith in economic prospects, sweet nostalgia. Besides, anxious to get a feel for the post pandemic capitalistic culture -- the processes, the safeguards, the consumer experience. After going a stubborn 0-5 at the typical suburban box spots, I'm declaring shopping as we knew it a total and complete bust. Barely evaded a parking lot wreck, avoided by many masked employees, saw very few smiles, many glares, inconsistent audible communication, struck out on the webcam purchase, and eventually, after 2 hours, hit up the Amazon.
But that's fine. Before this black swan arrived, we were consumer zombies, wasting time, paying markups, suckers with credit. Similar to breaking the fandom hypnosis, many will emerge from our unified viral absence with rewired rituals, thoughtful reconsiderations. At this moment, for example, I can't think of any reason I would ever walk into a mall again. Soon, the rats will finally take them over for good.
Let all the politicians worry about it, the corporate bean counters, the commercial real estate agents, the deans, the owners of professional sports teams. We have more important things needing attention, a brave new world, unmasked and alive, spotlighted, unashamed, helping others with simple gestures and small tokens. Compare that to the boredom of gossip, what the sources say off the record, a secondary truth to dress up the primary lie. Decorated in ass covering memos, intentional leaks, and smug denials. The mold class.