Back to normal...co-living with the Corona virus

Since one week now everything is allowed unless it's explicitly forbidden. This is the reversed logic from the lockdown when all was forbidden unless it was allowed. 

• Our children are since previous Monday both fulltime back to school. Whereas Kabouter had been several half days a week since mid May and Beertje had some test days early June, they are now back full days together. As a result our house is disturbingly quiet after 3 months of co-housing/co-working/co-playing.
• There's traffic jams again on the roads each morning...less still than the "good old days" and often triggered by road works, but still...traffic truly is back, also in front of our house. 
• We went out for dinner in the the nearest bistro to get a spaghetti last Friday.  Restaurants could re-open since Monday with reduced capacity, distancing rules etc.  Most work with reservation. 
• We did a tour of the family and visited my mom and my in-law relatives yesterday. 
• We are chatting with friends to maybe go out to a restaurant together or to come over for a visit
• Some colleagues will return to the office tomorrow.
• All children's summer camps have been comfirmed (although the flexible playground services now needed full week reservations, but fortunately it went smoothly)
• Since Thursday we all have a decent haircut again

So yes, the picture starts to look normal again. And yet it isn't.  

• If you look down where you walk, our life is ruled now with one direction instructions, social distancing waiting instructions etc etc painted on the floor and additional signs put up everywhere.  
• When approaching a store or restaurant or whatever, you are welcomed by desinfectant gel and the children already run to it fully automated to start washing and rubbing their hands
• Spontaneity is forbidden: restaurants, the zoo, playgrounds even the church services ...all of a sudden everything needs reservations to handle crowd control
• People returning to the office need to use fixed assigned desks (as opposed to the flexdesks we had just introduced on March 1st), one direction in the hallways while wearing face masks, have plexi screens in between desks etc
• There are waiting lines in front of every store
• You are obliged to take a desinfected cart into stores (as a way to also count the number of people inside)
• We can't go with both children at the same time to the hairdresser and we're obliged (children too) to wear facial masks when getting our haircut while covered in disposable protection sheets

And yet these things quickly feel normal again. In such a way that people seem to become reckless again.

• Social distancing?? poooh we're in open air that is normal.   
• Meeting a max of 10 people a week?  Pff we keep distance so it's ok.  
• Wearing a face mask in a store? Why would I, it's not mandatory and it doesn't protect myself so why would I do the small respectful effort for you?
• Keeping distance? Why would we, I can finally go to a pub, restaurant or terrace again so I will even if it's getting overcrowded right away

It feels fun and good to be able to do more again but it doesn't feel good if everyone is going to try out the new freedom right away to the maximum. Even though statistics are doing quite well, I am still worried we are not careful enough.  I know we can't remain locked up at all but I want to keep it slow and I hope others do it as well.   
I've been irritated like hell when I heard as of mid-May of companies opening up partially for office work...IT firms by god's sake, if they can't telework, they are not worthy the name of an IT firm.  Telework had to be the norm until June 8 so shame on you by allowing office workers inside earlier.  And yes I'm quite frustrated with the low level of mask wearing into stores. 


I also notice that returning to normal only feels weird the first moment but once the first step is taken it quickly tastes like more. We'll see.

The signs of the new times