The most-contrary-to-human-nature COVID-19 distancing request (and one that, I sense, was far more widely ignored than others, like mask-wearing) was that people should not spend any time in the same room as loved ones or friends for over a year (unless you lived with them).
So much of our reopening debate has focused on commerce — things like bars & restaurants that while fun are not intrinsic to human nature itself — and almost none on the question of: “can I share a meal or spend some time indoors with a friend or family member”?
Governors emphasized that small-group indoor gatherings were the real problem as they re-opened socially unessential businesses despite growing data on the role of workplaces as sites of propagation.
When all is said and done, basic human socialization between friends and family inside homes may be one of the last things that we “re-open” in terms of what’s openly deemed socially acceptable, even though it’s happening everywhere.
Whatever one feels about the utility of strong social discouragement of any indoors socializing, no matter how small the group, I think many underestimated the enormity of the “ask.”
But at the end of the day, it may be the last “ask” standing because it generates no revenue, and doesn’t require redistribution (e.g. unemployment payments).
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