Start the World, I Want to Get On!
Jul. 11th, 2021 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blogcutterSixty years ago, a musical came out called "Stop the world - I want to get off!" And now, with Covid receding in our rear-view mirror, many of us are itching for the world to re-start again so we can get back to some semblance of normalcy.
While it's a catchy title, apparently the saying actually pre-dates the musical by at least a decade. Here's what I found on one site:
https://wordhistories.net/2020/05/29/stop-world-want-get-off/
I thought about riffing on some other title, like "The day the earth stood still" but when I thought about that, it's really not very accurate at all, in that many people found themselves busier than ever during lockdown. Not only was their home their castle, but also their office, their children's school and daycare, their library, their movie theatre, and so on. Their lifeline was their wi-fi, and even that may have been inadequate to support the needs of the family unit.
Mind you, not everyone is excited about getting out there again. I have somewhat mixed feelings myself. I tackled a few things but still find myself wondering if I really used my time wisely over the past 16 months. It can be difficult to plan when you don't know how much time you'll have to work with. And even once I do get back to some of the things I used to enjoy - seeing friends, going to concerts, plays, movies, museums and galleries, eating out - will I still be able to enjoy them? I think for a while, at least, I'll have the feeling of being out there but not quite out in the real world yet. There'll still be the need for capacity limits and masking in certain venues, for example, and planning for things that used to be more spontaneous.
Then there are the bigger events like festivals, conferences and travel... and even thinking about it can be a little overwhelming!
While it's a catchy title, apparently the saying actually pre-dates the musical by at least a decade. Here's what I found on one site:
https://wordhistories.net/2020/05/29/stop-world-want-get-off/
I thought about riffing on some other title, like "The day the earth stood still" but when I thought about that, it's really not very accurate at all, in that many people found themselves busier than ever during lockdown. Not only was their home their castle, but also their office, their children's school and daycare, their library, their movie theatre, and so on. Their lifeline was their wi-fi, and even that may have been inadequate to support the needs of the family unit.
Mind you, not everyone is excited about getting out there again. I have somewhat mixed feelings myself. I tackled a few things but still find myself wondering if I really used my time wisely over the past 16 months. It can be difficult to plan when you don't know how much time you'll have to work with. And even once I do get back to some of the things I used to enjoy - seeing friends, going to concerts, plays, movies, museums and galleries, eating out - will I still be able to enjoy them? I think for a while, at least, I'll have the feeling of being out there but not quite out in the real world yet. There'll still be the need for capacity limits and masking in certain venues, for example, and planning for things that used to be more spontaneous.
Then there are the bigger events like festivals, conferences and travel... and even thinking about it can be a little overwhelming!
