Remind Your Manners

How to navigate friends, family and social outings in a vaccinated world

- Karen Stiller

AT A RECENT socially distanced gathering, I found myself in an unwanted conversation with a person I barely knew. With my actual friends standing on the same lawn, the idle chit-chat felt like a waste of my visiting time and energy. I grew increasingly hot and twitchy. Soon, to my deep surprise, I had to bite my tongue to avoid blurting “I don’t want to speak with you.”

Luckily, I didn’t say it out loud, and the rude thought stayed in my head where it belonged. e encounter made me realize that spending so much time wandering listlessly around my own tiny household bubble had eroded my social skills. I wondered if my manners were also becoming a relic of the past, just like eating indoors at restaurants and nights out at the movies.

Many of us may be feeling similarly rusty as we prepare to open our homes and our hearts again to family, friends and neighbours. It’s an exciting time, but also a good moment to reflect on what we’ve longed for most and what we haven’t missed that much at all during the pandemic. Those insights can help shape our social re-entry plan. Here are some tips for getting back into social shape.

BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF

Just as our jurisdictions have distinct phases of gradual reopening, we can take things one step at a time as we re-enter a busier, more normal life. We don’t have to leap from sitting at the window watching the cat across the street, straight into packed parties and noisy barbecues. We might be surprised to discover we have some new mental and emotional limitations after having lived at a slower, quieter pace.