After the pandemic recedes, no one believes we will return to normal. But the question is, what will be different? Is hand shaking a courtesy of the past? Will people with colds wear masks from here on out? Will we treat our homeless population with more dedicated resources, since if the Mayor of LA could find them 600 beds in the middle of a pandemic, surely he can later — when the homeless are left with only their own set of catastrophic conditions?

Today, standing at the counter eating a grapefruit that had withered in the fridge for weeks, I thought: this, this change will come with me. A withered grapefruit that I would have thrown out without a second thought once upon a time turned out to be delicious.

Underneath its toughened top, lay the most succulent wedges of citrusy goodness.

I like to think that after this weird and trying episode we will be better somehow. More inclined to deprive ourselves in service of the greater good, less wasteful, less eager to go shopping, and more kind to the cashiers and phlebotomists and mail carriers in our lives.

I did listen to the podcast that Grace recommended. It was moving and provocative, featuring an interview with the author of a book called, “Die Wise.”

To be truthful, I need to listen again to really let it in. But anything besides Pod Save America or Gaslit Nation is good these days. My consumption of news has dropped precipitously in service of mental health, she said about to go watch Nicolle Wallace.

What behaviors or ideas do you think might stick when this crisis is over? Or, maybe the better question is, what do you hope will stick?