Tears, Tiers and Fears: five reasons why 2020 is not a year to forget.

There is an almost irresistible sophistry in the notion, which people are expressing louder and louder, namely that “2020 is a year to forget”. It is, after all, human nature to repress traumatic events. Accepting though that this might not be intended literally, it still felt important enough for me to write this piece underlining my thoughts on why it is a year we must never, ever forget. 

The stuff you know  

There are few people, or any, who can really claim that they fully foresaw what was going to happen to the world in 2020. There will be some academics, virologists and film producers who can point to their prior warnings about similar things and of course, there have been other viruses that have travelled the world before. In general living memory though – nothing has ever been quite so worldwide. Covid-19 can probably claim greater global coverage and reach than 3G. 

The point is, with the lessons we can glean from this year and what we have seen – our approach should and necessarily will change.

As the year of the rat crept into being as part of Chinese New Year on 25 January 2020 (an important image, which I will return to at the end) the city of Wuhan, in the Hubei province of central China, was gaining global notoriety for some sort of contagion. Bizarre rumours were circulating online about its genesis. Five days later on 30 January, owing to the extent and deadliness of the virus they were seeing, WHO declared Covid-19 to be a public health emergency of international concern. 

Pretty much nothing happened for a while, then suddenly it started being reported in countries that seemed less far away, places we had been. Places friends were from. Places colleagues were holidaying. Then news began breaking of the first person to catch it without leaving the UK, that was late February. 

We all know what comes next:

Super spreaders. Hoarding. Masks. Distancing. Lockdown. Isolation. Bubbles. Clapping. Briefings. Redundancies. Furlough. Tiers and Tears. Lockdown again. Then vaccines and maybe a glimmer of hope. Overall, it has been tears, tiers and fears.

Most of those are things we probably will want to forget. So the question becomes: 

What would we actually want to remember? 

I: The Lost 

never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee

This is the first and most important point, it is also the shortest because it requires no explanation. Family, friends, colleagues, and strangers we will never know – all lost. Their lives will never be forgotten by those who live on. 

II: Work spaces 

With the exception of “key workers”, most people in professional services will have seen their physical work spaces closed. After a period of adjustment, which may have involved  the delivery or utilisation of existing company/ personal hardware – people quickly adapted to a virtual way of working. The morning commute was largely replaced by exercise, a heartier breakfast and reading, initially at least. By now it invariably means more sleep. 

There is less focus now on whether you had worn that tie or blouse the previous week (nobody notices) and more on what is being said. People are asking the same questions like, “how are you” but are now actually listening to the response. The answers have also evolved from shoulder shrugs and “oh, you know” to an actual reply, sometimes – perish the thought – one that acknowledges the person is struggling. 

In these moments of familial proximity, you have a chance to bond. To talk and share your thoughts, feelings and just – on a basic level – interact.

For companies who have thought home/agile working was not possible, a veritable evolution has taken place. Imagine you were a company that leased office space in the heart of a city for 50 staff and your contract was up for renewal in say, May 2020. You would have probably started negotiations at the turn of the year but with lockdown, held off. By April, your staff are all working from home and productivity, more or less is the same (possibly even up). Are you really going to ever take on the same extent of overheads again? Probably not. You might look for serviced office space when you want meetings but when you see how attractive it is to your bottom line, I can’t imagine you would be rushing back to it. It won't be a catchall, though.

There will be some people who will always feel happier in the office. Some industries, law being one, hold widely held views about the inferior nature of training for junior lawyers in such an agile world (that's an article in and of itself).On the flip side, many people love it. More so when they realise there may well have been up to four figure savings across this year. Not spending on a commute, coffees, lunch, snacks and after-work drinks/ ubers will all have added up. 

Overall, the "work space" and the concept of "the office" have changed this year and there are aspects of that change, at least, which will be long lasting.

III: Being present 

A lot has, quite rightly, been made of negative situations where people trapped in unhappy or even abusive domestic situations are likely to feel the imposition of lock down more acutely. One collateral benefit of this is that their plight is being underlined. In some cases, lockdown has been the catalyst to speak up or for others to intervene. 

Away from this though, so many people cite the time at home as bringing them closer together. Couples and families having (three-square) meals together has once again and quite literally brought home the adage that ‘the family who eats together, stays together’. When life is busy and we are running around, it becomes too easy to grab something on the go, or for everyone to eat on their own – even if off a pot from the same stove. In these moments of familial proximity, you have a chance to bond. To talk and share your thoughts, feelings and just – on a basic level – interact. Many families, especially parents and children are likely to feel closer from being present. 

IV: Appreciation 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, recently unveiled pay rises for certain NHS staff in a welcome move. It reflects a wider positive consequence of Covid, which we must not forget – appreciation. Once a week, for months, people were out in the streets clapping for the NHS. Appreciation and recognition of our brave health care workers was long overdue. One one hundred year old, Captain Tom, captured the nation's mood raising more than ￡32 million pounds from his garden, to underscore our united appreciation. Our appreciation for him was later reflected in the award of a knighthood.

People are asking the same questions like, “how are you” but are now actually listening to the response.

We have come to appreciate meeting up with family, friends and dating in a whole new way. Anybody who has lived through this period, will not take having people from different households in their living room for granted again. We are more considerate of one another and each other’s space because we appreciate the consequences. I read recently that seasonal flu rates are significantly down – partly because of general social distancing. 

Other causes, like school meals championed by Marcus Rashford and black lives matters have stirred our collective consciousness and, I believe, gained more support than they might otherwise have done because of our enhanced empathy. 

In short, we appreciate life and living and one another more. So many have, too many, have been lost for us to do anything else. 

V: Mother Earth 

Do not underestimate the impact of covid on our planet. Like our bodies, we only have one planet and – wherever you stand on the ‘debate' – we have been abusing it. Studies have shown a dramatic decrease in carbon emissions during lockdown periods, with fewer cars and planes in use. Air quality, noise pollution and sea life have all improved. Of course, things like single use plastic may have increased but this is more likely to be a education issue. 

The lesson is not complex, nor is it any different to what has been previously stated. Each of us can make a difference. By not driving or flying so much, we are all giving Mother Earth a break. As mentioned above, it is unlikely that we are going to now see a full scale return to practices of the past. Could our planet be a beneficiary of covid in the long run? It certainly has been in the short term.

So, what next? 

2021, obviously. 

It won’t be easy as we will have to begin to pay for the necessary economic measures that have kept some, not even all, afloat during these difficult times. The UK, like the rest of the world, will eventually emerge from all of this. Assuming the vaccine(s) pan out, then by this time next year, we should be largely immune. I don’t see though that there will ever be a return to ‘normal’. In fact, I hope there isn’t. The point is, with the lessons we can glean from this year and what we have seen – our approach should and necessarily will change. Unnecessarily (emphasis on that word) being physically present in the work space must become a thing of the past.  Just in doing that, we will spend more time with our families and appreciate the people around us, all whilst Mother Earth benefits.  

I said I would return to it and here it is. The year of the rat has been far from ideal, however it will soon be replaced by the year of the Ox. A brilliant bovine, whose strength makes it ideal for assisting humankind in nourishing itself by getting the most from the earth; in harvesting the fruits of our labour. That is the image and the hope of the year ahead, clear in the knowledge and importantly, the indelible memory of what happened in 2020.

If you've made it this far, then please accept my warmest and best wishes to you and your nearest and dearest for what must surely be, a better year ahead.