Today felt both familiar and incredibly surreal.
I officially started working 9 to 5, like I have the past three summers. But there were hints today that things aren't quite what they used to be (if it wasn't obvious enough already).
Morning rush hour was incredibly quiet. I had gotten used to that. But even once I was at work, something dawned on me: while we used to get numerous large cases to handle in the lab, only one came in today. Sure, other little things came in, but nowhere near the volume we once dealt with daily (especially not during "busy season", which we're just starting to enter) .
Manuals for autoclaves have changed, our -70 freezer had a software update, our database for reporting results was completely overhauled (and far more complex). It made for a strange day; while things were "go, go, go" (more or less), there were periodic hiccups to account for new changes.
But what really struck me as odd was the drive home. Normally traffic is bumper to bumper. The ramp that feeds onto the major arterial road I used to get home normally takes a solid few minutes to get down. Not today- I flew down, and merged easy at 5:01 pm. By 5:06, I was almost home. Normally 5 minutes into my commute home, I'd be lucky to be even be ON the ramp, let alone nearly at my final destination.
And yes, I have noticed a gradual increase in the number of cars on the road at any given time- people can't stay cooped up indoors forever (especially not now that we have nicer weather). But the rush hour of coronavirus is not rush hour of the past. The sights are the same, but the atmosphere is undeniably different.
It seems weird to find such "meaning" (however artificial) in something as simple as traffic. Maybe it's the poor quality sleep I got last night talking, or due to the shock and rush I experienced when I realized my alarm didn't go off and I overslept by nearly 40 minutes. Or maybe it really is just that this pandemic has forced new perspective; acknowledgement for what once was.
However, despite the fact that I, like so many others, long for the world the way it used to be, I must admit: I could get used to lightened rush hour.
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