While thinking about the title to this story, I allowed my mind to drift back to the summers of 1984, ‘85. I was a breakdancer of average talent, part of a crew and bathing myself in the hip hop culture, including rap music and djaying.

Back then, “The Culture” was just setting root. Those of us who were embracing it saw breakdancing as “normal”, even while unavoidably seeing the frowned eyebrows on some observers as they quickly walked by us on their way to their normal lives. Our head spinning, windmilling, poppin’ & lockin’ was disturbing. To them, we were merely a nuisance: occupying space on the sidewalk with our taped down cardboard dance floors. They could not see the avalanche coming at them, forming what now includes the forces of nature known as Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Drake, DJ Khalid, the Justin’s (Bieber & Timberlake). This includes athleisure, and the modern NBA game. The strange moves that we were experimenting with and perfecting then, can be traced forward to what we now see as normal life. Who would have thunk it?

Objectively, as we learn more about the coronavirus pandemic, financially, socially and medically, the worse the best-case scenarios become.

The Coronavirus is about to end normalcy as we know it. Certainly, the hip hop culture will keep on keeping on. Kid’s will keep playing basketball. DJ’s will retreat to their basements, and maybe mixtapes will make a proper comeback (as I write this, I’m simultaneously watching DJ Eskei83 out Germany perform a live set on Instagram). But, the CoVid-19 is about to become a seamlessly woven part of our lexicon and culture. It’s devastation will establish a new normal.

Undoubtedly, there are a few wise minds whom are thinking about this right now, and they do have a good sense of what normalcies will have been interrupted.

There are probably too many of us who will take a long time to arrive at the obvious conclusions because they are firmly rooted in denial of what’s to come. They will be the ones who will say, “who knew it was going to be that bad?” It is going to be THAT bad. You can see it on the faces and hear it in the voices of the experts on tv as they sidestep around the questions asked by the media. They refuse to answer the most fundamental questions. Such as: “Do we have enough treatment facilities for the infected?” They are worried for us all.

The forecasts look grim. If we examine the situation in Italy and read carefully German Chancellor, Angela Merkel’s warnings, we can foreshadow what’s to come. The German’s whom I know tend to be pragmatic people, not prone to hysteria.

The Spanish Flu of 1918 killed approximately 55,000 Canadians and more than 675,000 Americans, 2.5% of their population. H1N1 infected an estimated 60.8 Million in the U.S., killing 12.5 thousand. In Canada, that 2009 outbreak came in two waves and resulted in a mortality rate of 1.3 per 100,000 of our population.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has asked us all to prepare for the worst, saying on their website, that they “encourage(s) household members to prepare for the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak in their community.” Anyone prone to conspiracy theories needs to get sober. Fast.

The end of normalcy as we know it. I’ve been think a lot about that, lately. And perhaps you have been, too. My imagination is too limited to see clearly what the new normal will look like.

Initially, some people told me they thought media coverage of Coronavirus had been overblown. My responsibility will remain objective and offer the best guidance available.

Best Case Scenario: The most level-headed, sober, optimistic people are saying that tens of thousands of North Americans will die, we will have double-digit unemployment for months, small, mid-size and enterprise businesses will go under, mutual funds eliminated, and individuals, perhaps even our nation will be burdened by unthinkable debt.

Funerals, weddings, graduations and birthdays will be had without an audience.
People who we all know will die and many of us won’t know.
Surveys suggest from 21,000 to 1.5 million North Americans will die.
A true best-case scenario predict responses similar to countries like Singapore and South Korea, which were able to quickly “flatten the curve” and bring the number of new cases under control.

Health Care: Professionals need time. The term, “flatten the curve”, is an attempt to create a scenario where the system sees fewer people at once. There is no health care system in the world set up to deal with this. That is because, as I like to say, “we have have a SICK CARE system. It isn’t set up to manage those who want to stay well. You must first get sick to enter it”. More than ever, we need a prevention system put into place.

Perhaps a novel drug will be developed and we can all resume normal life. Maybe warmer weather will come earlier and that will suppress the virus more than expected.
And, maybe the math ratios of the number of tested relative to those found infected won’t grow exponentially.

Economic and Financial Impact: There are few positive projections for jobs and businesses during or after the outbreak. Billions of dollars will need to be pored into the Canadian (Trillions in The United States) economy to keep it from cratering. Some economists are predicting double-digit unemployment numbers within months, optimistically. There are no predictive models for how this will affect small businesses.

Duration: No one knows.

The bottom line: The optimist's prediction has the arrival of warm weather as the light at the end of the dimly lit tunnel. But with every day and every new statistic, the positive scenario gets dimmer, and moves further away.

Here’s what you can do: Learn to embrace tedium, for our lives are about to become smaller; Practice good hygiene, washing your hands according to health advisories; Be as physically active as you can be while adhering to social distancing guidelines (we all have time, now). Workout in your own homes, use online resources if you need help; eat well; sleep and rest well; keep stress levels low, and; stay optimistic.

Envision a new normal for yourself and your families. Coronavirus will ensure that everything will be different from what we are used to.