Like you say, I have my doubts that it will change people. A lot of people , particularly, and understandably, younger ones, seem intent on making up for lost lockdown time. I also wonder about pollution levels now, seeing how road traffic is pretty well back to normal. I know that many Buddhist teachers stress how uncertain life is, as a reminder that none of us knows what will happen, which isn't really morbid, just being aware. I have been reading about Thai culture, whereYesterday evening we had a get together in our communal gardens and the discussion came around to the horrors of Covid and dying of it. You would think that nobody ever dies in the normal course of events and the reporting of the death toll is frightening. It really caught me on the raw, yes it’s terrible but then death is terrible for many and a quick and painless release for many too. I commented that the horror of the Covid experience is the huge number of people all dying at once in a miserable way, when normally we go about our lives oblivious to death going on all the time. People are being made to face up to the reality that we do, in fact, die eventually and they are scared. Will it make people think a bit more about how they live their lives? I am not so sure.
death is much more a part of life than it is here. I do think that, as we are seeing, gettng back to " normal" is going to be a much longer process than some believe.Personally speaking, I think lockdown has affected me negatively due to its timing, just when I was starting to begin to pick up the pieces. I think the longer term consequences of both the virus and lockdown will be greater than some consider.I am just glad that I had this forum; I love organ music, and listening to livestream recitals with live chat, and the caring community of regulars and interacting with them has helped too.