By Leanne Italie - The Associated Press
Zoom, Zoom and Zoom.
Face masks, face masks and face masks.
Lots of sourdough and quick cooking.
In these difficult times - in which we begin to wear sports outfits almost all the time and amid the isolation that we endure "as a precaution" - we do not want much more than to end the year 2020.
After a difficult election, which unleashed a deluge of texts, claims about alleged fraud and false news, this year was characterized by a chaos of horrors and difficulties that fueled political divisions, racial injustice and a deadly and persistent pandemic.
But not all the things of 2020 should be forgotten.
Many more white people have realized that racism is real and present
.
Going through quarantine with pets has enriched the lives of millions of people.
Family dinners are already very close and the coronavirus lockdowns have turned many friends into family.
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Here are some things that we want to forget in 2021, and others that we can remember fondly:
Distance learning
It cannot be denied that some children have done well, but
others have suffered greatly with homeschooling, as have their parents
.
And when the pandemic comes to an end, all the children will return to their classrooms.
While we wait for that to happen, let's talk about heroic teachers trying to make the most of worst-case scenarios.
They organized car parades and made dance videos on TikTok for gym classes.
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They delivered meals to the students and wrote encouraging messages on the doors.
They have transformed kitchens into chemistry labs and taught kids lessons through porch doors.
Thanks for that.
The streaming explosion
Those who cannot or do not want to return to theaters, will they miss out on the big screen experience?
Of course.
But the phenomenon of streaming (streaming), took off at just the right time, including the first-run movies that are now available at home.
That represents a dizzying array of options, but also that parents will no longer have to suffer in the dark watching
Trolls World Tour
.
It means more couples are snuggling up on the couch and
more families are making their own popcorn to get together on movie nights.
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Comcast, the nation's largest cable television company and owner of NBCUniversal and Noticias Telemundo, passed a major milestone: it now has more subscribers on the streaming system than on cable television.
What is the pending task?
Work to have an internet connection that is decent and affordable for everyone.
Breads for all
The confinement sparked a fever for home baking and many continue to make bread.
But, as time passes, many people believe that the time has come to stop.
The pandemic triggered the baking craze and high demand for inputs that, in March, made
flour and yeast in short supply for a time.
Some companies
reported large increases in sales of flour for making bread
.
Due to the quarantine, many people had time to try recipes and prepare various bakery products, sparking the reign of sourdough.
Talking about the uses and dishes with different types of flour or dough became a common practice during the pandemic.
But the persistence of COVID 19 has caused some people to begin to reconsider everything that goes into baking.
But, the important thing is that many learned that.
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Life outdoors
We've walked.
We have jogged.
We dined in the open air.
As winter hits cold weather settings, do we abandon field trips or just bundle up to keep looking for wall-free spaces?
There is an added benefit to leaving the house during a pandemic: now we can greet neighbors, from afar, without stopping because we are all more introverted.
The walks in the fresh air allowed some to rediscover the environment that surrounds them:
their local parks, their backyards, their terraces, their porches.
And they have spent part of this time fixing them.
For many people, working from home includes looking at more trees, gardens, and birds.
The outside is not forbidden for those facing winter and for those who are fed up with working from home.
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Read news incessantly
We bought new distractions and made long to-do lists.
We had big plans for the pandemic and maybe we did a few things, but the endless hours we put into consuming negative news makes us
worry most of the time
.
You have to break free!
Stop reading incessantly, especially at night, when sleeping is the smartest option.
Do they need to do something?
Get together with your neighbors to take an inventory of everything you've accumulated and donate it to a soup kitchen or food pantry.
If you need an added incentive: some caches that store information about the end of the world may be about to expire.
Nothing lasts forever.
The sphere of fear
We are certainly fed up with COVID-19, but we are also fed up with the graphic representation of that virus.
You know what I mean.
It's the round image with the notorious crown-shaped spikes.
Sometimes it's red, sometimes it's blue or purple, but it's always, always ominous.
That ghastly sphere is all over the news and medical pages.
It's on TV and in car cleaning brochures.
It's a nasty little emoji that we don't need anymore.
Graphic designers of the world, please come up with something else!
It was very useful as a vivid reminder of the little killer devil.
But it was time to use other images.
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Election fatigue
It was a one-time vote.
The presidential election fueled the chaos in our minds, but something else happened in 2020. It was the centenary of women's suffrage.
On June 4, 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment.
It was ratified on August 18, 1920. We celebrated the centennial with a special postage stamp, museum exhibitions, and various activities.
But the struggle did not end in 1920. Women of color, black and indigenous continued to face obstacles, both in the past and now.
Get over this time
Is this pandemic unprecedented?
Well, when it comes to pandemics, remember the Black Death that killed 25 to 30 million people between 1347 and 1352. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about
500 million people - or a one-third of the world's population - were infected during the
1918-19
flu pandemic
.
It is estimated that at least 50 million deaths were recorded worldwide.
How will COVID-19 be overcome?
Tired of wearing masks, following protocols, being homebound and sacrificing?
Keep in mind that some of our grandparents fought on the beaches of Normandy and went through the jungles of Vietnam.
Remember that many business owners have lost their livelihoods and many families are struggling to buy food.
When it comes to the American election, it was an unprecedented moment.
But it is over and many people are suffering.
For those of us with jobs, food and a roof, the advice is simple: breathe.
As one Holocaust survivor put it: Important things fade into oblivion when a phrase like NEVER AGAIN is reduced to a meaningless mantra.