Resuming a semblance of normalcy

We celebrated commencement on Saturday for this year's graduates and on Sunday for last year's graduates--as many of them who wanted to return for the face-to-face ceremony they missed last spring. As I suited up to serve as a faculty marshal, I tried to remember the last time I had to get into my regalia. Maybe fall of 2019, for the matriculation ceremony? It felt good to put on the layers of fabric, great to stand outside with students bubbling with excitement, and absolutely fabulous to hear a cell phone ring loudly from underneath layers of voluminous robes and to know that the ringing phone was not mine. 

Commencement was different this year--distanced, masked--and the ceremony was shortened. Everyone appreciated the commencement speaker's remarks, which were brief, pithy, and punctuated with a gift: a tote bag containing a laptop computer for every graduate. That's over 200 laptop computers donated by our commencement speaker. True, we gave him an honorary degree, but that's a lot of laptops.

Today there were many things to celebrate at my five-hour committee meeting: We met face-to-face! Masked and distanced, yes, but with not a Zoom screen in sight! And despite all the complications inherent in our task—doling out faculty committee appointments—we got through it all without rancor or discord. And we had a great lunch—together! (Distanced and masked.)

But over lunch, the costs of this peculiar pandemic year became apparent: after a year of eating lunch alone in our offices, we’ve forgotten how to chat while eating. As we sat at a distance from each other tearing into our boxed lunches, a long stretch of silence settled into the room and no one made eye contact. These are normally really talky people, but today, for the longest time we had nothing to say.

I broke the awkward silence with a confession: “I’ve forgotten how to eat with other people.” My colleagues laughed, but the spell was broken and soon we’d slipped back into our usual bantering roles. If nothing else, the experienced proves that we can get our groove back, as long as someone is willing to break the awkward silences. I've done my part. Who's next?