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My Country Moved Out of Quarantine and it Feels Different Than I Expected
Maybe it’s time to rebuild our lives a different way
Last week, we went back to normal here in New Zealand. It’s almost the same as it was a few months ago, except it’s not and I don’t know if I want it to be.
During lock-down I’d entertained a fantasy that leaving quarantine would be like one of those scenes from a movie — I can’t remember a particular movie, just one of those ones where people all wander out of their houses onto the street, holding their arms up to shield their eyes from the unfamiliar sunlight. They move slowly, shell-shocked. Then they all hug and laugh and cry, “It’s over!”
It wasn’t like that. Going into lock-down in New Zealand was more like a movie. We’d been warned the day was coming, but it was still a shock. Especially when our phones set off loud sirens at lunchtime — “What IS that!” “Did you know your phone could make that noise?”
The government wanted to make sure everyone knew, so they sent a civil defense alert to our phones, the one reserved for tsunamis.
Our prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, addressed the nation — another unexpected thing reserved for mass shootings and earthquakes — but this time she was in her sweatshirt, had just put her kids to bed.
