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Not ‘social distancing’, ‘distant socializing’

Most of us weren’t designed to stand six feet apart from each other.

We were designed to hug and shake hands and pat each other on the back and offer a comforting hand on the shoulder.

That’s what makes the “social distancing” mandates designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus so difficult for so many of us. Not only is it clobbering our economy and hurting our small businesses, but we can’t comfort one another through that anxiety in the ways we normally would.

But many people the world over — including right here in Alpena – are turning the mandate on its head.

They’re not practicing social distancing. They’re distantly socializing.

Like Alpena’s Deb Ludwiczak, who organized a “porch party” for her neighborhood last weekend. Neighbors who might normally visit each other in their living rooms instead stepped out on their porches to wave signs at one another from across the street.

It’s not what we would normally want, but such gestures warm our hearts.

Netflix binge-watching is normally a solitary activity, but people have used a feature on the video-streaming service that allows them to all simultaneously watch the same movie and share their thoughts when they do. Networking platform Zoom is getting a good workout during the crisis as people continue to meet and converse and see each other’s face.

We may not be able to hug each other, but we need each other to get through this.

So keep on distantly socializing, Northeast Michigan. That’s how we’ll get out of this with our hearts intact.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)

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