2020 was a year that changed almost everything. Brick and mortars’ footprint got a lot smaller as we embraced online shopping. Not necessarily by choice: the former were shut down and/or driven out of business, especially SMBs.

The CDC admitted that deaths from seasonal flu, pneumonia and even heart attacks were included in the Covid numbers, thus inflating the actual deadliness of this flu, yet Big Media ignored these reports, which more or less made fear porn arguably the real superspreader – of click rates and note to self: according to the National Review, Stats Hold a Surprise: Lockdowns May Have Had Little Effect on COVID-19 Spread.

Working remotely became de rigueur, but with K-12 being ‘taught’ remotely, this definitely created problems in River City. On many levels, what with parents working from home, too – or attempting to. Can young children truly learn this way? There is a difference between ‘teaching’ and ‘learning.’ If remote education is going to be the so-called new normal, the basic tenets of effective remote learning need to be seriously re-examined, or the teacher is simply another talking head.

It was a year when most of the world took its marching orders from a handful of politicians and who granted themselves unlimited emergency power (without expiration dates or checks and balances in place), never mind the fact that they do not hold medical degrees, have never operated businesses, and their incomes were not at all impacted by their dictates. With their sometimes seemingly arbitrary policies and the fact that they often ignored their own dictates according to CNN, we sometimes wondered if they were engaged in an elaborate game of Simon Says or, to put it into fashion terms, was schadenfreude the New Black

Given this, we’re not convinced that we were all in this together, save for the fact that the entire world, with the exception of Nancy Pelosi as MSN reported, experienced an ongoing  Bad Hair Day.

 

Our deepest sympathies go out to those of you who lost friends and family members due to this flu – and to those of you who lost friends and family members who were not treated for life-threatening conditions because they didn’t have this flu and thank you for sharing your stories with us.

Considering all of the above, rather than proffering a Ten Best/Ten Worst list of the past year, we thought we’d change it up a bit and do a before and aftermath, although were we to do a Top Ten, there’s no doubt that the big winner of 2020 was the expansion of the Surveillance State into every aspect of our lives.

Going forward into this new year, we will remind you that Benjamin Franklin once said: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

Now, without further ado, our list of the before and aftermath of the year, which – and without meaning to upset anyone’s sensitivities – will hopefully provide both food for thought – and pause to chuckle.

 

Before Covid                                      Post Covid

1. Co-Working (free coffee)               Co-Living (free coffee)

2. Masks everywhere, at all times     No Halloween

3. In-person meetings                        Zoom

4. Networking events                         Clubhouse, Lunchclub

5. Conferences                                    Hopin

6. “We’re the Airbnb of…                    Covid

7. Silicon Valley/Silicon Alley              Miami, Austin

8. Takedowns                                      Lockdowns

9. Freedom of speech                       Tech censorship

10. Office cubicles/Open floor plans Kitchen/dining room table

11. Urgent Care                                  Telemedicine

12. Bars.clubs                                     Speakeasies

13. Snowmageddon                           Snovid

14. YouTube                                        Rumble

15. Twitter                                           Parler

16. ADHD                                            Depression, Isolation

17. TED                                                Karens

18. 18” personal space                      6’ social distancing

19. Dating apps                                  Erection interference

And saving the best for last: the most-often repeated then and now phrases…

20. “Can we meet for coffee?’           “You’re on mute.”

To those of you who have abandoned the tech hubs for safer/saner/more remote locations, we will remind you to check your attitudes at the door – or rather, the town line. Remember: you’re not in Kansas anymo…oh, wait, yes, you’re in Kansas now. Respect the locals and their opinions/outlooks/lifestyles, and thanks for playing. Welcome to the new year and come what may, we will go onward and forward.