A Word With You

A friend who monitors the latest trends introduced me to the word streateries. The pandemic gave a boost to the concept of street eateries as a way to expand dining outside. The resourceful will always prosper. Sidewalks and parking lots become valuable real estate for tents that satisfy spacing requirements and provide protection from the weather. I wonder how many new permanent habits the pandemic is creating. Good luck getting me to shake your hand now that I know it is a deadly weapon. And I will probably wash my own hands more often, less for hygiene than a new habit forged from ritual. I have now trained myself to wear my contacts whenever I leave the house because masks fog up my glasses. That habit will probably linger. I was already shifting to online ordering but the pandemic pushed me past a tipping point. No going back now. I am reading more. Laura Linney just taught me the word chuffed. I am very pleased to add it to my vocabulary since it sounds cool. And just yesterday Ms D introduced me to anguine in a blog on The Memoir Life. I never learned the word Quibi because that app died before I knew what it meant. Many words I rarely used are now popping up in practically every sentence. When post-pandemic time arrives after essential workers flatten the curve and I am socially distanced from the virus that quarantined me in remote lockdown, Karen Boomer and I are going Zoombombing. We will be looking for new words.

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