[music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC and now, for our final 2020 time capsule call-in. One of the things about the pandemic year just passed is that things that were normal became abnormal in our waking lives, things that were normal became abnormal. That's our last call-in. How did things that were normal become abnormal for you and how did you adjust? Tell us one story. 646-435-7280 and it doesn't have to be the biggest thing in your life because there are so many little things that have become abnormal to us that used to be normal. Do you have one? For example, for me, a tiny true confession.

When the pandemic began in March, I was afraid of my garbage room and I was afraid of my dental floss. These were excessive fears, that's why I'm calling this a true confession and they didn't last long, but I'm putting them in the time capsule as an example of how suddenly, the normal became abnormal, big and little ways. We became afraid of normal everyday things that were usually very familiar and very ordinary. Why my garbage room?

In many apartment buildings, it's a very small room with no ventilation or air circulation, and when the pandemic began and I heard that tiny aerosols containing the virus could linger in the air for a while in little enclosed spaces, I became uncomfortable going in there. We had a guest on the show who recommended that if you're living with someone who's infected with coronavirus, after they go to the bathroom, maybe wait about a half-hour before going in there yourself and that one got to me and I projected it onto the garbage room.

True confession. On two occasions, when I went out for a walk or a run, I actually brought a trash bag with me and dropped it in the corner wastepaper basket because why not avoid the garbage room if I can. I quickly got over that, I should say, as I learned that you need to be exposed for a period of minutes before there's any risk, but there you go. True confession.

What's an example from you for our time capsule of how things, even little things that were normal and ordinary became abnormal or sources of fear in 2020? 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280. My other one is that on days, very early on when I went outside and would come back home and wash my hands really well as the experts recommended, I was still just a little bit creeped out by the thought of flossing my teeth and having my hands root around in there like that for the amount of time it takes to floss. Irrational because I had already washed my hands well. It didn't last long, but another true confession. One for the time capsule to remember how things that are normal, things that are ordinary became sources of fear.

By the way, 2030, when you opened this time capsule, back in 2020, we had this moment of mundane anxiety-driven education on how to wash our hands. "You think you know how to wash your hands, well, they told us it wouldn't be good enough to wash away enough virus the usual way, unless you washed intentionally between all your fingers and up as far as your wrist and to be sure you were doing it long enough, sing happy birthday twice. That was all over the media. In the spring of 2020, 2030. Sing, happy birthday twice while washing your hands. I'm not going to do it now. I will spare you that 2030, but try it some time and you will see it's probably longer than you have ever washed your hands before."

Listeners back here in 2020, what's an example from you for our time capsule of how things that were normal and ordinary, maybe little things, became abnormal or sources of fear in 2020? 646-435-7280. We'll take them after this.

[music]

Brian Lehrer on WNYC and your time capsule calls on how normal things became abnormal in the COVID era. Pam in Morristown, you're on WNYC. Hi, Pam.

Pam: Hi, a long time listener and I can't believe I got in on this topic.

Brian: You want to talk about Trump or something, right? Go ahead.

Pam: Seriously, no. [chuckles] My biggest fear was my phone. I would leave the house to get the essentials and if I had to get my phone out, I was terrified of where do I put it now like it's been contaminated. I tried not to touch it. I even had two phone cases so when I eventually went back to work and I came home, I'd switch out the phone cases and then wash one. Your phone is like an extension of your [inaudible 00:05:16] and when you can't touch it, it throws you off.

Brian: Have you come to a settled point about that, the research keeps getting developed? I think there was a segment on the morning edition today, but I didn't hear it, about how much not to be afraid of surfaces.

Pam: I did eventually like alcohol wipes. I would use them at work on my phone, like, now it's an hour if I remembered, but eventually, I'd calm down with it and I would take it out. I just try to be more conscious about how often I touch it when I'm out in public. If I don't need to touch it, I don't want to touch it, but that was the biggest transition to make once we attempted to return to normal.

Brian: Thank you very much. Oh, a lot of them are along these same lines, touching stuff. Joe in St. Albans, you're on WNYC. Hi, Joe.

Joe: Hi. Good morning, Brian. First of all, to you and your listeners, a healthy and a happy New Year. My fear of the mail. I'm a retiree and that's one of the things you look forward to every day, is the mail coming, opening up, pay your bills, maybe you got a magazine subscription. Now, before I open the mail. I put on the gloves, I put on the mask, and I make sure the mailman is gone. It's become like a phobia at this point.

Brian: Joe, thank you and those are really two different things. Making sure the mailman has gone, you don't want to share somebody's air, as they say, avoid sharing air, but the mail itself, I'm not an expert and I don't want to sound like I'm definitive on this, but the more research comes out, the more it seems to say that things like envelopes and cardboard are not risks. Though, do check the latest science. I think they say that and then they equivocate a little bit in the story. I don't really know, but the risk level with experience now that we had these many months experience with COVID seems to indicate things like opening a mail and your groceries are not really risks, or from the grocery bag. Elizabeth in Brooklyn. You're on WNYC. Hi, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: Hi. Wow, how exciting. The thing that I am finding is that when I watch a movie, I have a moment every time that I watch a movie or a TV show where I am worried for the characters, that they're not all masked and then I realized that no, they're the ones living in the real world and we're living in bizarro world.

Brian: You get worried for the people in the movie.

Elizabeth: No matter the time setting, even if it's a movie from the '70s or the '40s, it's like, "No, wait, wait. Oh. No, it's okay. You're okay." [chuckles]

Brian: Elizabeth Goodman, thank you very much. Andy in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Andy.

Andy: Hey, what's up, Brian. Thanks for a great show today. I'm a sun sneezer. I walk out in the morning and I can sneeze 15, 20 times in a row. Since March, no one has said, God bless you and it's really noticeable. That's it.

Brian: Thank you very much. People are afraid of your sneezes, right? They just want to stay away from you.

Andy: I would imagine so. Exactly.

Brian: Thank you very much. Fred in the Bronx. You're on WNYC. Hi, Fred.

Fred: Hi, Brian, how are you doing? I'm glad to talk to you because I keep running into you every once in a while. I'm the guy that jokes around the Sam, your stalker. I don't know if you remember me, but anyway-

Brian: You're harmless.

Fred: Thank you very much. Happy holidays. For me, it's getting a haircut. At first, we couldn't do it and then things calmed down in the city. I got a couple and then we're hearing how the second wave is coming and I find myself needing one badly because I look ridiculous, but then you start thinking, well, if I get one and then I don't want to get sick and then I can't go pick up my kids for this week. It becomes a whole ordeal. Just something as silly as going in and getting my hair done. [chuckles] It's just become an ordeal.

Brian: Fred, thank you very much. Certainly getting your hair cut, going to hair salons, nail salons if you go to nail salons, things that used to seem mundane and ordinary are now sources of risk calculation. One of the things that I've seen has been selling a lot, is home, do it yourself hairstyling tools, home razors for your hair, and things like that. You're in good company with that one, I think. Amina in Dobbs Ferry, you're on WNYC. Hi, Amina.

Amina: Hi, Brian. Thanks. I can just-- Happy New Year and I have to say, this is my very first time calling in. Usually, I'm a teacher I'd be teaching right now, it's a pleasure to talk to you. I can't help but relate to all of your callers, but you in particular, your sharing your confession. When I would walk on the trail, the aqueduct here in the river town, there were people in the beginning who were not wearing a mask and they'd run by or bike by and I found myself holding my breath for as long as I could to think maybe I'm out of the range of their droplets, so to speak. Just wanted to share that because you made me laugh out loud.

Brian: Thank you very much, Amina and it's not necessarily wrong. Just because the two examples that I shared at the beginning of this were irrational and things that I got over. Many of the ones, I don't know what to think about getting a haircut, is that really safe, are things that people do have to struggle with where things that were normal, now really are abnormal. I've heard people say, if you are walking too close to somebody, if you can't avoid walking too close to somebody who's not wearing a mask, maybe be exhaling as you pass them. These are all good examples of the old normal becoming the new abnormal. “Lyle” in Asbury Park. You can get our last one. Hi, there.

“Lyle”: Hey. Well, in the beginning of this, how are you? [chuckles] Sorry. In the beginning of this whole thing, we were doing such hardcore stuff where we took my husband's car off of his insurance policy, our insurance policy, and stayed basically with five of us in this house. I was the only one who went out and I would do these shopping trips and bring this stuff back to our porch and he would come up on the porch and we would bleach down everything that came into the house and any dried goods that we could, we would leave out on the porch. Being in Asbury Park, only a few blocks from the beach, I would watch people walk by our house unmasked and I have to admit that initially, I would say not lovely things to them.

Brian: “Lyle” that has to be the last word because we're out of time. Thank you. Thanks to all of you who called and thanks to all of you who contributed to anything on our time capsule these last weeks. I could see that there's still a lot of uncertainty about surfaces. We'll have a follow-up segment soon on the latest science on surfaces, I promise.

Copyright © 2020 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.