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MAYBE, JUST MAYBE
THOUGHTS ON THE NEW NORMAL
WBy Lenny Beer
hen HITS Editor in Chief Lenny Beer sent us this mis- sive from his hermetically
sealed redoubt somewhere deep
in the hills of Sherman Oaks,
our first thought was, “Who
are you, and what have you
done with the real Lenny
Beer?” But when he popped
up on FaceTime 10 minutes
later and said, “Why haven’t
you fucking nerds edited my
thing yet?” we realized we
were dealing with the genuine article. In any case, we think
the words below probably sum
up how a lot of folks are feeling, especially now that we’ve translated them into English.
DISPATCH #1: CLOSING THE DISTANCE
I find that my days in self-isolation include lots of texting and phone calls with colleagues in the industry. Whereas the high volume of texts often felt like a burden in the past, now I find it to be comforting. I’m talking to people in mostly the
same circumstances; they’re taking care
of their families and themselves
while doing their jobs
as well as humanly possible.
Also, I’m notic-
ing that people have re-
turned to more
phone con- versations
than in recent years, and that
includes Face- Time. Everyone is in less of a rush to get
a call to end, and I find myself not feeling the need
to jump off and get to the next call so quickly.
There is time. There is time to finish a call and return to the next caller afterward. We’re all
beginning to understand and adapt to our new circumstances, our new normal, and we’re all adapting together.
And I find that I’m truly enjoying, even relishing, the contact
HITS March 30, 2020
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