Reflections on the Inception of the ‘New Normal’
Bracing myself for 2021
Recalling where I was in NYC the day Biden won the presidency, pretty much sums up my frame of reference. I was making a difficult journey to a Manhattan art gallery from my home in Brooklyn to show support to an artist I met a few days prior. As per usual I twiddled my thumbs for a half hour waiting for a train that never came. Since there was no garbled overhead message alerting passengers to what was happening, my only recourse was to check out the MTA website in the hope of clarity. It was there I discovered that nebulous mechanical problems signified there was no F train service. Hence I coughed up the money for a car service.
When I arrived (late) at my destination, I encountered a strangely affected, simulated celebration occurring in the streets of the west village. Masked folks appeared drunk on hope, yet the energy felt desperate and staged. I found myself barraged by nods of affirmation followed by perfunctory statements conveying that Trump was gone and a new day of possibility was upon us. I smiled politely while thinking how blind folks were to what will be coming down the pike. As much as history shows us that the transfer of wealth and power did not begin with Trump, that ominous celebration affirmed how stuck in tunnel vision we truly are.
