What the heck is teotwawki?

The year is 2019, you look out your window and it is just another typical day. People walking their dogs, car’s driving around. You go to the store, check out the latest clothes then it’s off to the market to buy your weekly groceries.

The next day a portal appears with the numbers 2020 above it and you are offered the chance to spend a day in the future, a year from now.

Why not? Sounds interesting right, plus the world couldn’t have changed all that much in a year…surely.

So you step through and start exploring, you start off back in your home again.

You turn on the news to see current events but you don’t get sports, new movies or even future lottery ticket numbers you wanted just a bunch of talk about a virus.

You decide to go out instead and see what’s new at the shops. As you travel you notice there are no people to be found and not a single car driving by on a day that should be busy.

All those clothes shops are closed and some even boarded up. You get to the grocery store and there are people but they are all wearing masks. They are queuing with shopping carts, all waiting to get into the store which is only letting a certain number of people in at a time.

Once you get in, there are strange rules about washing your hands and keeping 2 meters away from everyone. Worst of all, there is no toilet paper…

Welcome to, The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI)

It’s been tough:

Yes, the end of the world as we know it has finally arrived. No it wasn’t a field of mushroom clouds and loud bangs, or a giant rock from space (thankfully) but in the form of coronavirus.

As of the writing of this post there have been 800,000 deaths world wide.

Due to the lockdowns preventing people from using services the traditional way, it has resulted in millions of job losses and companies going out of business.

Planes being grounded has resulted in people being forced to lockdown in another country and the cancellation of millions of holidays which again has destroyed the travel industry.

Schools have also been closed for most of the year resulting in a lot of children using home education.

Heath services have also had to do their best to clean up the huge mess all of this has caused. With staff shortages still being a huge problem and the amount of patients during the spikes making it near impossible to cope with the strain.

Are there any positives

No not really, but there are a few changes worth mentioning that could be good for us going forward in this strange new world.

I think more people are realising how important family and friends really are especially in times like this.

Instead of people turning on eachother, stealing other’s food or items like in the movies people are closer.

I myself have family in another city that I would regularly visit and with that luxury taken away it has prompted us to make sure we have regular group video calls and check in frequently by sending messages.

There has also been a noticeable drop in pollution, countries known for smog in certain areas like India are seeing clearer skies.

Crime rates have fallen massively and we are paying way more attention to personal hygiene.

Most importantly we can all see just how vitally important our health services really are and that we should never take them for granted.

The great reset

The world is responding to the need to adapt in the face of great change. This is being referred to as the great reset.

It’s true, businesses have been forced to work remotely and companies that previously relied on face to face services are now looking at new ways to provide the same experience using technology.

Coronavirus has in some ways helped speed up the need for innovation.

Sports such as boxing have now decided to continue on without the audience, even taking place in a back garden of one of the boxing promoters.

New phone launched by the company One Plus had them do a virtual reveal that allowed people to see a 3D model of their product through VR instead of on stage at a live conference event.

The music industry has seen famous artists play their best known songs back to back in instagram live streams called clashes which worked as a great concert replacement.

Teachers use apps such as classdojo to set work with their students and see their progress.

Need I go on? We are gradually seeing the acceleration of mankind in small ways that would have taken longer had the virus not shown up.

Although I’m sure we all really wished it would go away now…

Conclusion

It is said that those of us who can accept and adapt to what is going on will find survival much easier than someone who holds onto the past while having an unrealistic future.

If you are also a parent with young kids, it is this type of thinking that can keep you focused in any crisis.

The end of the world as we know it is an interesting turn of events. Hopefully one day covid will be under full control and we can take the lessons we learned forward with us.

Folks, that’s going to do it for this one. Let us know in the comments what you think about this strange new world and how it has affected you.

Till next time survivors.