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Rebuilding Trust in a Pandemic


Do you find yourself knowing and following (or not) all of the local and federal guidelines about how to behave during this pandemic?


As you sort through what’s real, who to believe, your reaction and that of your communities both personal and professional, do you find yourself looking twice at people? Maybe you’re in the store, getting takeout or having boxes delivered, hearing people say that they have self isolated, self quarantined, talking of their new hygiene practices and then you looking at all of it with a bit of a jaundiced eye?


Do I trust them, resent them, simply avoid them completely?


Seems to me paranoia, conspiracy theories, threats to freedom and sanity or OCD on steroids are all perfectly normal under these anything but normal circumstances. Be aware of it, but what do we do about it?


As I read a bit about the Spanish flu of 1918, the causes and devastating effects; we have been here before and as a friend said we will have a COVID-19 hangover for some time to come; meaning that somethings will come back and some things will change for the better and somethings will go away.

How do we build trust with our neighbors, co-workers, family and friends? Is each of us taking responsibility for our part, our actions; are we talking about it, holding each other accountable in a considerate and constructive manner? We hear of temporarily bad behavior of hoarding, fear mongering and overt discrimination.


How do you build trust over the Internet through FaceTime, Zoom or Facebook?

This is not a new question, but it’s a more complicated question, introducing the dimension of health care and hygiene into ones personality profile and compatibility.


While we are hearing more and sensing more about this degree of trust. It is just the beginning. While I don’t know for certain(and I certainly have a ways to go myself), I would say a good start is to know that it’s happening, reach out to those you know and are struggling, take more time to listen and understand, show empathy and be open to new ways of providing a clean environment, new ways of working and new ways of going out; maybe show a smile through the clenched teeth of stress.

History has shown there is not a snap back to the way it was and that’s OK; we are in this for the long-haul and we all are key players in this defining moment in our history.

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