Stage 1, in which Dystopia makes its appearance and starts becoming familiar

Has dystopia ever been imagined thus?

Bad things are no doubt happening, not just half-way around the world but only a few hundred miles South of here in NYC where refrigerated trucks are being used to store the dead. If you did not watch TV - I don’t- and if you selectively screen out that kind of news, then life is strange but without much discomfort. There is no violence on the street (yet), in fact passerby’s maintain safe social distance but smile and are in general friendly. I have witnessed empty store shelves but thankfully have been spared the sight of people fighting over toilet rolls. In what fearful society can  people go out for fresh air or attend Zumba classes separated by fences.

There is anxiety, however. In some cases, it is out in the open in the form of naked panic, although I cannot see the rationale behind it yet.  For the rest of us, it is underlying but very much present. It is about the unknown, or about bad situations that teeter on the precipice of occurrence and you cannot do a damn thing about it.  This is indeed Stage 1, and I don’t have a good one-word name for it yet. It is manifesting itself in socially distanced parties, excessive alcohol consumption, insomnia and a strong dose of home-body-ness. We go about our daily business for the most part with one important exception - we do not head out much or interact with anyone but family.