My cousin Ben (whom I suspect is reading this) told me of an awesome word he recently coined. The word is “coronawave”.
It refers to a social phenomenon very specific to this pandemic. It happens when you are walking along the road, and a stranger is walking in the other direction.
Inevitably, one of you will cross to the other side of the road, to maintain social distancing. And that’s when it happens.
As the two you you pass each other, you both smile and give each other a big friendly wave. That’s the coronawave.
Here’s the interesting bit. If there had been no pandemic, the two of you would most likely have completely ignored each other. But now you’re all warm and friendly.
It makes sense. You both feel awkward that you are each making a wide berth around the other, and you want to do something to help make it ok. So you give each other a big friendly smile and wave.
As social rituals go, this one is actually rather sweet. Now let’s see whether we can all manage to keep the ritual going after this pandemic is over.