I thought of using ‘limping’ back to normalcy, but understood that we are nowhere close to limping yet. To limp once needs to get up, but the forced inactivity of the last 3 months has pushed us down so far, to reach a limping level requires an effort.
I had given up my Gym in early March as the infections numbers rose in Tokyo. The end of March saw a slight dip and I prepared to to resume my Gym and was foiled by a sudden rise in number. The Cherry Blossom viewing season was resulted in recklessness and a subsequent declaration of Emergency. The government asked all Gyms , sports-centers to close and this continued till the end of May.
June 2nd was the day I planned to resume my Gym, but a reported new 34 cases in Tokyo momentarily dampened the enthusiasm but not enough to make me give it up.
There is no better time to avoid people than early mornings. Waking up at 4:30 and leaving home 15 minutes later does not require as much will in early summer.
Walking down an almost empty tree covered trail, crossing the foot-bridge opposite the baseball stadium, passing through the park, and a homeless person sleeping on a bench, I head to my Gym.
There are a bunch of policemen on both sides of the street, apparently resolving a drunken dispute .
“Did you say you live in Nakano”, the policeman asks one of the combatants.
“No, not Nakano, Edogawa, I live in Edogawa Ward”, he replies testily.
I would have wanted to linger but getting to the Gym is more important than trying to make sense of whatever was going on there.
The building opposite the Gym has a few late night clubs and bars and it is not uncommon to see some of the customers, employees heading back in various stages of intoxication, in the early morning hours.
The only thing different about the Gym, from the outside, is a sign asking members to maintain social distancing. When I get inside , occupied by another early riser, I see running and cross training machines taped off in alternates to maintain social distancing.
An hour into the Gym and it starts to fill up, by the time I leave there are at least 6 more members. In the new normal that we live in, it is one too many and I head back.
The infections numbers rise and fall in cycles, it goes to 12 the next day and 28 the day after. A birthday party, crowds at the entertainment districts of Tokyo apparently are the main contributors.
You cannot blame people for trying to return to a normal life, but maybe , just maybe they might need to redefine what this normal should be!!!
