Gaslighting is defined as manipulation into doubting your own sanity. Meaning, someone tells you you are crazy when you are not. This could occur in a multitude of ways, and will probably occur due to Covid-19. 

The likelihood of high up officials trying to convince us back to normalcy is high. They will use advertising and the promises of better things to convince everyone everything is normal, when in fact we are currently undergoing a pandemic. 

With the sweeping fear Covid-19 has caused, the likelihood of things going back to “normal” is slim. It is more likely that a new normal will be created. Even when things begin to open up again, there will still be an intense fear that the virus is not truly gone. 

New conditions are likely to come in place, like a limit on the number of people who can enter grocery stores and a smaller max on those who can attend events like concerts. Places like Disney may reopen, but there is already talk of checking the temperatures of those who enter and creating new plans to keep people from not being close together for long periods of time in line. 

“I think that things will be different for a really long time,” Senior Scott Tucci states. “Disney hours will be different if they reopen at all. Who knows if movie theaters will even open up again any time soon. Everything is going to be different.”

At the moment, no one is certain of what is to come. Expectations are that things will not be the same once the stay at home order is removed. Whether or not those things will be different for a month, a year, or forever, no one knows. There will be fear in everyone for a long time, one that may never go away. 

This event is definitely something that will be talked about for years to come. Children will learn it in their history classes, and parents will reprimand their children every time they are bored with the classic, “back in my day…”