Zoom

As summer winds down and we prepare for the High Holidays, I hope that more and more people will decide to exchange their seat at their dining room table ...

We realize that it is a substitution and not the real thing. But I’m glad that we, as a human race, realize that Zooming is not the way we are wired for interaction and connectedness. Zoom worked when it needed to work and will continue to fill gaps when needed in the future. But real interaction needs to re-instated – and the sooner the better. The downside of Zooming was that it allowed and even gave a blessing to young people to further latch onto their beloved electronic devices. And even those who now prefer remote work to on-site, in-office work know and acknowledge the difference. Zoom is their license to separate themselves from honest, human interaction. But zoom is not the same as face-to-face. I can relate, as did the people seated at the next table, who smiled and nodded in agreement. One subtle change is that I am starting to have more and more face-to-face meetings. But rather than sheltering in place, mask on face instead of mask dangling from arm, a new fashion statement, people are meeting each other and even greeting each other as they once did. In many ways, this summer has been a real game changer – some more obvious, some more subtle.