Recently, I’ve been thinking about what we’ve been calling social distancing. It’s such a frustrating term, isn’t it? Because, really, we’re all basically in quarantine, some of us alone. Yet we can still be social. We can talk on the phone, text, or have video chats. The goal is not to not be social, it’s to be physically separated to prevent the spread of a deadly virus.
For weeks, I’d been trying to pin down the phrase bothered me, and it hit me earlier this week when I heard Gavin Newsom speak and he used an alternate phrasing — “physical distancing.” Instantly, I knew that this small difference in word choice is the thing that has been bothering me.
Has anyone else had a similar reaction? To me, it feels like using that phrase is just adding to the stress of being at home, of feeling alone. I’m pretty sure that no one on the planet needs any additional anxiety at this time.
I’ve been trying to reach out to people I know might be alone, to stay in touch with my friends who I’m not able to see right now, and to reconnect with friends that I’ve been out of touch with.
By the way, I find the term “social distancing” unfortunate. It is physical distancing that we need in order to stop the virus transmission. Let’s never social distance. Let’s try in our modern age of the Internet, to do a better job with staying social.
Infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm
So let’s stay home to save lives. Let’s practice physical distancing, but please, please, let’s stay socially connected and come together as a community, as a people, for the sake of humanity.