Written by: Zachary Hoffman, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Let’s look back a little over a year ago. The COVID-19 pandemic was wreaking havoc on us all. Lockdowns. closing businesses, gyms & schools along with the lack of face-face interactions Despite some lingering effects from the days of “lockdown life. ” People have been slowly but surely getting back to their lives and routines. Whether it will stay that way is to be determined but at least for now, people around the world are starting to feel a sense of normalcy again. Does this mean that we have learned from the trials and tribulations that the pandemic has brought? Possibly in some ways. However, I’d like to use this post to highlight an example of one of the major flaws that I have observed within our society….
The inability to remember, appreciate and learn from our past. As the old saying goes, “history repeats itself. Wearing a mask in public has simply become a part of our everyday lives. Most of us don’t even think twice about it anymore despite at one point complaing about having to do it. Before leaving the house the standard checklist used to be: keys, sunglasses,wallet, purse. Now it is keys, sunglasses,wallet, purse, FFP2 mask. It is what it is, I guess.
That being said, those who remember back to March 2020 can recall the “mask shortage” that was taking place. At the height of the pandemic there apparently were not enough to go around. I even remember hearing a story of a guy in New York who had an abundance in storage and was at one point selling them at a 700 percent mark-up price before the FBI shut his lucrative business down. Fear causes panic which causes desperation which means there is a need. Therefore, people were buying them despite the outrageous cost increase.
So what is my point? My point is that we as a society simply do not learn from our failures and we take simple things such as having a cotton mask for granted. Unlike in March of 2020, if you take a walk around your city or town today you will likely see multiple used FFP2 masks littered upon the ground like a McDonald’s burger wrapper. What was a year ago seen as a luxury item can now be found along your local freeway with other people’s used fast-food packaging. What a difference a year makes, huh?
The bottom line is this. We live in a world where we can “mass-produce” to solve most of our problems. Need more money? Just print more. Need more meat? Just breed more animals. Need more FFP2 mask? Just produce more. I am not saying that mass production is all bad. I mean we are simply accommodating our needs in the most east and efficient way we know
how. The problem lies in the change that occurs in our mindsets when our needs become something of excess.
Ignorance of what once was, and a lack of appreciation for the current situation. Some might call this simple “human nature.” That may be true as well, but it doesn’t mean that we should let human nature get in the way of being aware and having discernment. That is the real problem. People too often let their nature take control while letting their immense cognitive ability to remember and think to take a back seat.
So the next time you see a used FFP2 mask laying stray and dirty on the sidewalk, let that be a reminder of how ignorant we can be if we allow our nature take over. Let that experience take you back to March 2020 where these masks had the value of 700 percent
above their mark-up. Maybe then and only then can we begin to overcome our nature and learn to appreciate.
Or maybe our nature is already to much to overcome.
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Zachary Hoffman, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Zac is an Italian/American dual citizen, effective leadership developer, award winning author, and former professional American football player. Originally from a small, rural town in Western Pennsylvania (USA), he has spent his twenties living in 6 different countries while playing and coaching American football. During his time abroad, he developed the SWALeadership concept based on his many thrilling and eye-opening experiences within various leadership roles across cultures.
