When is a party not just a party? When it’s your first post-pandemic lockdown party. Richard Swerdlow has this Perspective.
When the invitation arrived, I hesitated.
A family party, celebrating my niece's college graduation. The new normal for pandemic-era parties: evites include date, time and that every guest is vaccinated, party held outdoors.
A party seemed terrifying. After months of quarantine, I wasn't mentally ready to go from socially distanced to social. Still, the invitation said everyone was vaccinated, and I hadn't seen anyone except in family video calls, where off-key renditions of Happy Birthday had been sung, and glasses clinked at the screen for special occasions.
An actual party gave a whole new meaning to social anxiety, but I put on pants and went.