Looks like many of us have gotten our 2 + 2: vaccinations plus two weeks. And many of us are, like Pauxitawny Phil, the groundhog, coming out from our year-long hiding places.

Now that I'm starting to once again meet with family and even more so, meet with friends that I have developed on various Zoom meetings, things are not the same in this new normal.

I'm calling this new normal, Normal 2.0, as opposed to the old normal, Normal 1.0.

After a year of Zoom, coming out into the sun is by all means—awkward. Let's see:

In Normal 1.0, we hugged.
In Normal 2.0, we elbow bump.

In Normal 1.0, we smiled.
In Normal 2.0, we wear a mask.

In Normal 1.0, we spoke softly.
In Normal 2.0, we speak loudly from six feet away.

In Normal 1.0, we sat in a restaurant.
In Normal 2.0, we sat outside.

In Zoom, we were each other's face.
In Normal 2.0, it's freaky to be that close.

And most of all, after a year of Zoom, meeting a Zoom friend is like meeting a celebrity—you see them maybe every week but you've never met them in 3D. Zoom is 2D, life is 3D—people have a backside. Oh well.

~ Al Zagofsky