Michael Leppert: Gaining perspective from the trip through the tunnel

There is “light at the end of the tunnel.”

I am often curious from where expressions like that come. And it doesn’t take a long search to find the phrase is commonly attributed to a painting by Hieronymus Bosch named “Ascent of the Blessed.” The Dutch painter created it in the early 1500s, certainly not expecting that it would translate into such a commonly used phrase 500 years later.

Bosch would also not understand much about the tunnel we are in today, either. He more likely would be in awe of how good we all have it.

We all have a new normal, or abnormal. And some of this newness needed to happen.

For example:

I have not missed the office. I get that everyone has a different situation at home with children, roommates or just a need to physically go to work as a part of managing work/life balance. Not me. I’m over it. My kids are grown and out of the house. My dog is a good boy and doesn’t need to be yelled at during Zoom sessions. Offices mean shaving, tucking shirts in, and wearing socks.

Speaking of Zoom, am I the only one amazed at how well the internet has performed? I expected the webinars and video chats to be about as reliable as the weather, but the internet has been phenomenal. Netflix, Zulu and YouTube TV have all risen to the streaming challenge. Now all we need to do is grow access among those who don’t have it—no matter where they are.

The pandemic taught us how many have this luxurious work-from-home option, but more painfully, how many don’t.

As an empty-nester, I eat out more than most. I am one of seven children and learned how to cook from two parents who only knew how to cook for 10 or more. Cooking at home is an event in my mind—and I just don’t know how to do it for two very well.

Restaurants do. And I can walk to dozens of them from my house. I miss my friends who work there. But I worry about them more. Their work is undervalued. Prices should go up at restaurants, coffee shops and food trucks to more accurately reflect what they mean to us.

Government needs to take a more objective look at itself. On one hand, COVID-19 has shown that some units of government really can work quickly when they need to. But it is also time to begin critically looking at functions that can be done without gathering in person. Primary voting in person in Wisconsin was an unnecessary mistake. People were infected.

Voting entirely by mail works well in five states, and in a more limited fashion in more than a dozen others. It works and there are no good reasons to avoid moving the entire country this direction.

Congress, legislatures, and many city and town councils can conduct business only in public and when a quorum has been established. I advocate for public access and all the things American governments must do to provide for that. But in a public health emergency, should those things keep governments from being able to deliver their product? Of course not. We have to push government to be nimble enough to do both and do them well.

Bosch would have had no idea about the modern tunnels we would face or what we all think light at the end of them could hopefully bring. Everything related to COVID-19 has not been bad. A healthy perspective and reevaluation were needed around here. It’s only a shame what it took to really get it started.•

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