Abcarian: What we've learned about ourselves in the pandemic

An Orlando, Fla., supermarket was nearly out of paper goods in January. In the third week of March 2020, I stood on a friend’s porch, speculating that “this thing” would probably be over in a month or two. Our worldwide emotional roller-coaster ride has taken us to many highs and lows and given us a new lexicon: “social distancing,” “flatten the curve,” “the Great Resignation,” “pandemic puppies.” It has also taught us that the public spiritedness we naively believed to be an American virtue was nothing more than a myth. “They’re trying to rape our children with this poison!” yelled one protester. We belted out “That’s Amore,” in honor of the famous, now-shuttered Italian restaurant around the corner.