Some of us have been suffering from deep withdrawal symptoms, fondly reminiscing now of the little things in life we enjoyed pre-Covid-19. The other day in our work group chat, my colleague expressed, with a shared photo to boot, how she sorely missed the office coffee machine. This was followed by another colleague saying how she missed her walks to get her regular dose of cappuccino at her fave baristas located near to our office building. I have come to realise that addiction to good coffee is a very real thing people.

Then there are the bigger things amiss, like freedom of movement or aka for me, being able to access all items at Woolies not only those deemed “essential”. On a quick run to one of their stores at my local shopping mall, I was admittedly a bit taken aback when greeted by two long rows of tape which weirdly made me think of those used to cordon off a crime scene. This of course, after I’d gotten my squirt of what is often very pungent smelling hand sanitiser, which has now become the norm when you enter most stores. But back to the tape. It was blocking me from any clothing or household goodies which meant I couldn’t make my usual stopover at the Babywear Department to see if there was anything cute in stock for my twin girls. A friendly staffer even gave my trolley handle a sanitized swipe while masked and gloved customers clearly trying to practice rather awkward social distancing made the whole experience feel a bit off. Definitely wasn’t the ordinary shopping trip.

These abnormalities which have been coined our “new normal”, are what we are slowly becoming accustomed to since President Cyril Ramaphosa made the critical decision to institute a national 21-day lockdown, pleading with our country’s citizens to stay home. And lest not forget, to religiously wash our hands. But something else quickly transpired as we embarked on this lockdown period. There has been an enormous show of a robust and collaborative effort between government and business, from wealthy families to aid organisations to those community members who help those in need, and our beloved artists – from comedians to musicians to painters. All coming together via telephone line or virtual communication and social media platforms, to inspire the masses to not lose hope and to help fight this pandemic. Not to mention our medical fraternity and all those at the coalface of aiding those affected by the virus. Many of us have been using our time stuck indoors to tap into our creative juices, crafting funny clips and memes. We are a country that still likes to laugh despite the hardships we endure. Others have offered entertainment in the form of home-made music videos and messages of motivation, trying to spread some positive vibes through the online stratosphere.

We here at Datafin, fortunate to still work throughout the lockdown, have been trying to maintain our team spirit through regular video call meetings and group chats. We’ve been sharing not only the joys but the struggles of working remotely. Some of us have to juggle in addition to work, home schooling, and caring for our little ones. But we are committed to continue serving our clients and candidates, not only to keep the company and our livelihoods afloat but for the common good of making our contribution to keeping our economy alive.

As they say in showbiz, now is the time to pull out all the stops. Yes, sadly there have and will be casualties but if we continue to rally together as a united front, then the battle is already half won.