Scott Thompson: You can’t hold yesterday’s expectations in a COVID-19 world

Society today wants everything in life. Why, because we can?

If we don’t like something the way it is, we just figure out a way to change it or make it more palatable to ourselves.

This has served us well in a profitable pre-COVID-19 “me” world, but it is proving more and more difficult as this global pandemic drags on.

Fake it until you make it does not apply anymore. Everyone wants results.

You can see this as we try to navigate COVID-19.

People want answers, and they want them now. People want solutions, and they want them now. They want this to be over, and they want it now.

However, as we have all learned, a coronavirus doesn’t care what we want and that’s the consensus around the world.

Always ask questions, be aware and debate. But in the fatigue of the moment, people are demanding answers to questions no one has.

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The answer being given today may change by the next due to new, fluid information. There is no playbook; everyone is learning on the fly.

So the media asks for an opinion, and when those opinions differ between officials, the public complains of mixed messaging.

Even though no position has changed, the answer was an opinion, not policy.

Policy is debated at length but once a decision is made, everyone has to speak with the same tongue. Otherwise, the message becomes cloudy.

Often the same people who are complaining of mixed messages are complaining that they are not getting enough information from officials.

If everyone is not selling the same message, you have anarchy. The media loves to highlight that.

So if you need information, seek it out and consume all reputable sources.

But if you’re just looking for someone to blame or vent your frustrations on, you’re better to turn it all off until the pandemic is over.

Scott Thompson is the host of The Scott Thompson Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML Hamilton.​​​​