Skip to content

The Rush Back to Normal

Share this Post:

Illustration by John Sauer – www.johnsauer.com

After being furloughed for 18 months, with only a few gigs within that time, it was a bit of a shock to get the “all hands-on deck, return to duty” summons. It was an emergency call, since our world of concerts and events reopened with such force that it was difficult keeping the torrent of work from overwhelming us.

Having limped along for so long, we found ourselves unprepared for the amount of work, which — only two years ago — would have been considered a normally busy September. Trucks that had been sitting idle needed extra care to get them rolling again. The company had been operating with a skeleton crew for so long that many furloughed staff members had moved away, found new jobs or discovered a new meaning to life without the work we do.

Interrupting the Time/Space Continuum

For some, this interruption in the time/space continuum made them question the need to rush back to normal. We were not alone in our unpreparedness for this onslaught of work; many of our clients who were involved in making these festivals and award shows happen also found themselves improvising their way through situations that a short while ago were standard operating procedures. Hungry to get back to work and anxious to once again start generating income, it seemed as though anyone who was able was pushed onto the playing field without taking even a few practice swings or warm-up pitches.

Frankly, the urgency to return to work seemed a lot like teams taking the field without the required number of players or proper equipment to even play the game. However, despite these many challenges, we all prevailed in our rush back to normal. Make no mistake about it — a year and a half shutdown is catastrophic. A toll was taken, and it’s not just financial, but emotional as well. It feels as though we went into a long sleep and woke up running. Once the all-clear sign was given, the work started flooding in. Anyone and everyone who was able and capable started staging productions again. The workload in September was like it was before the pandemic shut us down, but this year we had to dust off the equipment that had been sitting idle for so long, as well as bring back a scattered labor force from a forced hiatus. It was nice to get back to work, but it felt as though we were still wiping the sleep from our eyes as we rushed back into action.

Normal = Not Normal

Unfortunately, normal just didn’t feel quite normal. There were familiarities in our actions and certain protocols were followed as we put together our shows and performed our duties, but it seemed as though we were on episodes of The Twilight Zone. Everything appeared to be correct, but there was a nagging feeling that something was amiss. There was something going on that we couldn’t quite grasp, similar to a standing wave that keeps eluding us; a low undertone of menace, not loud enough to be totally disruptive, but sufficiently discernible to cause anxiety and bring an added tension into the mix. The trucks were rolling, concerts and events were happening, Broadway shows reopened, restaurants were serving food, clubs and venues were filling up, and we applauded the return of our lives as we rushed back to normal. Unfortunately, normal is fluid, as it’s always changing, and getting ourselves back to the garden can prove to be an exercise in futility. Normal changes around us at all times, but when we are involved on a daily basis, these changes seem natural and… well… normal.

Unfortunately, for the past 18 months we have been removed from our daily routines and, upon our return, we discovered that things are not what they appear to be or — for that matter — what they used to be. Maybe now is the time for Broadway to stage a revival of the show Brigadoon, about a magical village that, in order to remain the same forever, rises out of the mists every hundred years for only a day. No one can leave the village for the outside world, or the spell will be broken, and only true love can allow an outsider to stay.

Will our regular lives be restored, or are we seeking a place that only exists every hundred years in our rush back to normal? Normal is altered in little ways at all times. Our supply chain being interrupted, our labor force being indecisive and cut, our cash flow diminished, and we have new mask requirements, vaccine passports, proof of Covid tests and social distancing — all of which add up to a new normal, and it’s not a fixed entity. It will develop and change, but it will be with us forever.

Like any major catastrophe, there is no going back. After 911 occurred, we all were required to be x-rayed and searched as we passed through airport security, shoeless and beltless. Normal operating procedures in regard to touring were obliterated, and whole new sets of rules were put in place that are still with us 20 years later. We got used to the changes, but we were not displaced for a year and a half while the changes occurred; they happened in real time and it seemed somewhat standard. Coming back to a new set of rules after being away makes the reality rather harsh. Some of the techs I work with have refused to be vaccinated, yet just proof of a negative test is not enough. I’ve already let certain engineers know that they couldn’t go on a gig due to the new rules that have been put in place. Vaccines have been a point of contention, even back to the smallpox vaccine mandate in 1905.

Regardless, in tandem with other issues, it feels like there’s an underlying standing wave of emotion in the frequency of anger and discontent that’s affecting everything we do in our mad rush back to normal.