Saturday as I walked, they were testing out the canned messages on the loudspeaker. It was a canned voice announcing a "lockdown" of the campus. Intruder lockdowns are part of the new normal.
Monday night I stopped by Shawnee Park in Plano. Two young men were walking to the park, apparently to play disk golf. One of them wore a curious ensemble which involved Speedo briefs attached to shorts which hung low a la gang garb. But this was not a literal gang thing. This was a kind of GQ gang evocation, crossed with a hint of La Bare. Because curious hybrid styles are part of the new normal.
Two young women walked past me before work yesterday who were dressed in early 80s post-punk fashions. Nowadays, though, their outfits and hair dyes would not be post-punk. They would be kind fun and normal--which, in a way, is all they ever were.
But I still hope that the new normal does not permit tolerance of bigoted politicians or the constant star-i-fication of reality romance show participants.