MAYBE, JUST MAYBE: THOUGHTS ON THE NEW NORMAL

When HITS Editor in Chief Lenny Beer sent us this missive from his hermetically sealed redoubt somewhere deep in the hills of Sherman Oaks, our first thought was: “Who are you, and what have you done with the real Lenny Beer?” But when he popped up on FaceTime 10 minutes later and said, “Why haven’t you fucking nerds edited my thing yet?” we realized we were dealing with the genuine article. In any case, we think the words below probably sum up how a lot of folks are feeling, especially now that we’ve translated them into English.

I find that my days in self-isolation include lots of texting and phone calls with colleagues in the industry. Whereas the high volume of texts often felt like a burden in the past, now I find it to be comforting. I’m talking to people in mostly the same circumstances; they’re taking care of their families and themselves while doing their jobs as well as humanly possible.

Also, I’m noticing that people have returned to more phone conversations than in recent years, and that includes FaceTime. Everyone is in less of a rush to get a call to end, and I find myself not feeling the need to jump off and get to the next call so quickly.

There is time. There is time to finish a call and return to the next caller afterward. We’re all beginning to understand and adapt to our new circumstances, our new normal, and we’re all adapting together.

And I find that I’m truly enjoying, even relishing, the contact we used to take for granted. The usual constant interaction that exists inside my company—now being done 100% remotely—is less frenzied. And my talks with industry execs seem much more valuable to my current well-being. Sometimes I think, wow, that took up ten minutes. OK. And I’m starting to plan my days accordingly. We all are.

We’re all in this together, in a deeper way than ever before. Yes, we can work records, talk to our artists, talk to gatekeepers, get inside information, talk about how much we suck at golf. Because maybe, just maybe, a new revelation has occurred.

We will help commiserate. We will help with recommending doctors or the best places to get supplies. We’ll help make sure that everyone’s family is safe. We will check in, and we’ll keep checking in.

Maybe, just maybe, we’re all really friends, too. Wouldn’t that be an interesting thing to learn in our “isolation?”