Flying, of course, is not the only quotidian aspect of life that is changing. Planning for virtually any social and/or family occasion, as with our fizzled Philly feast, is an exercise in hypotheticals. Minor cold symptoms, in simpler times, would not be cause to beg off meeting up for drinks; you’d simply tell your friends not to get close or share food. Now, it’s a common excuse. Custom and courtesy are beginning to dictate, for some anyway, that we test before receiving company or becoming someone else’s company.

Anyone with kids can attest to how all plans are tentative anyway. Covid contingencies add another off-ramp, and maybe the misanthropic among us can be grateful for that. (I, too, dabble in the art of contactless living.) But the pandemic already has deepened our modern anti-social tendencies; a full life can be lived within walking distance of the house. Even the hoverchair-confined humans in WALL-E felt the initiative to shuttle around town.

Ideally, we can at least get to a point where mere exposure concerns no longer compel us, whether by rule or practice, to stay home in all cases. This might sound reckless, but the reality is that these steps mostly protect the unvaccinated — those most at risk of serious complications or death from Covid-19 and who have a choice still to reduce that risk. For everyone else, barring the advent of a deadlier variant, judgment should come into play. Visiting grandma after known exposure is not a good idea, but joining vaxxed friends in their 30s should not be out of the question.