It’s amazing to look back over just one week and note how much has changed. Before concerns over the toilet paper supply emerged as a top priority subject, light issues like designating an official state dance seemed to be worthy of comment. 

It was really just two weeks ago that the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce hosted its last legislative coffee, and Rep. Tory Arnberger shared how one of the committees she serves on was considering designating both the Polka and Square Dance as official state dances. Now, all of that seems to be the furthest thing from our minds as the community adapts to an altered state that two weeks ago seemed the stuff of dystopian novels and Hollywood fantasy. 

Still, we are confident these times will not last forever, and a time for dancing will once again arrive. 

In the meantime, the community should take time to marvel in the fact it can make such drastic changes in such a short time. 

As thoughts turn to what sorts of things to do at home to pass time we weren’t prepared to have, boredom will be replaced with creativity, and we look forward to seeing the results. 

Parents are suddenly getting a crash-course in home schooling, and teachers and school administrators are figuring out ways to help from a distance. New perspectives on education and the role of teachers and schools are forming now, and they are bound to last into the future. 

Workers are quickly learning to work from home, or are scrambling to find work in an economy that is changing rapidly. Some businesses are benefiting from unheard of opportunity, especially those who provide delivery of goods or food. Entrepreneurs are watching to see what needs will be unmet, and the resulting businesses and services that will emerge are bound to be exciting. 

These, of course, are all up-side versions of this pandemic upheaval, and these thoughts are not meant to put a Pollyanna-ish spin on the situation. But, it’s important not to linger in the doom and gloom of these days. Other periods of upheaval in history have born innovations, and there’s no reason not to believe this one will as well. 

Some in our community are bound to become ill in the coming days and weeks, and that will require fortitude to get through. But taking steps now as a community will hopefully make it easier for everyone to do what they can for one another when that time comes.