By this point I’m pretty certain that humanity as a collective has run out of analogies for the year 2020. For me it’s been like a rollercoaster. Oh wait, you probably think that’s pretty generic. Try to be patient and give me a chance to elaborate.

What I mean by a rollercoaster is like one of those viral videos where someone keeps fainting on the ride, wakes up a few moments later only to realise that the ordeal is still not over and passes out again. That state is what I’m actually alluding to. But every time I decide to close my eyes in search of solitude, my peace gets shattered by the sound of a notification from my mobile device.

“Why don’t you just put your phone on silent mode?” you may ask. To which I’ll most definitely reply, “Why don’t you just get a job first.” But I digress. It’s been a rough couple of months — wait, let me revise that; it’s actually been a rough year for the entire humanity, and it hasn’t even ended yet. I have specifically decided to leave out wildlife here because when humans were under lockdown, the animals were out partying like it was the age of the dinosaurs, 66 million years ago.

Anyway, let’s dial back to only a couple of decades ago. Remember the times when life was just normal, somewhat spiced up with countless boring doomsday theories, all of which turned out to be just theories eventually. Nowadays we’re all just six feet apart from each other, with some looking like locally manufactured versions of Bane from Batman with their ‘cool’ masks on, while others look like they’ve just come out of surgery. Absolutely terrible script for an apocalyptic scenario, I must say. Nevertheless, it is, as they say, “the new normal.”

But is it really new? I mean, if this is the new normal, then I can bet you my pay cheque (which I am yet to receive) that the actual normal is turning in its grave. Because the last time I checked, the word ‘new’ was always associated with something positive.

It’s actually been a rough year for the entire humanity, and it hasn’t even ended yet. I have specifically decided to leave out wildlife here because when humans were under lockdown, the animals were out partying like it was the age of the dinosaurs, 66 million years ago.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m somewhat struggling to find the silver lining here. Imagine a friend of yours informed you that they got a new haircut, and then showed up at your place bald. Now, I’m not saying it’s going to be a bad look for them; all I’m trying to say is that this is probably something that should’ve warranted a proper debate or discussion.

In hindsight, the pointers that I’ve made above might make it seem like I’m down in some rabbit hole of existential despair, but I can assure you that this is not the case. For one thing, I’m actually quite tall and would tend to stick out irrespective of any hole in the ground that I was to jump into. And secondly, while quantifiable pandemonium has always existed in the world we populate today, I can hardly remember a time when it was exacerbated to such a degree. Hence, my outcry.

So, my advice to everyone out there would be to make yours heard too, even if it won’t lead to any drastic change in the foreseeable future.

After all, it’s true that one way or another we are eventually going to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I’m just seriously worried because I genuinely feel that it’s broken. And while wearing a facemask is important and crucial to our health and safety, it’s still annoying, especially if we’re all in a tunnel where we can hardly find any room to breathe, in the first place.

The writer is a Beaconhouse National University graduate who is currently working in BBDO Pakistan. He can be reached at tahakhann92@gmail.com