Mask Mandates, Virtual Escape Rooms, And We’ve Yet to Finally Escape Madness

If you read the headline in the voice of Werner Herzog, you read it as this author intended. Not to beat a dead horse but 2020 set into motion events proving catastrophic for Main St. My business was once well diversified with a mix of large corporate event production, commercial work, and 360 videos for small restaurants but all faded into nothing two years ago.

Clients at ad agencies reported similar business losses. Companies that planned corporate retreats pivoted and started offering virtual team building via escape rooms, something that caught my attention as I tried to turn my own production work to the new world. It’s been a long road, and I’ve hardly made a full recovery.

In nearly every state, mask mandates have been dropped. Businesses are pushing for better or worse to return to work because commercial real estate interests are more important than employees’ preferences and even productivity. 

We may be coming back to normal or moving into world war three. I may end up a photojournalist in Ukraine. One of my ad agency pals will likely be a prescribing nurse by 2026. Everyone is pivoting, only some of us back to the way it was; Madness.