A new way to let people know your comfort zone
Before COVID 19, it was normal for us to have physical contact when meeting somebody new or a friend. You could shake hands, hug or even kiss on the cheek. Close proximity to other people was a fact of life.
When COVID arrived, however, all that changed. Kissing, hugging and handshaking had to stop; you even had to stay more than one metre from everyone, including your grandma! Schools closed to keep children safe and so did restaurants and bars. Everybody had to wear a mask in public, on the streets, in trains and buses. You had to wash your hands regularly and use sanitising gel in every shop.
Now, the good news is that vaccinations are available to protect everyone and the numbers of people getting sick are going down but we must still be careful. We must continue to protect ourselves and the people around us. In the future some people will be happy to go back to hugging their friends but others may not be so happy. A way to help us understand how much contact a person wants is by wearing the new colour coded wristbands.
The wristbands come in three colours: green, yellow and red. The green wristband means you are happy to shake hands, hug or kiss on the cheek. The yellow wristband means you are ok with elbow-bumping only. The red wristband means no contact, please keep your distance!
These wristbands may be a good way to tell others how you feel about contact without hurting their feelings and for you to know how they feel about being approached.
- Do you think it is a good idea or a bad idea? Why?
- Do you think your friends would wear them? Why/why not?
- Why do you think they chose the colours red, yellow and green?