The World Under Lockout (Yep, LockOUT)

Here's a scenario from an alternate universe; let's take a different spin on the current situation and flip it ( hey, I'm a contrarian, remember?). Say there's another global crisis, similar magnitude of covid. It sweeps throughout the entire world, completely changing our lives. But instead of stay-at-home order, we are faced with stay-out-of-home order.

Yep, you heard it right.

In fact, imagine every single dwelling unit on earth becomes suddenly uninhabitable and all 7 + billion people must leave their homes for an indefinite period (the reason is irrelevant, but you can make it up; termite infestation, alien invasion, evil spirits, etc). In other words, it ain't a lockdown. It's a lockout.

The silver lining? It's business-as-usual. People will still go to work, kids will still go to school, and everyone will do their usual daily stuff. Except... no one can go home. In fact, it's the exact polar opposite to our current situation.

So, what would you do in this bizarre reality? (and no, you can't say 'I'll stay at my friends or relatives", because they too are locked out of their homes!) How would you put a roof over your head? Or would you put a roof over your head? How would this incredibly-surreal-but-will-never-happen scenario affect the world and change the way we live, behave, and interact?

Here is what I think would likely go down under a lockout.

- Initial shockwave sweeps across the world. Panic and disbelief sets in households as everyone frantically looks for play to stay. All hotel and motels are booked out in nanoseconds. In fact, their servers crash. Everywhere, people rushing to their local hotels / motels are turned off by a huge line of people hoping to get a room. In fact, this is just marks the beginning of humanity's fight for hotel rooms, and the ensuing ugliness that will follow.

- Initially people flock to office buildings, school gymnasiums, arenas, and anywhere that's large and spacious inside. To their dismay, the security guards are kicking them out. Fights break out between the security guards and crowds of lodge-seekers pushing their way in. The law enforcement gets involved and eventually removes the angry mob of out of buildings.

- After fruitless attempts to find lodging, tons of people are left stranded. With no place to stay, many resort to sleeping in their cars, at least initially. Those who can afford it, rents an RV/ motor home. In fact, these go out very quickly after the initial frenzy.

- People continue go to work as usual, but many have nowhere to go after work. Most common workplace conversation becomes "So... where are you sleeping tonight?"

-Slowly as weeks go by, many establishments start their own lodging business to provide the public a place to sleep. Office buildings, schools, arenas, airports, churches, day care centers to name a few, start to advertise their rate-per-night online and in public view. These get filled up quickly.

-The most Google-searched query during this crisis is "Where to stay for free (or cheap) during lockout"

- Restaurants are thriving during these times. No, they are skyrocketing. Since no one can eat at home, the only choice is to eat out. Restaurants are seeing 200% boom in business which has never before. However, their workers aren't popping champagne bottles. They too have to find a place to stay!

- In every country, the fight for lodging becomes an unimaginable headache for many of its population. While everyone can go to work, go to school, and still make a living, the stress of finding lodging is like no other. Vast majority of the world has never experienced homelessness of this extent, and it takes a physical and mental toll on adults and children alike. It won't be long until kids tearfully plea their parents; "Mommmyyy I wanna go home! I wanna sleep in my room! I miss playing video games!"

-How will social media fit into this? (You knew this was coming). There will be tons and tons of discussions and forums related to the lockout, from mental help tips to finding lodging to sharing any helpful information. Celebrity-spotting will be increasingly common; people will not hesitate to capture the sight of any famous person who happens to be lodging nearby. (i.e. posting a viral video with caption: "Look! Taylor Swift is staying here in this arena with 500 other people!"). Also many businesses will rely heavily on social media to promote their services in exchange for lodging. i.e. "spend minimum $___ and sleep one night for free"

-This crisis will either bring out the best or the worst of people. Some will get used to sleeping next to strangers over time, while others can no longer tolerate it. Those who can't will go back to sleeping in their cars or come up with creative ways to isolate themselves. Also, people will rely heavily on the generosity of others; no one will hesitate to turn down free lodging offered by anyone.

-Extroverts will thrive in these circumstances. Many introverts will become slightly more extroverted than usual, since interacting with strangers will be crucial. Those who are hardcore introverts however, will stay in their shell no matter what. Both extroverts and introverts alike will add more Facebook friends during this crisis ( some more than others).

-The world will see a massive economic boost (exception: housing transactions). However, this upswing comes at a price; at the expense of everyone's sanity and homesickness. Financial stability is only a small solace for majority of people desperate to sleep in their own bed, use their own shower, cook in their own kitchen, and watch TV in their own living room.

Ok so I can go on and on about possible scenarios ( and I'm sure there's lots more beyond my imagination), but I'll stop here. So to sum up, here are the likely biggest winners of a lockout:

-Restaurants
-Hotels and motels
-RV / Motor homes
-Sellers of mattresses, sleeping bags, futons, and tents
-Anywhere that's converted into public lodging
- World economy ( since everyone is forced to spend)
- Extroverts

Sounds surreal, right? (more like a nightmare!) So ask yourselves this; given these complete -180 circumstances and challenges, would you prefer a lockdown? Or a lockout?