When a person is described as being bipolar, we think of their depression, their changes in energy, sleep patterns, and mood swings. Bipolar Disorder is a mental illness we wouldn’t wish on anyone. No one wants to be bipolar and it certainly takes a special kind of person who wants to work with people who are bipolar. While bipolar disease, like AMD, has no cure, a number of new treatments can help those afflicted.

Let’s talk about an entirely different sort of bipolar. This bipolar might be a pretty simple answer to keeping us all safe in our workplaces and homes.

As the coronavirus pandemic now stretches into July, we are all looking for ways to keep ourselves, our families, our coworkers, our patients, our customers, and our communities protected from the coronavirus. As I write this, there have been almost 2.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. with almost 120,000 deaths. We are all cognizant of the dangers of the coronavirus and are all trying to do what we can to stay safe and healthy, especially with so many conflicted stories and opinions being bandied about on social media.

Being the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, most optical practices can prop open their doors and windows to let a constant flow of fresh air into their stores to help minimize the chances of breathing in anything bad. According to the EPA, the levels of pollutants indoors average 2 to 5 times more than outdoor levels and can exceed 100 times that of the outdoor levels of some pollutants. Since we spend roughly 90 percent of our time indoors, we all need to be extra mindful of the air we breathe in normal times, let alone during an airborne pandemic. Like so many other things, we tend to take the air we breathe for granted… until just a few months ago.

Modern buildings and retail environments are generally designed to promote social mixing. Even today’s modern offices are mostly are designed to be very open places where workers share space. By promoting interaction and chance encounters, these layouts are thought to generate more creativity and teamwork. At the same time, they are probably also really great for spreading viruses around. Think about the typical retail environment you’ve been in over the past year. Most every store space is laid out to fit as many people as the local fire department will allow, with every inch of the retail floor visible from some central counter or employee focal point.