American workers don't want to go back to normal, and that makes sense

Johnny Paycheck sang "Take this job and shove it" in 1977. Today, it may well be the mantra for the post-Covid workforce.

Getting "back to normal" in the American jobs market won't cut it for everyone. Especially in retail and hospitality, where "normal" was an army of low-wage workers juggling two or more part-time jobs to pay the bills.

The past 15 months has been a reckoning for everyone. The pandemic forced families to re-order their health, family and work obligations. Schools closed. Child care and elder care was disrupted.

Congress came to the rescue,...