Americans love tidy endings to their stories, but the coronavirus pandemic isn't offering them that.

The lack of knowledge of when the pandemic will be over runs counter to the ways Americans have grown accustomed to consuming stories for four generations through movies, advertising and other popular culture.

Some scholars say that experiencing an ending to a traumatic and lengthy event like the virus era is pivotal.

They say the ability to section off our lives into manageable stories helps add meaning, and in some cases can help people make enough sense of something to move on.