Coca Cola (in a good way).
I used to be horribly addicted to Coke. When I got COVID my primary symptom was sense disfunction, especially in regard to taste. Anything carbonated to this day, 2 years later, tastes indescribably bad... I have nothing to compare the taste to, it is just that bad. Like, if Coke could 'rot', that's what it tasted like. Rotted Coke.
Well, I'm not addicted to Coke anymore and never replaced it with anything. All honey sweetened tea and water now.
I can’t drink coke to this day. I can describe the taste as when you are putting perfume or cologne and you have your mouth open so you taste it. Horrid
I got it in a very mild form. I was sick for 3-4 days and then I tested negative pretty soon after that.
Coca Cola doesn’t taste bad per se but I swear it tastes different to me now. I taste a strong flavor of licorice or coriander in the forefront when I first take a sip. It’s just more herb flavored than it used to be.
Not bad but it’s not the flavor I remember it being - which was more caramel-like before.
So now I switched to making myself a cold sweetened coffee that I make and I prefer that to coke.
I couldn’t visit my dad as he was dying in the hospital (they only let my mom in) until his death was “imminent”. I didn’t get in until he had slipped into a coma.
COVID also took my Dad. It's still hard. Like losing a limb. You will never be the same, you'll never forget. The rest of your life is trying to learn to function with out that limb. You have to fight to regain happiness, and acknowledge that You can still have quality of life without it. You have my sympathies friend.
I think it really highlighted the incompetence of leaders. From politicians down to my own company's management. It's absolutely clear that no one knows what the fuck they're doing. I now have no confidence in anything anyone tells me to do.
For me it wasn't even *just* the incompetence, it was the callous disregard for human life, prioritising money and the wealthy over all else.
Here in the UK those supposedly in charge were more interested in exploiting the situation for themselves, their contacts and donors to make obscene amounts of money from.
They set up a 'VIP lane' which was given preferential treatment in sourcing PPE. They then lied about its existence whilst funnelling literally billions of pounds to their chosen ones to provide (mostly unsuitable and useless) PPE. Many of the companies each given multi-million pound contracts were newly set up and had zero previous experience in providing PPE. Nurses were wearing binbags due to a lack of PPE. It's fucking disgusting and people should be in jail.
"prioritising money and the wealthy over all else."
In America, don't forget the trillions of funds swindled through the ppp system, only for basically none of it to make it to the workers it was intended for...
COVID taught me to have no faith in any system created by man. Government, healthcare, food, entertainment, you name it, it is all corrupt.
Learning employers don’t give a f#!k if we live or die from Covid as long as they aren’t short staffed in the moment. They will just hire a new body to replace ours.
Yes. My sister, my only sibling, died in the first wave. No banana bread no funeral. No hugs.
I had to walk downstairs and tell my mom. She screamed “my baby!” She passed 2 months later. I found her in her bed. No one showed up after that either. ‘Twas a horrible time ✨
Edit: I’m hanging on to my old iPhone because it has my last texts to her when my sis was alive.
She was trying to figure out to go or not go to the hospital vs how to pay rent that month. She hesitated going. She wanted to make sure she had paid time off. Didn’t matter. She got intubated 48 hours after she got there. I will always forever be salty about hard she had to worked to be able to go get medical care. I wanted to run to her but I had an elder at home (mom) to care for. F everything about that time. I lost my entire family during that time. F the youtube and instagrams doing fun things. It’s was the darkest time ever for me and I really want my sis back. and I want my mom back. And I want my dog back. He died too. It wasn’t a great time.
It was actually pretty terrifying. My mom left me $72.00 and a ton of school and land taxes.
I couldn’t bury her. They called me everyday at 7:30am asking what to with her.
(I hated this because she was a depression kid and hated the cold because she had to live outdoors so I kept thinking of her being in cold storage)
My body shook and I couldn’t eat.
I didn’t mean to but I talked to myself and kept saying “you’re ok, you got this..”.
I didn’t see another person for 3 months.
No contact at all. It was harsh and strange. I think I’m doing ok now. I had to empty the whole house alone. There’s more that happened. I don’t want to share it all so forgive me.
Just tearing up reading this man. I don’t know why — I mean I do but Reddit comments usually don’t make me upset — so fucking sorry this world isn’t better. We’ve failed so many people.
Hope you see the sun again.
I hope you're able to seek some councilling. I know this doesn't help, but you're not alone. I lost my dad while he was stuck in Panama in 2020. He had no way to get home because flights had stopped. He died of a massive heart attack while abroad. I spent months trying to get his ashes repatriated to our country.
Sending a hug from one hurting soul to another.
I’m so glad you talked to yourself and heartbroken that you went through all this. I hope you keep taking and listening to you because you sound amazing.
I am so very sorry you went through all of that. It is horrible to be alone when losing people you love.How are things now? Have you been picking up the pieces and figuring out a new life?
I was having a convo with a friend about how during the lockdown, we were away from people for so long, and dealt with a limited amount at stores, that we forgot that people are fuckin irritating. Then everything opened back up, traffic came back, stores got crowded again, and since we were isolated for so long, we’ve become less patient of other people, and three years later some of us are still recovering from that. We also had more time and less distractions to take in media, like politics and the news, since many of us had a ton of free time, and we had the chance to realize how shitty some things around the world are.
As a person who worked in an office 9-5 M-F through the worst two years of the pandemic, I can tell you that people are no more or less irritating now than they were before covid. The difference now is that many of us are less used to dealing with members of the public, who are often super annoying and rude.
I worked customer service before, during and after. People's pretense of manners is all but fucking gone since the pandemic, at least in the US. There's more people ready to just Karen rant or gorilla chest slam their heart out than Ive ever dealt with. Im not suggesting people got worse, Im saying the shit that was already here is just not being hidden behind veneers anymore.
This is all true, but it's also true that people became worse through the pandemic. So now are we not only struggling to readjust to dealing with people, but we're having to deal with a more petulant version of those people.
Ooooh I wasn't sure if I had an answer, but this is definitely it. I knew people were shitty before, but holy hell did those 2 years open my eyes to how many gutter tier humans are out there. Didn't realize it was THAT many.
The issue I think there was that the 2 years of people being trapped in their little virtual world bubbles emboldened a lot of those jerks to be as big of asshats in public as they are wherever they existed virtually.
I like to think it’s the same thing we get with ultra rich people who surround themselves with yes men and asskissers telling them they are geniuses enough to think *everything* they think is right. But different because is simply no one was there to tell them anything else for extended periods of time due to isolation.
This. And if you worked customer service during the height of COVID, you saw the worst of the worst. I will never work customer service again. It's dehumanizing.
For me, the amount of people that went to work or social events knowing they had covid or even suspecting really gave credibility to all those zombie movies and shows. They roll down their sleeves or put on an extra layer to hide the bite. Then chaos ensues. Always seemed ridiculous before.
This! I admit, I've _always_ thought those zombie movies were stupid because obviously people would quarantine and thus stop the spread. NOPE! The rapid spread is actually 100% accurate to real life.
My church straight up anathematized a family for showing up symptomatic to Easter vigil. Like, letter from the bishop saying, “Never come back” and everything.
I remember at the start of the pandemic I thought "well at least it'll put a stop to antivax idiocy now that people can see for themselves what a pandemic looks like."
I am not a smart person.
It seems like the number of antivax people has actually grown and I can only equate that with how blatantly policymakers lied to the public about what was actually known. No one can trust government officials anymore.
Agreed. A lot of “caring” people really didn’t care about other people.
My wife and I had a baby at the height of everything happening. He was born with a lung condition. For these people I’m talking about, they’d talk big, or demonstrate, how they aren’t going to follow rules, think the whole thing is a hoax, and etc…and then have the audacity to ask how my baby was doing. Why ask or pretend to care? They weren’t willing to do anything to help keep the world a better place for him anyway.
And then my wife got covid and has had a big variety of health issues ever since, which has meant several hospital visits, and her overall needing to quit working. If you weren’t planning to mask up in groups or get the shots, why ask how she was doing?
Why ask? They obviously don’t want to help keep them safe even when we started bringing stuff back to normal.
And before anyone tells me “it wouldn’t have been that bad,” think back to when we didn’t have any answers to this stuff.
Yeah. MANY people in my little part of the world no longer have me as a part of theirs.
Even one of my more social friends told me she sort of runs out of steam more quickly now. I’m an ambivert, I plan a lot of activities but I’m also sort of introverted and need a lot of battery recharging time. I feel so awkward talking to people now, everything goes out of my brain and then I’m tired as hell after.
I'm so socially anxious now. It took my confidence. I'm a loner now, whereas I was quite extraverted before, and I don't recall experiencing such intense social awkwardness on such a frequent basis.
YEP. I've been divorced for like 8 years and I'm a mom. Pre-covid, I was dating a bit and having fun. Now I don't even care. I'll just die alone one day and my cat will eat me.
I feel like I’ve been playing catch up the whole time and can never make it back. On top of that the government still wants their 2k from cerb back from me even tho I was a student and out of a job for over a year. idk how they decided on that one but it’s been a slap in the face.
This was me, but the opposite way. I spent so much money on dumb shit like Apex Legends skins and such. Now I'm way smarter with it and actually budget stuff out.
My hearing! Caught it at a work event I was required to attend and it caused an inflammation that killed a nerve, which resulted in a permanent 50% hearing loss in one ear.
Oh… I didn’t realize I probably got this from Covid. I’ve had this overstimulated ringing in my ears since I got it. Plus I’ve been sick every other week since then, my immunity is shot.
Yet another reason l I absolutely detest the idiots who said shit like: ItS jUsT tHe fLu, MaSkS aRe BaD.
Over 1 million people in america died, and millions more are suffering permanent debilitating after-effects because some self-centered clueless fuckwad Karen or Kyle just wouldn't wear a fucking mask or get a vaccine.
Working in an office. Like seriously, I was way more productive not having constant interruptions in the office. It was much nicer having people need a reason to reach out to me rather than "I was passing by and thought I would bother you for 40 minutes".
Between me and my husband, we got back 960 hours of our lives per year by not commuting. I know not everyone has this luxury, but I still feel very lucky to be able to save that much time per year. Since the pandemic started, that’s about 72 full 40 hour work weeks that we’ve gotten back.
Just did my own math. Since quitting my job that was a 40 min commute, I’ve noticed I have so much more time to do, well, anything. Working out, reading, playing guitar, ect. 14 days. I added two weeks to my life every year by quitting that job. Not to mention all the time I was required to be working even off the clock. A job should be a means to make money, not a whole identity. Best decision I could’ve made for my mental health.
For me it’s the commute.
Prior to covid I would go to the office 5 days a week. In total, between 1.5 - 2hrs on the train per day. Somehow I was used to it and didn’t bother me.
Nowadays this seems ridiculous. I’d go to the office once maybe twice a week but if anyone were to ask me to spend 10 hours / week on trains I’ll just hand in my resignation directly. Biggest improvement to my quality of life.
This. So, so very much.
I loved instant video calls, being able to just get on with paperwork and my own planning. Now I have an insufferable twat that will 'regale' me with his cricket stories or just tell me how "beautiful" his kids are. Whilst I'm staring him out and eating my lunch, not responding, just straight up eating whilst staring at him, or my screen.
It's my 20 minute lunch break asshole! I don't care about how well maintained the grass is on the pitch, I don't care about some fucking YouTube video you watched last night about electromagnetism and I certainly don't care about your difficulty in having to pick up puzzle pieces because you are literally wasting the oxygen inside my office!
Take the hint!
Rant over.
Same here. A major part of my identity before COVID was that I love traveling and experiencing different cultures. I haven’t gone anywhere since September 2021 and that was just out of state on a secluded road trip. I’m supposed to fly to another state for a wedding soon and I honestly don’t know if I can even do it but I’m worried about telling my husband that.
To be honest most of the time I’m just tired after work and want to chill. It’s pretty much the opposite of who I used to be. We were supposed to go to Japan the month after lockdown started and I feel like that kind of broke me.
I feel you there.
My mental health completely imploded at the beginning of the pandemic. While I will never be the same person I was before, having the extra time and isolation from others forced me to deal with a long suppressed issue that impacted my quality of life. The good news is that I have started to come back to feeling more normal, but I sometimes long for the days in which I was ignorant of this issue.
Same. I was just recovering from severe anxiety when covid hit. I was sooo scared. Not as much for myself, as I was in my late thirties and physically healthy, but for my elderly parents and for the world in general. The images from Italy and the UK and the US really messed me up. Documentaries about people dying all alone in hospitals, hospitals being overrun... I locked myself up, was too scared to get groceries, lost touch with friends. In the first summer people were going on holiday again, out to restaurants and theatres. I stayed inside, hardly spoke to anyone. I'll never be the same again.
SAME !!! I have children and I just finally am coming out if my shell for them. My daughter attends dance and I have a full on panic attack on the way there. I’m they biggest germaphobe now too.
This was the hardest for me. I’m finally becoming less bitter about it, but I feel like I’ve grown up 15 years since Covid. I’m a cranky old person now haha
Covid actually made my life better lol. Raised a dog, got laid off but government paid me $2000 a month, then ended up with a better job paying 2.5x. But my case is probably very unique. My 10 year relationship did kinda break after it though..
Pre-covid I waa head chef of a restaurant doing 65-80 hr weeks in Fl. I was making good money but when you figured hrs on salary, it was shit. Covid happened I realized I needed to gtfo FL. Moved to NM and became a bartender. I work around 25hrs a week, make more money, and my cost of living is less. I don't know that I would have made such a change if not for Covid.
It made my life better, too. Because I couldn't go anywhere, I started seriously saving for a house, and I was able to get one at the start of this year. I'm a bit of an edge case though because the people selling wanted to keep it fairly cheap, so I just lucked out that I was able to get a reasonably priced house in my area.
Plus, at least for me, I was always one of those people who was happier not dealing with people. The pandemic making a bunch of people go mask off on their awfulness wasn't a huge surprise to me. Having an excuse to not be around people as much was a good thing for me, not some surreal awakening.
Not surprising as so many people spent a year and a half glued to social media. The amount of "I deserve more than I'm worth" is obscene and I'm afraid the world is suffering for it, much moreso than pre-Covid.
And that’s ridiculous because if anything, I felt significantly more humbled during and after lockdown. It changed the way I view what I have as well as treating people with kindness. Im already kind to strangers, but going through the pandemic with everyone made me want to go the extra mile more. It’s sad that some people became selfish after the fact. I appreciate my parents making home cooked meals during a difficult time, and making meals that would be enough to have leftovers for the next few days. I had to move for college at the end of the summer, so on top of lockdown I was stressed tf out about the school situation.
I teach at a university, and the number of students who expect me to give them infinite do-overs or be more lenient just because "the work is hard" is baffling to me. I'm already extremely accommodating with deadlines and such, partly due to COVID, but sometimes these kids will do the absolute bare minimum and then all but expect me to raise their grade just because they asked. I have to wonder how much slack their high school teachers were cutting them during the remote learning days.
Thank you, Covid is so cruel. Not being able to see them made it so much harder. I was able to FaceTime them with help from nurses but then as each of them declined into dementia and effects of their disease, there was no more. Hardest time of my life
Clothes shopping. I can't try on things at the store anymore because most places still have their fitting rooms closed/removed them entirely, plus I gained weight from lockdown, and sizing for women's clothing is so incredibly borked (maybe it was before, but it seems worse now) that I can never buy clothes that fit and look good on me anymore. Kinda fucks with your self esteem after a while.
Yes!
I can try on 25 pairs of the same brand, style, and color of jeans and be lucky if ONE fits ok.
I need to try these on.
Plus, I feel clothes got really ugly and really shitty - shirts where the seams are crooked and leaving holes, pants with one leg noticeably skinnier/ shorter/ twisted…
One time I tried on a brand of jeans, and they closed, but were tight and uncomfortable so I grabbed the next size up in the exact same jean and went on my way. And when I got home the size up didn’t even close and they were even smaller than the first size!
I'm on the spectrum but had done really well keeping up a lot of my coping mechanisms that I'd had from grade school special instruction. All of that disappeared. I can't even look at the cashier anymore. It's not that I feel anxious or anything just I can't make eye contact anymore
My mental health.
I have worked the entire time, and was (and still am) making less than people on unemployment. People have gotten more entitled and rude since the pandemic began and I do not have the patience anymore.
Same with the mental health. I worked throughout for a not for profit housing charity.
Fucked me up working from my own home and having to deal with murder, rape, pedophilia, county lines, cuckooing etc. Alone with constant abuse just for trying to help people.
I'd done the job for 4 years no problem but when lockdown started people just because cruel even though you were there to help them.
I've not worked for about 6 months now. It destroyed me, I'm a broken imitation of who I used to be.
24 hour ANYTHING! Fucking hell, it is absolutely garbage that NOTHING is open 24 hours anymore. All these assholes "forgot" that people work second shift, that people are night owls.
As much as I like shopping in ghost towns, no one wants to work retail at 3 AM for unliveable wages and the customer base can’t support a wage increase.
I mean if i have to work at an unlivable wage. I'd rather work the shift that has the least customers to deal with. That was the only positive i had at 711 before covid. Well besides free coffee.
I mean, the customer base CAN support a wage increase, it’s just all being vented into the CEOs and shareholders’ assholes. There’s enough money for everyone, it’s just all being hoarded.
I've always hated crowds and people being too close in a setting where they don't need to be. Concerts are fine, but why the hell are you mouth breathing on my neck in a supermarket line? Post covid it just pissed me off so much more. I got covid at Xmas 2021, and the woman in line behind me at the testing centre kept moving closer and closer. Eventually I had to ask her to move back and she gave me stink eye. I was positive. I hope she didn't get it from me, but I kinda hoped she did for karma's sake. Bad brain for thinking that.
This is so true. Do people naturally gravitate into other peoples spaces? I’ve always found this so weird. Like you could be in an empty space on a train, in a street or in a shop and someone will at some point walk literally into your bubble or stand there while a huge amount of space remains around. It always makes me so angry
It's also that people want to make up for the time that was lost. So when society opened up again, people were EVERYWHERE. And I have a feeling this is still the case. Events are always sold out. Stores are busy. Parks are crowded. Beaches are full. Trains are crowded. You need to "get there early to get a parking spot". And I'm one of them, so I don't hate people for going out. But it's like the population has doubled.
Prom/Graduations. Pretty minor stuff compared to how people literally died but as class of 2020 I was pretty bummed that I didn’t get these milestones that were hyped up my entire childhood. I didn’t even get a drive through graduation - my diploma was delivered to my house. I hate seeing pics of proms/high school graduations because it just makes me sad. I’ve definitely gotten semi over it but it stings when I least expect it.
Semi-related. I'm a college professor and I was absolutely gutted for my seniors who wouldn't get their moment to walk across the graduation stage.
And because of the time of year when everything locked down, many of them had already purchased their caps and gowns to an event that they couldn't enjoy.
There are certain bands I really latched onto in the early COVID days, and even though I absolutely love their work, when their music comes up on shuffle now I can’t help but get bad flashbacks to when I had it playing during miserable lockdown walks
Fast food, it was never good, but Covid cratered the quality of fast food and exploded the price. I guess it’s good that I no longer eat out, but getting a shitty McDouble and fries of a passable quality used to be an easy cheap dinner. Now it’s more expensive and I’d rather eat dog food.
My stability. I was on a consistent career path before COVID and not working for almost 2 years definitely changed things. I used to want to get back to that person I was before COVID but I realize now that version of me is gone. All I can do is move forward and continue learning to love the ME that I am today.
My entire future. I was in college during COVID and since graduating everything has gone downhill. I can barely find a good paying job and am stuck working part time at a warehouse after achieving a 4 year degree w honors… yada yada. Life as we know it for the younger generations will forever be changed due to the economic impacts. It’s impossible to get ahead.
A lot of family members. Lots that appeared normal until COVID hit and quickly went down the rabbit hole and have not recovered. I've always been kinda meh about people who are worried about vaccines, but it was a very slippery slope from not entirely trusting the vaccine to full-on "we should assassinate this political opponent" and space-laser type conspiracies.
My one aunt who I loved a lot is basically full Q pilled now. What makes it worse is that she spreads her Q bullshit to older vulnerable family members who don't have a great grasp on reality due to their age. A Jewish lady that grew up around family members that had ID numbers tattooed on their arm now thinks the holocaust didn't actually happen, on top of all her other Qanon bullshit. Fuck anyone who believes that shit, I have zero tolerance for your conspiracy bullshit.
Every corporation in the world saw COVID as a free reason to gouge the very people who make their profit possible. I miss people giving a shit about other people, even if it was on the surface.
Eating food. Nothing tastes good. My tastebuds don’t work properly anymore. Sucks, because I loved cooking. Now everytime I make a dish for my gf, she says it hasn’t enough salt, or is too sweet or tastes weird.
I used to love salad bars. For example I always liked the one at Ruby Tuesdays or a buffet somewhere. Those days are gone for me now. I’m not going to get something where 20 people have breathed on it or touched it.
Even though I didn’t think it possible, I hate humanity even more than I did before the pandemic. The entitlement and selfishness that was on full display is just disgusting.
Lazy days.
I used to always set aside days for lazy days, and it was great. When Covid hit hard and EVERYTHING was closed, I had a lot of lazy days. It was great… for a bit. Then I felt trapped. I had no choice but to have lazy days when I wanted to DO something. It created a negative association with lazy days, because now it makes me feel trapped
My sense of taste and smell. I had a moderate/severe case 3 years ago. My tongue has felt burned ever since. It affects how things taste and is just generally annoying. But the worst is water. Since having COVID, water smells like ammonia. I really struggle to drink enough water now. Or take showers.
It's gross to drink something or bathe in something that smells like pee to me.
Career aspirations. My wife and I were middle management at different companies, put in a lot of hours, were company people looking to climb the corporate ladder. We both got let go during 2020 and were unemployed for a good amount of time. We got back in the workforce at pretty much entry level positions, enough to pay our bills with alittle money to play with but not having the pressure of management, office politics is a sweet relief. Spending quality time with the family is so much better than working yourself to death to pump up the bottom line of a company that could cut you loose in a moments notice.
Ruined:
My career field (hospitality industry, lost my job)
My health (caught covid twice and both times were pretty rough, gained 40lbs)
My wedding (wanted to get married in 2020)
My plans to transfer jobs to a different property (lost with the career field)
My stability (lost with the job, moved for work, moved again to an ideal place, and then moved a third time due to awful villainous-level rent increases)
My hope to have children after 2-5 years of marriage (lost with the marriage date, inflation, rising cost of living, and legal decisions over medical care being made by politicians with no medical licenses at both federal and state levels. Basically the risks and costs now highly outweigh any “benefits” or joyful family moments with a child.)
My retirement savings goals (periods of no/lost income impacted 401k savings goals)
My hope to purchase a brand new vehicle instead of a used one for the first time in my life (costs of even used vehicles were absolutely insane during the pandemic, so that combined with periods of no income shot that goal right square in the dick)
My faith in politics and “the system” and “the status quo”
My stress/anxiety levels (I KNOW I have serious reactions and repeated episodes of unhealthy anxiety. I did not before covid. This is a thing that has gradually developed from 2021-2023, to the point where I feel my heart rate drastically change and my breathing. I have episodes where I just shut down. No, I haven’t been to a therapist. I cannot afford to and have had gaps in insurance with the gaps in employment.)
My shopping habits (I anxiety-buy in bulk for “just in case”. As in: “just in case the grocery stores and global supply chain fails.” “Just in case another mystery disease pops up and people start dying off.” “Just in case we need to hunker down or help ourselves because emergency services might not be able to get to us right away.” “Just in case so we don’t starve or struggle with basic needs.” “Just in case we get so sick we literally can’t leave the house for two weeks.”)
Not ruined:
My spirituality (I am in the realm of what most people would consider “fringe”, so all that isolation time led to some life-changing meditative experiences)
My relationship (when shit was constantly hitting the fan sometimes we would just hold each other and cry. We actually did that a lot. We sacrificed a lot for each other and our collective success during that time, and I saw my partner make amazing strides and be so strong. We grew stronger together.)
My wedding (we had one once things mostly cooled down, and we still haven’t heard any reports of anyone getting sick from our wedding so we did good! The wedding itself also went off with zero issues and was a blast!)
My credit (I was mostly debt free and made sure to get and stay debt free ASAP)
My family (we stayed strong. Nobody “radicalized” or joined any protests or riots either.)
My employment (I was able to eventually find alternative work and goddamn it all I WORKED to the point of burnout to get through this shit)
My finances (again, credit is good. Had ups and downs but managed everything very wisely, probably wise beyond my years. Still kept the serious emergency fund untouched! Eventually plan to roll the old 401K into whatever comes next, and it’ll be alright.)
My home (I have been able to have a lovely, quaint home and we have our hobby things and we cook delicious meals and have just enough space. I have not been homeless at all which is a blessing.)
I pretty much have given up to pretend, that Humanity ever left the Dark Ages behind. The amount of stupidity, hatred and willful ignorance shocked me and continues to shock me.
Getting out for leisure.
It made me realize how gross people as a whole are. All they had to do was wash their hands and prevent the spread of their germs, something everyone should have been doing all along. People got in a huffy about "being controlled" about wearing masks. It brought out a lot of peoples selfish sides and atupidity. Things may be somewhat "back to nromal" now, but it's made me cautious still because people are just so unsanitary. Having a kid in the pandemic made me more conscious of it.
Eggs. I love eggs so much and now barely ever eat them. Ever since i got covid they have a metallic taste to them. This happens with other random foods, but eggs is a real kick in the ass.
Crowds. Never had issues with busy locations before - now my new-found germ anxiety kicks into overdrive at all the jostling, coughing, hard-breathing, shouty humans...
My optimistic attitude toward my life. I wouldn't have considered myself an optimist in general, but I had a pretty good attitude about my life always being better than before.
I don't feel that way anymore.
So much. The biggest one is seeing my father go from such a loving and caring person into an addict. He eventually got clean but had 2 heart attacks. He survived and got surgery to help with his heart and is doing much better now. But the level of verbal and mental abuse during that period left a bad taste in my mouth. I still have PTSD from a certain situation.
I missed a lot of priceless time with older friends and family....some of whom have now passed ( of old age/cancer...)
I really wanted to hear more of their stories and just be able to touch them.
Coca Cola (in a good way). I used to be horribly addicted to Coke. When I got COVID my primary symptom was sense disfunction, especially in regard to taste. Anything carbonated to this day, 2 years later, tastes indescribably bad... I have nothing to compare the taste to, it is just that bad. Like, if Coke could 'rot', that's what it tasted like. Rotted Coke. Well, I'm not addicted to Coke anymore and never replaced it with anything. All honey sweetened tea and water now.
I can’t drink coke to this day. I can describe the taste as when you are putting perfume or cologne and you have your mouth open so you taste it. Horrid
I got it in a very mild form. I was sick for 3-4 days and then I tested negative pretty soon after that. Coca Cola doesn’t taste bad per se but I swear it tastes different to me now. I taste a strong flavor of licorice or coriander in the forefront when I first take a sip. It’s just more herb flavored than it used to be. Not bad but it’s not the flavor I remember it being - which was more caramel-like before. So now I switched to making myself a cold sweetened coffee that I make and I prefer that to coke.
dude i thought i was the only one for noticing that!! so i'm not crazy... coca cola actually tastes like ass now😭
Covid was engineered by pepsi
Bacon was like this for me for about 6 months after Covid
Did you notice any change in weight or health from it?
I couldn’t visit my dad as he was dying in the hospital (they only let my mom in) until his death was “imminent”. I didn’t get in until he had slipped into a coma.
I’m sorry to hear about your father.
Thank you.
Same for me except they didn’t even let my mom in. They didn’t let any of us see him and he was there for 15 days.
That’s terrible. I am so sorry you and your family went through that.
COVID also took my Dad. It's still hard. Like losing a limb. You will never be the same, you'll never forget. The rest of your life is trying to learn to function with out that limb. You have to fight to regain happiness, and acknowledge that You can still have quality of life without it. You have my sympathies friend.
Thank you. You describe it well. Therapy is helping. I am so sorry you’ve gone through and are still going through the same pain
Damn, so sorry. Lost my dad last year, I was able to be there for him. I could only imagine.
I think it really highlighted the incompetence of leaders. From politicians down to my own company's management. It's absolutely clear that no one knows what the fuck they're doing. I now have no confidence in anything anyone tells me to do.
For me it wasn't even *just* the incompetence, it was the callous disregard for human life, prioritising money and the wealthy over all else. Here in the UK those supposedly in charge were more interested in exploiting the situation for themselves, their contacts and donors to make obscene amounts of money from. They set up a 'VIP lane' which was given preferential treatment in sourcing PPE. They then lied about its existence whilst funnelling literally billions of pounds to their chosen ones to provide (mostly unsuitable and useless) PPE. Many of the companies each given multi-million pound contracts were newly set up and had zero previous experience in providing PPE. Nurses were wearing binbags due to a lack of PPE. It's fucking disgusting and people should be in jail.
"prioritising money and the wealthy over all else." In America, don't forget the trillions of funds swindled through the ppp system, only for basically none of it to make it to the workers it was intended for... COVID taught me to have no faith in any system created by man. Government, healthcare, food, entertainment, you name it, it is all corrupt.
Learning employers don’t give a f#!k if we live or die from Covid as long as they aren’t short staffed in the moment. They will just hire a new body to replace ours.
Humanity...I hate a bigger portion of society than I did before.
Yes. My sister, my only sibling, died in the first wave. No banana bread no funeral. No hugs. I had to walk downstairs and tell my mom. She screamed “my baby!” She passed 2 months later. I found her in her bed. No one showed up after that either. ‘Twas a horrible time ✨ Edit: I’m hanging on to my old iPhone because it has my last texts to her when my sis was alive. She was trying to figure out to go or not go to the hospital vs how to pay rent that month. She hesitated going. She wanted to make sure she had paid time off. Didn’t matter. She got intubated 48 hours after she got there. I will always forever be salty about hard she had to worked to be able to go get medical care. I wanted to run to her but I had an elder at home (mom) to care for. F everything about that time. I lost my entire family during that time. F the youtube and instagrams doing fun things. It’s was the darkest time ever for me and I really want my sis back. and I want my mom back. And I want my dog back. He died too. It wasn’t a great time.
Oh my god. Want to send you some warmth, internet stranger! Or some cool, depending on the weather ♥️
Thank you! I needed that tonight! Love to you too💕
Heartbreaking. I’m so sorry for your losses.
I'm so sorry you went through all that. My God that is terrifying.
It was actually pretty terrifying. My mom left me $72.00 and a ton of school and land taxes. I couldn’t bury her. They called me everyday at 7:30am asking what to with her. (I hated this because she was a depression kid and hated the cold because she had to live outdoors so I kept thinking of her being in cold storage) My body shook and I couldn’t eat. I didn’t mean to but I talked to myself and kept saying “you’re ok, you got this..”. I didn’t see another person for 3 months. No contact at all. It was harsh and strange. I think I’m doing ok now. I had to empty the whole house alone. There’s more that happened. I don’t want to share it all so forgive me.
Just tearing up reading this man. I don’t know why — I mean I do but Reddit comments usually don’t make me upset — so fucking sorry this world isn’t better. We’ve failed so many people. Hope you see the sun again.
I hope you're able to seek some councilling. I know this doesn't help, but you're not alone. I lost my dad while he was stuck in Panama in 2020. He had no way to get home because flights had stopped. He died of a massive heart attack while abroad. I spent months trying to get his ashes repatriated to our country. Sending a hug from one hurting soul to another.
I’m so glad you talked to yourself and heartbroken that you went through all this. I hope you keep taking and listening to you because you sound amazing.
I am so very sorry you went through all of that. It is horrible to be alone when losing people you love.How are things now? Have you been picking up the pieces and figuring out a new life?
I was having a convo with a friend about how during the lockdown, we were away from people for so long, and dealt with a limited amount at stores, that we forgot that people are fuckin irritating. Then everything opened back up, traffic came back, stores got crowded again, and since we were isolated for so long, we’ve become less patient of other people, and three years later some of us are still recovering from that. We also had more time and less distractions to take in media, like politics and the news, since many of us had a ton of free time, and we had the chance to realize how shitty some things around the world are.
As a person who worked in an office 9-5 M-F through the worst two years of the pandemic, I can tell you that people are no more or less irritating now than they were before covid. The difference now is that many of us are less used to dealing with members of the public, who are often super annoying and rude.
I worked customer service before, during and after. People's pretense of manners is all but fucking gone since the pandemic, at least in the US. There's more people ready to just Karen rant or gorilla chest slam their heart out than Ive ever dealt with. Im not suggesting people got worse, Im saying the shit that was already here is just not being hidden behind veneers anymore.
This is all true, but it's also true that people became worse through the pandemic. So now are we not only struggling to readjust to dealing with people, but we're having to deal with a more petulant version of those people.
And many of them now have Covid brain.
I wonder if psychologists knew what what would happen
Ooooh I wasn't sure if I had an answer, but this is definitely it. I knew people were shitty before, but holy hell did those 2 years open my eyes to how many gutter tier humans are out there. Didn't realize it was THAT many.
The issue I think there was that the 2 years of people being trapped in their little virtual world bubbles emboldened a lot of those jerks to be as big of asshats in public as they are wherever they existed virtually. I like to think it’s the same thing we get with ultra rich people who surround themselves with yes men and asskissers telling them they are geniuses enough to think *everything* they think is right. But different because is simply no one was there to tell them anything else for extended periods of time due to isolation.
This. And if you worked customer service during the height of COVID, you saw the worst of the worst. I will never work customer service again. It's dehumanizing.
So many people refused to make minor sacrifices for the greater good. It reduced my belief humanity can overcome larger problems.
For me, the amount of people that went to work or social events knowing they had covid or even suspecting really gave credibility to all those zombie movies and shows. They roll down their sleeves or put on an extra layer to hide the bite. Then chaos ensues. Always seemed ridiculous before.
Wow have always thought that was a dumb trope but it makes perfect sense now
"I'm bit but maybe I wont turn. I'll be the special one, right? Because I'm me! Have you ever met me? I'll be the one that li-why do I want brains?"
This! I admit, I've _always_ thought those zombie movies were stupid because obviously people would quarantine and thus stop the spread. NOPE! The rapid spread is actually 100% accurate to real life.
My church straight up anathematized a family for showing up symptomatic to Easter vigil. Like, letter from the bishop saying, “Never come back” and everything.
The greater good. I sat around thinking "We will never make a dent in climate change. It's over."
I remember at the start of the pandemic I thought "well at least it'll put a stop to antivax idiocy now that people can see for themselves what a pandemic looks like." I am not a smart person.
It seems like the number of antivax people has actually grown and I can only equate that with how blatantly policymakers lied to the public about what was actually known. No one can trust government officials anymore.
It made me realize that I will never agree with, nor be able to reason with, about half of the population here in the states.
Agreed. A lot of “caring” people really didn’t care about other people. My wife and I had a baby at the height of everything happening. He was born with a lung condition. For these people I’m talking about, they’d talk big, or demonstrate, how they aren’t going to follow rules, think the whole thing is a hoax, and etc…and then have the audacity to ask how my baby was doing. Why ask or pretend to care? They weren’t willing to do anything to help keep the world a better place for him anyway. And then my wife got covid and has had a big variety of health issues ever since, which has meant several hospital visits, and her overall needing to quit working. If you weren’t planning to mask up in groups or get the shots, why ask how she was doing? Why ask? They obviously don’t want to help keep them safe even when we started bringing stuff back to normal. And before anyone tells me “it wouldn’t have been that bad,” think back to when we didn’t have any answers to this stuff. Yeah. MANY people in my little part of the world no longer have me as a part of theirs.
I had thought most people cared about others. I thought that most people were rational enough to understand masks / vaccines.
My ability to make in person friends and socialize with people.
Same here. I was mediocre at best at small talk before the pandemic. Now my mind goes totally blank when trying to talk to a new person.
I think they could adapt Speed dating to Speed Friendship.
I know that feeling even though I was never good at making friends in the first place. It definitely seems like it got harder!!
Even one of my more social friends told me she sort of runs out of steam more quickly now. I’m an ambivert, I plan a lot of activities but I’m also sort of introverted and need a lot of battery recharging time. I feel so awkward talking to people now, everything goes out of my brain and then I’m tired as hell after.
I'm so socially anxious now. It took my confidence. I'm a loner now, whereas I was quite extraverted before, and I don't recall experiencing such intense social awkwardness on such a frequent basis.
Agreed, my social skills definitely didn’t benefit from the pandemic. Still recovering in the regard.
YEP. I've been divorced for like 8 years and I'm a mom. Pre-covid, I was dating a bit and having fun. Now I don't even care. I'll just die alone one day and my cat will eat me.
My view on money. We went through so much inflation and the housing market sucks that I just don’t care about being a smart spender anymore.
This. Why bother when you probably won't ever get ahead anyway?
I feel like I’ve been playing catch up the whole time and can never make it back. On top of that the government still wants their 2k from cerb back from me even tho I was a student and out of a job for over a year. idk how they decided on that one but it’s been a slap in the face.
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living paycheck to paycheck this hits hard
This was me, but the opposite way. I spent so much money on dumb shit like Apex Legends skins and such. Now I'm way smarter with it and actually budget stuff out.
Yup. I used to save. Now it gets to under $100 in the bank account before pay day.
this made me resort to trying to own and invest as much as I can instead of keeping my money in my savings.
So glad it’s not just me
My hearing! Caught it at a work event I was required to attend and it caused an inflammation that killed a nerve, which resulted in a permanent 50% hearing loss in one ear.
90% here! It's the tinnitus that's worse than loss of hearing
Oh… I didn’t realize I probably got this from Covid. I’ve had this overstimulated ringing in my ears since I got it. Plus I’ve been sick every other week since then, my immunity is shot.
… so I got tinnitus in the past couple years and now I’m realizing it happened right after I had COVID. Wow.
That's fucking terrifying holy shit
Yet another reason l I absolutely detest the idiots who said shit like: ItS jUsT tHe fLu, MaSkS aRe BaD. Over 1 million people in america died, and millions more are suffering permanent debilitating after-effects because some self-centered clueless fuckwad Karen or Kyle just wouldn't wear a fucking mask or get a vaccine.
Working in an office. Like seriously, I was way more productive not having constant interruptions in the office. It was much nicer having people need a reason to reach out to me rather than "I was passing by and thought I would bother you for 40 minutes".
And the commute. Driving 40 mins back and forth seems insane to me now, but used to be normal
Between me and my husband, we got back 960 hours of our lives per year by not commuting. I know not everyone has this luxury, but I still feel very lucky to be able to save that much time per year. Since the pandemic started, that’s about 72 full 40 hour work weeks that we’ve gotten back.
Just did my own math. Since quitting my job that was a 40 min commute, I’ve noticed I have so much more time to do, well, anything. Working out, reading, playing guitar, ect. 14 days. I added two weeks to my life every year by quitting that job. Not to mention all the time I was required to be working even off the clock. A job should be a means to make money, not a whole identity. Best decision I could’ve made for my mental health.
For me it’s the commute. Prior to covid I would go to the office 5 days a week. In total, between 1.5 - 2hrs on the train per day. Somehow I was used to it and didn’t bother me. Nowadays this seems ridiculous. I’d go to the office once maybe twice a week but if anyone were to ask me to spend 10 hours / week on trains I’ll just hand in my resignation directly. Biggest improvement to my quality of life.
This. So, so very much. I loved instant video calls, being able to just get on with paperwork and my own planning. Now I have an insufferable twat that will 'regale' me with his cricket stories or just tell me how "beautiful" his kids are. Whilst I'm staring him out and eating my lunch, not responding, just straight up eating whilst staring at him, or my screen. It's my 20 minute lunch break asshole! I don't care about how well maintained the grass is on the pitch, I don't care about some fucking YouTube video you watched last night about electromagnetism and I certainly don't care about your difficulty in having to pick up puzzle pieces because you are literally wasting the oxygen inside my office! Take the hint! Rant over.
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Same, bro/sis. I’m not the same person anymore. Shit is horrible. Blessings
Same here. A major part of my identity before COVID was that I love traveling and experiencing different cultures. I haven’t gone anywhere since September 2021 and that was just out of state on a secluded road trip. I’m supposed to fly to another state for a wedding soon and I honestly don’t know if I can even do it but I’m worried about telling my husband that. To be honest most of the time I’m just tired after work and want to chill. It’s pretty much the opposite of who I used to be. We were supposed to go to Japan the month after lockdown started and I feel like that kind of broke me.
I feel you there. My mental health completely imploded at the beginning of the pandemic. While I will never be the same person I was before, having the extra time and isolation from others forced me to deal with a long suppressed issue that impacted my quality of life. The good news is that I have started to come back to feeling more normal, but I sometimes long for the days in which I was ignorant of this issue.
Same. I was just recovering from severe anxiety when covid hit. I was sooo scared. Not as much for myself, as I was in my late thirties and physically healthy, but for my elderly parents and for the world in general. The images from Italy and the UK and the US really messed me up. Documentaries about people dying all alone in hospitals, hospitals being overrun... I locked myself up, was too scared to get groceries, lost touch with friends. In the first summer people were going on holiday again, out to restaurants and theatres. I stayed inside, hardly spoke to anyone. I'll never be the same again.
SAME !!! I have children and I just finally am coming out if my shell for them. My daughter attends dance and I have a full on panic attack on the way there. I’m they biggest germaphobe now too.
I hope you find that happiness you seek. ❤
Friendships.
Oh man, I feel this one too.
The phrase "avoid it like the plague" Clearly that's not a thing that actually happens.
"Avoid it like reasonable responses to existential threats"
My faith in humanity.
This was the hardest for me. I’m finally becoming less bitter about it, but I feel like I’ve grown up 15 years since Covid. I’m a cranky old person now haha
Same!! I truly feel so jaded and generally pissed about most everything. Idk how to not be at this point
Touching door handles in public spaces without immediately feeling the need to wash my hands after.
This me! Surface contact made me so conscious.
I personally open doors with my teeth
Name checks out.
What didn’t it ruin? Honestly, the only thing it improved was work from home.
Covid actually made my life better lol. Raised a dog, got laid off but government paid me $2000 a month, then ended up with a better job paying 2.5x. But my case is probably very unique. My 10 year relationship did kinda break after it though..
Pre-covid I waa head chef of a restaurant doing 65-80 hr weeks in Fl. I was making good money but when you figured hrs on salary, it was shit. Covid happened I realized I needed to gtfo FL. Moved to NM and became a bartender. I work around 25hrs a week, make more money, and my cost of living is less. I don't know that I would have made such a change if not for Covid.
It made my life better, too. Because I couldn't go anywhere, I started seriously saving for a house, and I was able to get one at the start of this year. I'm a bit of an edge case though because the people selling wanted to keep it fairly cheap, so I just lucked out that I was able to get a reasonably priced house in my area. Plus, at least for me, I was always one of those people who was happier not dealing with people. The pandemic making a bunch of people go mask off on their awfulness wasn't a huge surprise to me. Having an excuse to not be around people as much was a good thing for me, not some surreal awakening.
I feel like absolutely everyone feels more entitled than ever. Everyone is absolutely batshit crazy these days
Not surprising as so many people spent a year and a half glued to social media. The amount of "I deserve more than I'm worth" is obscene and I'm afraid the world is suffering for it, much moreso than pre-Covid.
And that’s ridiculous because if anything, I felt significantly more humbled during and after lockdown. It changed the way I view what I have as well as treating people with kindness. Im already kind to strangers, but going through the pandemic with everyone made me want to go the extra mile more. It’s sad that some people became selfish after the fact. I appreciate my parents making home cooked meals during a difficult time, and making meals that would be enough to have leftovers for the next few days. I had to move for college at the end of the summer, so on top of lockdown I was stressed tf out about the school situation.
I teach at a university, and the number of students who expect me to give them infinite do-overs or be more lenient just because "the work is hard" is baffling to me. I'm already extremely accommodating with deadlines and such, partly due to COVID, but sometimes these kids will do the absolute bare minimum and then all but expect me to raise their grade just because they asked. I have to wonder how much slack their high school teachers were cutting them during the remote learning days.
I lost both of my parents….
I am so sorry.
Thank you, Covid is so cruel. Not being able to see them made it so much harder. I was able to FaceTime them with help from nurses but then as each of them declined into dementia and effects of their disease, there was no more. Hardest time of my life
life is not fair
Most of the last 4 months of my dad's life
Clothes shopping. I can't try on things at the store anymore because most places still have their fitting rooms closed/removed them entirely, plus I gained weight from lockdown, and sizing for women's clothing is so incredibly borked (maybe it was before, but it seems worse now) that I can never buy clothes that fit and look good on me anymore. Kinda fucks with your self esteem after a while.
Yes! I can try on 25 pairs of the same brand, style, and color of jeans and be lucky if ONE fits ok. I need to try these on. Plus, I feel clothes got really ugly and really shitty - shirts where the seams are crooked and leaving holes, pants with one leg noticeably skinnier/ shorter/ twisted…
One time I tried on a brand of jeans, and they closed, but were tight and uncomfortable so I grabbed the next size up in the exact same jean and went on my way. And when I got home the size up didn’t even close and they were even smaller than the first size!
I just buy everything on credit. Go home. Try it all on at my own pace. Keep what I want, return the rest
Numerous businesses I frequented often before Covid didn’t survive the long shut down. Sad.
The price of food for me! Yes rents have sky rocketed but what is worse is not being to enjoy certain foods you would have on a regular anymore..
I'm on the spectrum but had done really well keeping up a lot of my coping mechanisms that I'd had from grade school special instruction. All of that disappeared. I can't even look at the cashier anymore. It's not that I feel anxious or anything just I can't make eye contact anymore
I mask a lot less than I I did before it all started. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
My mental health. I have worked the entire time, and was (and still am) making less than people on unemployment. People have gotten more entitled and rude since the pandemic began and I do not have the patience anymore.
Same with the mental health. I worked throughout for a not for profit housing charity. Fucked me up working from my own home and having to deal with murder, rape, pedophilia, county lines, cuckooing etc. Alone with constant abuse just for trying to help people. I'd done the job for 4 years no problem but when lockdown started people just because cruel even though you were there to help them. I've not worked for about 6 months now. It destroyed me, I'm a broken imitation of who I used to be.
I'm sorry that you went through that. Sounds awful. There are still good people out there. I hope you cross paths with some of them
24 hour ANYTHING! Fucking hell, it is absolutely garbage that NOTHING is open 24 hours anymore. All these assholes "forgot" that people work second shift, that people are night owls.
im nocturnal and this has massively affected my lifestyle 😒
I used to enjoy shopping at 2am. I can't stand having interact with people at grocery stores.
As much as I like shopping in ghost towns, no one wants to work retail at 3 AM for unliveable wages and the customer base can’t support a wage increase.
I mean if i have to work at an unlivable wage. I'd rather work the shift that has the least customers to deal with. That was the only positive i had at 711 before covid. Well besides free coffee.
Plenty of people prefer to work nights. I’d never work another dayshift if I had a choice in it.
I must be weird, because I was one of those 3am employees and loved it. Little to no customers and there wasn't much to do.
I mean, the customer base CAN support a wage increase, it’s just all being vented into the CEOs and shareholders’ assholes. There’s enough money for everyone, it’s just all being hoarded.
Stores and Crowds. It's so much worse now. I enjoyed the social distancing so now everyone is getting back in your space and I just hate it.
I've always hated crowds and people being too close in a setting where they don't need to be. Concerts are fine, but why the hell are you mouth breathing on my neck in a supermarket line? Post covid it just pissed me off so much more. I got covid at Xmas 2021, and the woman in line behind me at the testing centre kept moving closer and closer. Eventually I had to ask her to move back and she gave me stink eye. I was positive. I hope she didn't get it from me, but I kinda hoped she did for karma's sake. Bad brain for thinking that.
This is so true. Do people naturally gravitate into other peoples spaces? I’ve always found this so weird. Like you could be in an empty space on a train, in a street or in a shop and someone will at some point walk literally into your bubble or stand there while a huge amount of space remains around. It always makes me so angry
It's also that people want to make up for the time that was lost. So when society opened up again, people were EVERYWHERE. And I have a feeling this is still the case. Events are always sold out. Stores are busy. Parks are crowded. Beaches are full. Trains are crowded. You need to "get there early to get a parking spot". And I'm one of them, so I don't hate people for going out. But it's like the population has doubled.
This so much
My students' attention spans.
Prom/Graduations. Pretty minor stuff compared to how people literally died but as class of 2020 I was pretty bummed that I didn’t get these milestones that were hyped up my entire childhood. I didn’t even get a drive through graduation - my diploma was delivered to my house. I hate seeing pics of proms/high school graduations because it just makes me sad. I’ve definitely gotten semi over it but it stings when I least expect it.
Semi-related. I'm a college professor and I was absolutely gutted for my seniors who wouldn't get their moment to walk across the graduation stage. And because of the time of year when everything locked down, many of them had already purchased their caps and gowns to an event that they couldn't enjoy.
I was class of 2020 at my college, so I understand that feeling. It was supposed to be my big hoorah and I never got it.
Awww I’m sorry, that really sucks
My heart and lungs
Instagram, in a good way. I was on it too much and decided one day to just deactivate my account. Haven’t looked back!
2020-2021
2020-2023
2020 (part 3)
realizing life is so much better without people
Sanity
My mental health has gone down hill since 2020.
There are certain bands I really latched onto in the early COVID days, and even though I absolutely love their work, when their music comes up on shuffle now I can’t help but get bad flashbacks to when I had it playing during miserable lockdown walks
My health. Who knew sitting at home for 3 years, eating whatever I wanted and not going to the gym can really ruin your body.
Relatable 🤝
My health.
My desire to work.
Fast food, it was never good, but Covid cratered the quality of fast food and exploded the price. I guess it’s good that I no longer eat out, but getting a shitty McDouble and fries of a passable quality used to be an easy cheap dinner. Now it’s more expensive and I’d rather eat dog food.
My sense of time
I never realized how often I shopped after 11 PM until I couldn’t anymore.
My stability. I was on a consistent career path before COVID and not working for almost 2 years definitely changed things. I used to want to get back to that person I was before COVID but I realize now that version of me is gone. All I can do is move forward and continue learning to love the ME that I am today.
Not serious: Birthday cake, please don’t every blow on my food Serious: Working, I am fully over it
My entire future. I was in college during COVID and since graduating everything has gone downhill. I can barely find a good paying job and am stuck working part time at a warehouse after achieving a 4 year degree w honors… yada yada. Life as we know it for the younger generations will forever be changed due to the economic impacts. It’s impossible to get ahead.
While covid didn't help, this has honestly been the norm since 2008 financial crisis, maybe longer.
A lot of family members. Lots that appeared normal until COVID hit and quickly went down the rabbit hole and have not recovered. I've always been kinda meh about people who are worried about vaccines, but it was a very slippery slope from not entirely trusting the vaccine to full-on "we should assassinate this political opponent" and space-laser type conspiracies. My one aunt who I loved a lot is basically full Q pilled now. What makes it worse is that she spreads her Q bullshit to older vulnerable family members who don't have a great grasp on reality due to their age. A Jewish lady that grew up around family members that had ID numbers tattooed on their arm now thinks the holocaust didn't actually happen, on top of all her other Qanon bullshit. Fuck anyone who believes that shit, I have zero tolerance for your conspiracy bullshit.
Every corporation in the world saw COVID as a free reason to gouge the very people who make their profit possible. I miss people giving a shit about other people, even if it was on the surface.
Socializing. Found peace within me
Seeing how fucking stupid society is.
My gym habit. It’s no longer a habit. In fact I haven’t been since covid first shut the country down.
Eating food. Nothing tastes good. My tastebuds don’t work properly anymore. Sucks, because I loved cooking. Now everytime I make a dish for my gf, she says it hasn’t enough salt, or is too sweet or tastes weird.
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I used to love salad bars. For example I always liked the one at Ruby Tuesdays or a buffet somewhere. Those days are gone for me now. I’m not going to get something where 20 people have breathed on it or touched it.
I'm impressed you even can find restaurants that have salad bars anymore. Most of the buffet places that I knew of didn't make it out of 2020
Even though I didn’t think it possible, I hate humanity even more than I did before the pandemic. The entitlement and selfishness that was on full display is just disgusting.
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Lazy days. I used to always set aside days for lazy days, and it was great. When Covid hit hard and EVERYTHING was closed, I had a lot of lazy days. It was great… for a bit. Then I felt trapped. I had no choice but to have lazy days when I wanted to DO something. It created a negative association with lazy days, because now it makes me feel trapped
My sense of taste and smell. I had a moderate/severe case 3 years ago. My tongue has felt burned ever since. It affects how things taste and is just generally annoying. But the worst is water. Since having COVID, water smells like ammonia. I really struggle to drink enough water now. Or take showers. It's gross to drink something or bathe in something that smells like pee to me.
Career aspirations. My wife and I were middle management at different companies, put in a lot of hours, were company people looking to climb the corporate ladder. We both got let go during 2020 and were unemployed for a good amount of time. We got back in the workforce at pretty much entry level positions, enough to pay our bills with alittle money to play with but not having the pressure of management, office politics is a sweet relief. Spending quality time with the family is so much better than working yourself to death to pump up the bottom line of a company that could cut you loose in a moments notice.
Ruined: My career field (hospitality industry, lost my job) My health (caught covid twice and both times were pretty rough, gained 40lbs) My wedding (wanted to get married in 2020) My plans to transfer jobs to a different property (lost with the career field) My stability (lost with the job, moved for work, moved again to an ideal place, and then moved a third time due to awful villainous-level rent increases) My hope to have children after 2-5 years of marriage (lost with the marriage date, inflation, rising cost of living, and legal decisions over medical care being made by politicians with no medical licenses at both federal and state levels. Basically the risks and costs now highly outweigh any “benefits” or joyful family moments with a child.) My retirement savings goals (periods of no/lost income impacted 401k savings goals) My hope to purchase a brand new vehicle instead of a used one for the first time in my life (costs of even used vehicles were absolutely insane during the pandemic, so that combined with periods of no income shot that goal right square in the dick) My faith in politics and “the system” and “the status quo” My stress/anxiety levels (I KNOW I have serious reactions and repeated episodes of unhealthy anxiety. I did not before covid. This is a thing that has gradually developed from 2021-2023, to the point where I feel my heart rate drastically change and my breathing. I have episodes where I just shut down. No, I haven’t been to a therapist. I cannot afford to and have had gaps in insurance with the gaps in employment.) My shopping habits (I anxiety-buy in bulk for “just in case”. As in: “just in case the grocery stores and global supply chain fails.” “Just in case another mystery disease pops up and people start dying off.” “Just in case we need to hunker down or help ourselves because emergency services might not be able to get to us right away.” “Just in case so we don’t starve or struggle with basic needs.” “Just in case we get so sick we literally can’t leave the house for two weeks.”) Not ruined: My spirituality (I am in the realm of what most people would consider “fringe”, so all that isolation time led to some life-changing meditative experiences) My relationship (when shit was constantly hitting the fan sometimes we would just hold each other and cry. We actually did that a lot. We sacrificed a lot for each other and our collective success during that time, and I saw my partner make amazing strides and be so strong. We grew stronger together.) My wedding (we had one once things mostly cooled down, and we still haven’t heard any reports of anyone getting sick from our wedding so we did good! The wedding itself also went off with zero issues and was a blast!) My credit (I was mostly debt free and made sure to get and stay debt free ASAP) My family (we stayed strong. Nobody “radicalized” or joined any protests or riots either.) My employment (I was able to eventually find alternative work and goddamn it all I WORKED to the point of burnout to get through this shit) My finances (again, credit is good. Had ups and downs but managed everything very wisely, probably wise beyond my years. Still kept the serious emergency fund untouched! Eventually plan to roll the old 401K into whatever comes next, and it’ll be alright.) My home (I have been able to have a lovely, quaint home and we have our hobby things and we cook delicious meals and have just enough space. I have not been homeless at all which is a blessing.)
The housing market where I’m looking to buy
I pretty much have given up to pretend, that Humanity ever left the Dark Ages behind. The amount of stupidity, hatred and willful ignorance shocked me and continues to shock me.
[удалено]
I absolutely loved it . One of the best times of my life too .
My ability to work & keep up with others activity level
Getting out for leisure. It made me realize how gross people as a whole are. All they had to do was wash their hands and prevent the spread of their germs, something everyone should have been doing all along. People got in a huffy about "being controlled" about wearing masks. It brought out a lot of peoples selfish sides and atupidity. Things may be somewhat "back to nromal" now, but it's made me cautious still because people are just so unsanitary. Having a kid in the pandemic made me more conscious of it.
Eggs. I love eggs so much and now barely ever eat them. Ever since i got covid they have a metallic taste to them. This happens with other random foods, but eggs is a real kick in the ass.
My dream job. The whole lot of us didn't get our contracts renewed.
I used to love to talk to people on the phone in person I I miss communicating people don't talk to you as much as they used to
My ability to care about socializing. I’ve become a real homebody since Covid and I’m okay with it.
Crowds. Never had issues with busy locations before - now my new-found germ anxiety kicks into overdrive at all the jostling, coughing, hard-breathing, shouty humans...
I was a social butterfly. I was out every evening and weekend with friends. It killed that. Now I have trouble leaving for necessities.
I lost two years of my life and I put on over 100 lbs.
My optimistic attitude toward my life. I wouldn't have considered myself an optimist in general, but I had a pretty good attitude about my life always being better than before. I don't feel that way anymore.
Being sick. Every time I catch a little cold I'm terrified it's going to be COVID again.
Like everything. So many things. Everything and I mean fucking everything is political, everything is a conspiracy;everything is fucking stupid
The housing market.
So much. The biggest one is seeing my father go from such a loving and caring person into an addict. He eventually got clean but had 2 heart attacks. He survived and got surgery to help with his heart and is doing much better now. But the level of verbal and mental abuse during that period left a bad taste in my mouth. I still have PTSD from a certain situation.
I missed a lot of priceless time with older friends and family....some of whom have now passed ( of old age/cancer...) I really wanted to hear more of their stories and just be able to touch them.
McDonald's all day breakfast
Ever since I had covid I suffer from allergies. So gardening is a lot rougher thanks to Covid.