Post-Pandemic Life
Mar. 19th, 2021 02:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebHank Green (How Will Post Pandemic Behavior Change?) talks about not only what old activities he's looking forward to and what new activities he wants to keep, but also the added dimension of which of these things will or won't actually happen. Check it out!
I've also been keeping a list of activities I do and don't want to keep, but I've only been focusing on what things I want to make an effort to keep doing or to restart doing, and not thinking about how other people or society in general will be responding.
I had been thinking there's only one activity I want to keep: wearing masks sometimes. I now want to wear masks when I'm sick but going out into public anyway (like when I used to go to work sick).
But I also like Hank's idea of always wearing masks on airplanes. Doh! Airplanes are famous for getting people sick! And I did like doing telemedicine for my cancer gene test. And they mailed me a kit to do a saliva test instead of making me go in for a blood test, saying the former is just as reliable (if you wait long enough after eating). That lack of driving slowed global warming a bit.
And I like having our friend in California at our craft nights, though I miss carpool socializing on the way to craft night, breaking up into smaller groups to talk, and sharing munchies. For non-carpooling things, I do like the commute for Zoom events!
I also played a board game that's a pain to set up online, where a computer sets it up automatically. I would do that again. And I still haven't zoomed with my nieces in another state, but would be up for that.
And then there are a bunch of things I miss of course:
* eating inside restaurants (while the food is still hot and not yet soggy)
* all the regular events on my calendar (craft night, game night, happy hour, gym visits).
* also going to other parties and events
* hugging
* browsing at libraries
* taking the bus (mostly downtown, mostly to the library)
* talking to the workers at stores, especially Trader Joe's
* having samples at grocery stores
* traveling (I want to visit friends and relatives and travel to Washington DC)
* getting to walk on the sidewalk instead of crossing the street to avoid everyone and their dog
I was also putting off medical things like annual dermatology visits, but then stopped doing that. And I had quit inspecting new items at grocery stores, checking out the ingredients and nutrition, when it seemed rude to touch things, but now that they know that covid is spread mostly by breathing, I do that again.
I've also been keeping a list of activities I do and don't want to keep, but I've only been focusing on what things I want to make an effort to keep doing or to restart doing, and not thinking about how other people or society in general will be responding.
I had been thinking there's only one activity I want to keep: wearing masks sometimes. I now want to wear masks when I'm sick but going out into public anyway (like when I used to go to work sick).
But I also like Hank's idea of always wearing masks on airplanes. Doh! Airplanes are famous for getting people sick! And I did like doing telemedicine for my cancer gene test. And they mailed me a kit to do a saliva test instead of making me go in for a blood test, saying the former is just as reliable (if you wait long enough after eating). That lack of driving slowed global warming a bit.
And I like having our friend in California at our craft nights, though I miss carpool socializing on the way to craft night, breaking up into smaller groups to talk, and sharing munchies. For non-carpooling things, I do like the commute for Zoom events!
I also played a board game that's a pain to set up online, where a computer sets it up automatically. I would do that again. And I still haven't zoomed with my nieces in another state, but would be up for that.
And then there are a bunch of things I miss of course:
* eating inside restaurants (while the food is still hot and not yet soggy)
* all the regular events on my calendar (craft night, game night, happy hour, gym visits).
* also going to other parties and events
* hugging
* browsing at libraries
* taking the bus (mostly downtown, mostly to the library)
* talking to the workers at stores, especially Trader Joe's
* having samples at grocery stores
* traveling (I want to visit friends and relatives and travel to Washington DC)
* getting to walk on the sidewalk instead of crossing the street to avoid everyone and their dog
I was also putting off medical things like annual dermatology visits, but then stopped doing that. And I had quit inspecting new items at grocery stores, checking out the ingredients and nutrition, when it seemed rude to touch things, but now that they know that covid is spread mostly by breathing, I do that again.