The pandemic has taught us a lot. It was basically a super tough class nobody signed up for, which, for whatever reason, has taken many different shapes and forms, from total lockdown in 2020 to the stressfully uncertain year of 2021 when everything seems returning back to normal, although we know this is not exactly the case.
In fact, things may never return to our pre-Covid-19 life, and while you may feel upset about it, there are a few good things that came of it. It taught us that going to work sick is a big bold no-brainer NO, no questions asked. We know now that we don’t need hour-long, if not more, daily commutes to do our jobs.
So in order to find out what new post-pandemic values, habits and behavior we have all adopted, we took a look at this illuminating thread on r/AskReddit. “What's one thing we did before the pandemic that even if the world went back to normal you wouldn't do again?” asked u/NativeSniper, and below are the most interesting answers shared by people that really make you wonder. Aren’t we all just a tiny bit more conscious than we used to be?
#1
Go to work sick
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#2
I still want "No Contact Delivery" to be an option
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#3
Having a non-stop out all day go, go, go schedule. I understand now why I was constantly feeling frustrated. I was completely burnt out and had no me time. Now I don’t make so many commitments to social events, work things, extra stuff and I can’t imagine ever stretching myself so thin again.
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#4
Feeling bad about calling in
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#5
Shaking hands. Always thought it was unhygienic and unnecessary.
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#6
Live in a city for my job.I absolutely hated going remote for the first year. emails were so much slower than just asking the guy sitting next to me, I missed making small talk, or going out for lunch, company sponsored events. I still don’t like zoom meetings but I can tolerate it now. Now that I’m farther removed I realized a lot of that was just something I was “used to” instead of something I enjoyed. My rent is almost 50% lower now and I’m only 10 miles from where I used to live downtown. I still have access to the city and if they need us in quarterly I can do a longer commute here and there. I’m not paying $200 a month for a parking spot. I get to live a quieter life in a quieter area, and when my significant other and I are ready, We’ll be able to purchase a house pretty much anywhere we want.
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#7
Won’t necessarily say never, but bowling while eating finger foods seems like a really bad idea now.
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#8
Daily commute. Our company is committed to 3 days a week max in the office. I’ve been in twice since the pandemic and the colossal amount of wasted time really stunned me.
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#9
Go into any public space, while sick, without a maskIf I have a cold and have to nip to the drugstore for some cough syrup and Kleenex I am 100% gonna mask up.
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#10
Treat my job title like it's my family name.Nah, I give you labor and you give me money, that's the extent of our relationship and much like anyone trading time for money, others will pay me for my time.
Not a chance I will ever again bleed, sweat or cry for a f**king employer. Never ever again.
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#11
It's going to take a lot of money to convince me not to work from home any more
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#12
Idk about a one thing, but I certainly am very careful about what I touch and the people I'm around. When I'm in public I try and stay spaced out and not touch anything if not necessary.
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#13
Commute to work 1.5 hours each way 5 days a week so I can sit in my office and write emails and talk on the phone.
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#14
I feel like minimum wage jobs will no longer be able to get away with as much as they had in the past when it comes to treating workers poorly#15
Using TP.I got a bidet...
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#16
Watch or read mainstream news. Negativity is more profitable than positivity.
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#17
Overtime on salary. Pay me or go off.
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#18
Work in open offices. They were waking nightmares for me even before, what with no privacy, routinely being a dull roar and requiring noise canceling headphones to be able to think clearly, and I f**king hate bosses watching me like buzzards eyeing a dying water buffalo. Now that I've worked remotely for years, including now for an absurdly well known company, I ain't coming back to your dogs**t open offices. I'll come back if you give me my own office. Oh, you won't give me one? And you want me in the office at least two days a week in Manhattan for your opportunity? Hard pass.
Image credits: DeputyCartman
#19
There’s a lot of people I don’t care to talk to no more. Responded terribly to all this and acted so selfish. I don’t need that in my life. Bye#20
The "Night Life". This pandemic has made me love staying home on a Friday night and not doing anything. No obligations to hang out with friends. No more FOMO. Just me alone gaming all night and waking up the next day with no hangover.
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#21
Clubbing. Being charged to hang out in a room chock full of sweaty people while sweating your ass off yourself while being charged an exorbitant amount for a watered down alcoholic drink so you can get drunk enough to actually enjoy the experience? I’ll just stick to getting drunk with my friends thanks
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#22
Breathe down people’s f**king necks in the checkout lane
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#23
I'll be avoiding big business, supermarkets, amazon, restaurant chains and multinationals. Dont know about you guys around the world but the way the little businesses were treated here in France is sickening, meanwhile Bezos et al get to swoop in and take everything. It stinks.#24
accept people's invitations just because they invite me, not because I actually want to see them
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#25
My mask is staying with me forever now. I havent been sick once since the pandemic started and I plan to keep it thay way.
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#26
Getting hassled for calling in because you "just" have a cold. Or being expected to recover from a cold in one day.#27
Trust my community to do the right thing#28
There is a long list of people I used to respect. That's gone now.#29
Work in an office. That noise.
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#30
As a teacher, have kids turn in physical copies of work.Every student has a laptop or chromebook now due to remote learning and it's gonna stay that way, so everything is turned in digitally. It's so nice being able to just upload the work I want them to do without having to bother making copies and hope that the machines aren't down, and I just grade everything on the computer. No more having kids tell me they handed me an assignment and accusing me of losing it, I can just check to see if they submitted it or not. It makes my life so much easier and it saves a ton of paper.
#31
Even if COVID disappeared overnight, I'd still want strangers and casual acquaintances stay at least 6 feet away from me whenever possible.
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#32
Kissing people as a greeting.never understood it.
tried to avoid it.
wont do it again.
#33
I'm a nurse.I love my job.
Placing my job before my family and my good friends. Done with everyday. Filling in for no-shows. Existing on chimichangas and Death Wish coffees. One restroom break per shift. Sleeping only 4-hours on workdays (14-hour shifts; sometimes 24-hours), only to sleep the day and nights away when off. Being hit, bitten, groped and cursed out.
I've missed birthdays and graduations. Missed out on a lot of living.
These last two years really did me in.
Tired of being sick and tired.
I love my family and my physical and mental health more.
At least now I do. More than ever before.
Live, and let live.
#34
Restaurants not doing carry out. My 2 favorite local places outright refused to do carry out until the pandemic hit. I really hope they dont end it. I love getting the food my wife and i enjoy but being able to go home and eat it without a bunch of randos around.#35
Eat at a buffet. You can give me sneeze guards, face masks, hand sanitizer, and food handler gloves and I will still pass it up!I loved all you can eat buffets
#36
Not washing my hands.
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#37
Birthday cake / candles“Here, I exhaled heavily on this, please eat it.
#38
We'll probably keep ordering most groceries via curbside pickup. It's convenient, and we spend less on stupid crap we happen to walk past on the way to the milk aisle.We'll still go inside for stuff like produce, though. The store employees just don't seem to pick the best fruit and vegetables. Also, the bakery is right next to the produce, and it's nice to pick up some stupid crap while you're shopping.
#39
I really REALLY love the accessibility of doing Doctor visits over the phone or Zoom.Me : I have to talk to a psychiatrist on the reg. SUPER hard for me to go out to do that - I have debilitating anxiety and going OUT to wait in waiting rooms, be seen crying as I leave a therapy session, hell even just getting myself to shower, put on makeup, and clean clothes... it's f**king impossible sometimes. Not to mention that I used to have to have my husband drive me in to the city - a 45 minute drive - and take care of our young kids during my appointments. Then make the drive back in traffic - all of which exacerbated my anxiety and guilt and fatigue.
We've both been able to access our health care providers by ZOOM and by phone. That was never an option before this. It has been amazing and honestly? The quality of our care is IMPROVED because we aren't going through panic/dissociating/fatiguing/overstimulating crap just to GET to the appointments and so we are able to advocate for ourselves so much better.
#40
I think im alone in the sentiment, but i really hate this new trend of only releasing movies in theatres. I really loved the streaming releases, $30 to watch the movie on my couch in my pajamas is way less then it would cost for me to go the theatre with my wife, and if it's a kids movie that three more people. plus i make better popcorn on the stovetop than they do at the theatre.from Bored Panda https://bit.ly/3Bk6rDQ
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