The grocery thread started me thinking about habits I developed during the height of the pandemic that I’ve maintained today. Mine are as follows. Do you all have any?
Speed grocery shopping. During Covid I perfected being able to get in and out of the store in under 12 minutes. I still do that often. I just learned to be more efficient.
Outdoor dining. I had done that a few times pre-Covid but now it’s my strong preference if the weather is nice. So many more places have it and I love it.
Body wash in place of soap at the sink. I was washing my hands a lot during the start of the pandemic…as one did…and my hands were starting to get dry and cracked. A friend who is a dermatologist recommended using moisturizing body wash instead of soap at the sink. I still use that today.
Isolating before a big can’t miss event. Our whole family isolated for two weeks before my daughter’s wedding. It really was helpful in not only avoiding illness but also just very relaxing. We all worked from home. Several of my friends have done this before their kids wedding. And another friend isolated for two weeks before seeing her newborn grandchild. .
This! Especially before I’m going to travel, and again when I return. I’m just back from a work event across the country, and now I’ll lay low for several days - I mask but was shocked at how few I saw on travelers, in the airport - I saw more workers in masks than travelers.
I mask most of the time when I’m indoors, especially while traveling. Never did this before covid but I think it helps reduce infections. I also tend to try to eat when restaurants are less crowds, like between lunch & dinner or early dinners.
I do try to hibernate before very important events when possible. Also use Enovid nitric oxide nasal spray when I’m around people, like eating & drinking around others and also when traveling. Also spray up if we’ve been around folks who were coughing, even though we were masked.
I think that this is a good idea for the really important events. I have such an event coming up in May and would really, really not want to be sick for it.
Remote and hybrid work! It is still a thing. My home office is much quieter than the open office aka “cube farm” at work, so when I need to concentrate on a project, I go home. I’m much more productive there than next to a guy who is having a very loud and long zoom call from the cube across from my desk.
Glad that Covid sped up development of remote work tools.
I became more of a homebody. It’s rare that I will go out for no reason, to browse the aisles of a store, etc. I order online as much as I can or do curbside pick-up (although I still grocery shop in person). I condense my weekly errands to one day during the week and go early in the mornings when there is less people and traffic.
Not to sound like a complete hermit, some of this is less due to Covid and more due to not having kids at home anymore and not having to be at school, carpools, sports practices, etc. and having to coordinate errands with that.
A positive COVID carryover. In 2020, our local volunteer fire department and a number of other ones near us, organized Christmas truck parades through the small towns. There was one for each of four smaller towns, different nights. This was because folks were not able to get out to see Santa, and really enjoy the holiday with others that year.
We just had the fifth parade. 20 vehicles from five small towns. And the grinch tried to steal Christmas but the first responders caught him and put him in a small jail car they created. It’s became an annual tradition with hot chocolate and cookies, and caroling in our little downtown while waiting for the trucks to get there. They still go through the neighborhoods, but now there is a gathering as well.
And yes, one year we had to wait an extra hour while the firemen responded to a chimney fire. It was well worth the wait!
COVID taught me that I truly am a semi-hermit homebody and would be fine living my life in a remote lighthouse with just monthly trips into town for necessities. I had no need to hoard, mask, test, or isolate before events because I didn’t leave our house or community (outdoor walking) for almost two years. Once we were vaccinated in April '21, though, life went completely back to normal, and we haven’t given a thought to COVID since, so no residual behaviors.
Oh yes. I have a “pandemic closet”” where I have loads of paper towels, toiLet paper, soap, cleaning supplies , plus shampoo, makeup etc etc . I just really enjoy never being on the verge of running out of stuff
Although I don’t like teaching NAMI classes by Zoom, a lot of people are fine with it. Zoom classes mean that people in isolated, rural areas can get the support they need. I can also attend Board meetings virtually, so I don’t have to drive an hour each way. That’s new since COVID.
I like it that I can wear a mask in public when I want. I will be staying in a guest room at my dad’s facility, and there have been some bad viruses running through the place. So I will mask all the time. I wouldn’t have thought of that before COVID. I remember seeing Asians wearing masks on planes in the early 2000s when bird flu was a problem, and it seemed so weird! Not anymore.
Wearing N95 masks when going to medical offices (because people go there when they are sick of whatever, not just COVID-19) and in crowded airports / airplanes (since that is usually to go to some kind of important event).
I always mask on public transit. Planes are a given, of course, but also buses and subways. I won’t bother with it if I happen to be the only one in my section of the bus/train, though if I’m approaching a station where a lot of people will get on, I’ll put it on just before arriving.
I didn’t go to concerts for a while, but once I started going back to them I would always wear a mask. This fall I went to a punk show where I wanted to be able to sing along, so went without a mask for the first time. Sure enough, I got sick the next day. Multiple COVID tests were negative, but I was laid up for a whole week, so I’m back to masking for shows.
I don’t always wear a mask when shopping (groceries, etc.), but did up until this summer. I do almost always have one with me, though. If there are people in the store that are coughing, even slightly, I’ll head down a different aisle and pick up other stuff, then circle back once they’ve moved on. I’m also fine putting on a mask while partway through the errand if I can do it subtly. I should be bolder about just putting on my mask whenever I feel the need, and being okay conveying a sense of “you feel judged? you should! wear a mask if you’re coughing!”, but it feels like there’s a stigma against making people feel bad for coughing in public. That feels like a missed opportunity as a society. While on the topic of things I judge people for, if you leave your dog’s green poop bag on the side of the trail “to pick up on the way back”, you shouldn’t do that, either.
In the vein of “always having a mask with me”, I learned that my favorite pants have really handy utility pockets — the left leg has a pocket my glasses slip into; the right leg has two pockets — the outer one holding a pen and a small notebook (Field Notes), the inner one holding my phone and my favorite mask.
Behold: pockets:
I guess, per the last point, I have a favorite mask: the 3M Aura.
I find that when walking around without a mask, if I pass by someone on the sidewalk / hiking trail / store aisle / whatever, I’ll hold my breath for about 10 seconds or so … from just before I pass them until I’ve cleared 10 or 15 feet from them.
My H is a consultant/business coach. Prior to covid he did all/most of his client meetings at their offices. Now he is 100% Zoom from his home office (or wherever he happens to be; can do calls while we are visiting our kids, etc.) It has completely transformed his business model, both for him and the clients (much easier to schedule calls and change meeting day/time as needed.) Hard to believe this was not how he worked prior to 2020 - it is SO much more efficient!!
We have moved a lot of our church committee meetings to Zoom, which helps those who can’t drive at night and also allows people to participate if they are out of town (summer home, winter in Florida, etc.)
I like being able to cancel something without guilt because of a slight cold (theirs or mine).
I like being able to not shake hands with strangers without it being rude.
I LOVE big rolls of toilet paper, really love them. How did we ever live without them?
While I do like shopping on line, I don’t like that now there are fewer stores and absolutely nothing to try on at Macy’s. I don’t like having to order 5 dresses to find one. Since I buy a dress once every 5 years, how do I know what size I need? Underwear, most pants, a sweater are fine to order online, but dresses and shoes are harder to guess.
