Covid 19 - The New Norm. Likes and Dislikes

MalaysiaYellow

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We were thinking about it today. How Covid 19 has impacted our lives, some things we prefer and will continue, some we wish and hope will go back to the "way it was".

Interested to hear people's views.

One big item, is the flexibility to work from home. I like it and hope it continues.
A dislike is being unable to travel, going to see my brother in Japan and friends in Hong Kong and Singapore
 
I enjoyed the quiet and being able to hear nature in the lockdown. Shielding meant I took more notice of the little creatures in the garden and watching them. The obviously dislike though is/was having to shield and the limitations that still stem from that such as not just going into a shop to get some new batteries etc.
 
Going to London, and other places, and it not being full of tourists. Had a great time looking round the Tower of London a few weeks back without having to queue to see things, talking one on one to the Yeomen and not masses of people.
 
With those above on the WFH thing. No commute, delays trains and tubes and a fair whack of cash in my pocket too.

I dislike that spontaneity is a thing of the past. Previously a visit to the shops or going out to a National Trust place for example would take no thought at all. Now it feels frivolous, the planning and booking for these places takes the fun out it and wearing a mask and being conscious of social distancing is a drag. Getting back to being able to do ‘normal’ things without the thought for Covid-related measures would make all of the leisure pursuits quite frankly leisurely again.
 
I'm desperate to go to a gig. Nice small venue, packed crowd surging and moving with the music. God knows when this can happen again ?.
You’ll be waiting a while.

Not a fan of the mentality that many people in my ‘industry’ have adopted since Covid. There’s a real lack of accountability or creativity now that people don’t have to sit in the same room as others, or have face to face meetings, where they have to sit and justify what they’re doing, but more importantly what they’re not doing. Some sectors will slot into a remote working culture nicely, but others are a total mess and are now being driven by a false, and really quite damaging misplaced sense of safety. There are fires popping up that people now feel less responsible for putting out than ever.

On the flip side I quite like wearing a mask. Makes me feel like a ninja when I’m doing the weekly food shop. If you listen carefully you can hear me making martial arts sound effects as I put things in the trolley.
 
In the main worked from home pre covid, day job has however changed with lack of events involving gatherings (rallys, happenings etc...inc many music(live and dj ) , entertainment based ....aug bh weekend was an exception and limited to strictly limited numbers too. Photoshoots ive had more comissions for since covid. Swings n roundabouts albeit not great.

As for weekend work, a few virtual online dj sets plus very occasional (limited numbers as per guidlines at the time) parties apart, not much has happened dj workwise

Being self employed 'managing' workload (dayjob) has changed ,maybe marginally for the better? Ive fitted in a few days out here n there, (localish)and the occasional short break too (was in dorset for a few days during this past week) ...was 'dragged' into a large chainstore , while tother half shopped, after ten mins the obligatory face mask was making me feel a tad queasy (first time ive experienced that while wearing a face mask- wonder if it was a bit too 'warm' in the shop?) Had to go outside in the fresh air n remove said facemask , instantly the queasy feeling passed...ive probably visited more places in the past 6/7 weeks than i have in decades!

My sister is a st holder & subscribes to ifollow for matches not covered by her st, which ive been invited along to watch. And theres always radio oxford coverage for games too. Even so im really missing going to watch the U's play. A lot.
And im missing going out weekends djing, socialising too. Equally a lot.
 
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I’ve always worked from home, so that part didn’t change for me. What did change was suddenly having a houseful of people while I was trying to work. Must have used every room in the house at various points, plus the balcony.

I think this has had a huge impact on the whole idea of “going into the office”. A lot of companies have realised that committed workers are just as productive at home, if not more so.

I hugely miss going to gigs and festivals, and I seriously worry for the future of the live music industry, particularly dedicated venues (although nice to see the Deaf Instiamd Gorrila in MCR were both saved). It can’t be long before we start losing venues here in Oxford, although a lot of them are pubs so are still getting some income that way.

I seriously missed going to the pub during lockdown. And not just the beer - the whole social side. Ended up setting a virtual P**s-up on Zoom once a week with the staff and regulars at my “local”. I have to admit I was straight down the pub the day they opened.

What I found I didn’t miss, interestingly, was eating out, and I’ve seriously cut down on that even now restaurants are open again.
 
Downside............ people.
I have realised how much I dislike the rest of the population.
Selfish, pig ignorant tossers a lot of them.
If I`m walking along the pavement towards a group of 4 or 5 people walking towards me then why the f**** don`t they move into single file and respect each others social space?
I`m designing a 2 metre pole with a cattle prod or a taser on the end.... that`ll move them. :)

Upside..........
WFH, lack of traffic in general.
Work type & volume has changed, some is deadly quiet, some is mega busy.
Shopping.... we don`t go shopping anymore.
Gardening - very therapeutic and you can eat it.
Saving money that we used to spend on stuff we don`t do anymore.
 
I work from home anyway, so that hasn't changed.
I do miss going to football, the games are something I really looked forward to and the iFollow experience is to the real thing what Lidl shandy is to a proper pint!
I miss gigs - both going to and playing. We are only a 'pub band' but it's brilliant fun. I also used to play in a weekly pub session - we have switched to Zoom, but it's not the pub and it's not the same at all :(
As someone else has rightly said above, I miss the spontaneity of just deciding to go somewhere with friends without having to book, having to organise everything in advance.
I like seeing fewer planes in the sky and (slightly) fewer cars on the roads.
I don't like the absolute rubbish on the telly - the repeats are wearing a bit thin.
I don't like how the days merge into one long blur of sameness...
 
Liked being able to ride/train on relatively empty roads during the “proper” lockdown. Always been a fan of table service instead of queuing at a packed bar.

Masks have their benefits in that I can mutter ignorant c@nt under my breath when someone forces their way past me in the supermarket etc. Also when wearing a cap it means I’ve been able to avoid conversations with people I don’t want to speak to while out.

Other than that I hope the new normal is resigned to the history books pretty quickly and I’ll put up with six deep queues at the bar, busy roads and having to make small talk with people I don’t like.
 
WFH is fantastic, but don't think it will remain like that for me, considering I was told I could not work from home just weeks before lockdown.. should have asked for Furlough!
 
Likes:

WFH - it’s great, makes sense, and is forcing businesses to realise that it is reasonable and reasonable

Wearing masks - you can hide behind them if you don’t want to face the world

Having something to make small talk about with absolutely anyone, which isn’t the weather

Dislikes:

The economy crumbling

No live football

Everyone talking about Covid all the time
 
With those above on the WFH thing. No commute, delays trains and tubes and a fair whack of cash in my pocket too.

I dislike that spontaneity is a thing of the past. Previously a visit to the shops or going out to a National Trust place for example would take no thought at all. Now it feels frivolous, the planning and booking for these places takes the fun out it and wearing a mask and being conscious of social distancing is a drag. Getting back to being able to do ‘normal’ things without the thought for Covid-related measures would make all of the leisure pursuits quite frankly leisurely again.

Absolutely this... spontaneous decisions feel a thing of the past and everything involves Covid related measures.... it’s a drag, but necessary of course.

Worked from home for the past 13 years so no change there other than a distinct lack of face to face meetings, which broke up the week.

And yep... spending so much less at the moment.
 
Wow, some really great posts and comments. It seems quite a lot of you worked from home anyhow?

No one mentioned about travel? Do you miss going on holiday or has been going away in the UK been just as good?
 
Wow, some really great posts and comments. It seems quite a lot of you worked from home anyhow?

No one mentioned about travel? Do you miss going on holiday or has been going away in the UK been just as good?

The WFH thing had to happen for me as the lab staff needed to spread out...into my office!
My boss has always WFH, due to the hangover from a shared partnership disaster, she lives & worked in Nottingham and survived the change management process to get a job in Leicester.

We deferred our May break to 2021, Jet2 gave us the option of deferring to late 2020, a refund or going elsewhere.
It was fairly obvious to anyone that going anywhere outside of the UK in 2020 could be problematic so it seemed the best option.
We`ve had a few AirBnB weekends away and they have been lovely. We`ve also saved a few quid!
2 UK weekends left, 1 in Norfolk and 1 in Cumbria and a Christmas at home!

How are the travel restrictions impacting folk who travel globally for work etc?
 
The WFH thing had to happen for me as the lab staff needed to spread out...into my office!
My boss has always WFH, due to the hangover from a shared partnership disaster, she lives & worked in Nottingham and survived the change management process to get a job in Leicester.

We deferred our May break to 2021, Jet2 gave us the option of deferring to late 2020, a refund or going elsewhere.
It was fairly obvious to anyone that going anywhere outside of the UK in 2020 could be problematic so it seemed the best option.
We`ve had a few AirBnB weekends away and they have been lovely. We`ve also saved a few quid!
2 UK weekends left, 1 in Norfolk and 1 in Cumbria and a Christmas at home!

How are the travel restrictions impacting folk who travel globally for work etc?
I have been Zooming it. We do everything virtually now, 1-2-1, meetings, brainstorms, Townhalls, etc.
 
The WFH thing had to happen for me as the lab staff needed to spread out...into my office!
My boss has always WFH, due to the hangover from a shared partnership disaster, she lives & worked in Nottingham and survived the change management process to get a job in Leicester.

We deferred our May break to 2021, Jet2 gave us the option of deferring to late 2020, a refund or going elsewhere.
It was fairly obvious to anyone that going anywhere outside of the UK in 2020 could be problematic so it seemed the best option.
We`ve had a few AirBnB weekends away and they have been lovely. We`ve also saved a few quid!
2 UK weekends left, 1 in Norfolk and 1 in Cumbria and a Christmas at home!

How are the travel restrictions impacting folk who travel globally for work etc?

For me I’ve gone from travelling approximately once a fortnight to nothing. There were a couple of possible trips planned but they got canned as quarantine rules changed.

Work is being done over Microsoft Teams for the most part which has its benefits for short meetings but doing 4-5 day workshops over it across multiple time zones isn’t really achievable.

I/we’ve engaged with contractors to support some of what we do in other countries which has worked well. The biggest issue is the longer/larger meetings and events/partnerships etc. particularly for new clients which are currently on hold.

If there was a way around the quarantine on return I’d be quite happy to travel (knowing the risk).
 
would love to work from home but being a gardener is impossible.
holiday wise, i’ve not had a a proper one for donkeys years and had planned to go to japan in the summer so obviously that wasn’t possible. hopefully will be able to go in the spring but as with everything at the moment will have to see how it goes.
 
No one mentioned about travel? Do you miss going on holiday or has been going away in the UK been just as good?
Missed out on a trip to Sardinia last year, somewhere Mrs M has always wanted to go, and will most probably not be making our Antigua trip next year as would rather keep the money in the bank at the moment. Its a pain, but then there is a global pandemic happening, so you need perspective on these things. I just don't get the entitled who HAVE to go on their foreign trips 'for my mental state' - if that is all that is keeping you sane then you have problems in real life you need to address.
 
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