How has Coronavirus impacted your life and your lifestyle?

[Swanky]

Hi!
To help keep from veering off topic or towards politics, here’s a reminder of the topic of the thread:

“Being this is a fashion driven forum, I am curious as to how this has impacted your lifestyle. Are you still buying purses, shoes or any high-end luxury items? How have you prepared and how do you plan to pass the next year of your life?”

There's other threads to discuss variants, deaths, etc... and as always we don't allow politics on tPF

 

[mzbaglady1]

Very scary! I was just looking at pictures of New York City…

News outlets are saying air quality is the wrost in the world. My coworker went outside came back inside his face had red blotches and my throat started to burn me. I'm showing up to work looking like this. LOL

 

[Jktgal]

Happy to see that while masks are now optional in the commuter trains, abt 90% passengers still wear them here. PA system announcement on board that discourage talking/ talking on the phone is also still on. I also sit near door where tje air exchange is higher.
I am pretty much keeping most pandemic precautions - masking indoor, having meals outdoor/semi outdoor, avoiding crowds.
Cause don't want to get "brain fog".
But saying yes to attending more events, keeping said precautions.

 

[mzbaglady1]

My how this thread has slowed down tremendously. I am still masking and wiping down my packages. I try to social distance as much as possible. I don't do large indoor gatherings unless there's good ventilation.

 

[LavenderIce]

My how this thread has slowed down tremendously. I am still masking and wiping down my packages. I try to social distance as much as possible. I don't do large indoor gatherings unless there's good ventilation.

I'm still doing the same! I never stopped. Handwashing/using hand sanitizer, wiping down packages, social distancing and masking have become a routine.

 

[Passerine123]

This is my secret confession: I kind of miss covid. Not the disease itself nor the devastating health and economic impact it had on lives around the world. But I do miss mandatory working from home. I realize this has been much harder for people with young children or those of school age, and for singles etc. But as a middle-aged married woman living in a comfortable flat where we each have our own private workspace (with doors that close!), the lockdown made it possible to cut my daily commute from 30 minutes to 30 seconds (each way). We saved a lot of money, making coffee and lunch at home instead of eating in the company cafeteria. We put more effort into healthy meal planning than we did in the pre-Covidian era. And because my position is global, I was able to easily meet with colleagues in Singapore at 5:30 am my time, then go back to bed, get up a couple of hours later, get my work done, take another break, and still be fresh for evening meetings with U.S. co-workers whose time zone was 8 hours away. And our pets loved having us home almost 24/7.

Anyway, like I said, this is a secret confession.

 

[whateve]

This is my secret confession: I kind of miss covid. Not the disease itself nor the devastating health and economic impact it had on lives around the world. But I do miss mandatory working from home. I realize this has been much harder for people with young children or those of school age, and for singles etc. But as a middle-aged married woman living in a comfortable flat where we each have our own private workspace (with doors that close!), the lockdown made it possible to cut my daily commute from 30 minutes to 30 seconds (each way). We saved a lot of money, making coffee and lunch at home instead of eating in the company cafeteria. We put more effort into healthy meal planning than we did in the pre-Covidian era. And because my position is global, I was able to easily meet with colleagues in Singapore at 5:30 am my time, then go back to bed, get up a couple of hours later, get my work done, take another break, and still be fresh for evening meetings with U.S. co-workers whose time zone was 8 hours away. And our pets loved having us home almost 24/7.

Anyway, like I said, this is a secret confession.

My daughter, who struggles to make ends meet, has been forced to go back to work in the office. She has a long commute and she has to pay for parking. The only reason they made her go back into work was to make it fair for the people whose jobs can't be done at home.

It saves the company money too. She was using her own internet at home. The company didn't have to pay to heat and air condition the buildings, and over time, they could have gotten rid of some of the buildings. People would be less likely to call in sick because sometimes you're too sick to face the commute but can still do your job if you can stay at home.

 

[Passerine123]

My daughter, who struggles to make ends meet, has been forced to go back to work in the office. She has a long commute and she has to pay for parking. The only reason they made her go back into work was to make it fair for the people whose jobs can't be done at home.

It saves the company money too. She was using her own internet at home. The company didn't have to pay to heat and air condition the buildings, and over time, they could have gotten rid of some of the buildings. People would be less likely to call in sick because sometimes you're too sick to face the commute but can still do your job if you can stay at home.

I hope things look up for your daughter soon. I might be more tempted to come to the office if I had an office to come back to!! Or at least a cube. Now it's all hot-desking and I have no idea where most of my team-mates are or if they've even come in. At it does nothing for increasing collaboration. People come in, take whatever desk they can find, and after logging on to the company, they immediately put on headphones so they don't have any interruptions or even chances to exchange greetings. How is this fostering greater collaboration? I used to have a generously size private cube, where I could safely leave my laptop overnight. And where I could simply away anything confidential in the lockable closed storage units. Now coming into the office is an exercise in frustration.

 

[Redbirdhermes]

We are still masking in public, avoiding crowds, and isolating as much as possible. We retired just as COVID hit and spent three years isolating and caring for our little grandson to keep him safe, until his mama got careless and gave the entire family COVID about 3 months ago. Now we only see little grandson once a week and mask around him when we are indoors. I'm glad we missed the shared desk trend, as I liked having my own space at work where I could display my credentials. You work so hard for them, I wanted people to be able to see them if I have to come into the office.

 

[mzbaglady1]

I know I'm not the only person to have this complaint. Phone customer service has became horrendous since the pandemic. Most of these calls the employees are still working from home.
I made a 6:30am call to AAA for a tow truck. The woman picks up screaming to another female where's her keys in my ear. I'm like WTF???!!! I thought I dialed a wrong number. I understand the convenience of no long commute, better work life balance etc...But to me some jobs needs to be back in the office. When I need phone assistance a loud barking dog in the background is distracting.

 

[cheremushki]

This is my secret confession: I kind of miss covid. Not the disease itself nor the devastating health and economic impact it had on lives around the world. But I do miss mandatory working from home. I realize this has been much harder for people with young children or those of school age, and for singles etc. But as a middle-aged married woman living in a comfortable flat where we each have our own private workspace (with doors that close!), the lockdown made it possible to cut my daily commute from 30 minutes to 30 seconds (each way). We saved a lot of money, making coffee and lunch at home instead of eating in the company cafeteria. We put more effort into healthy meal planning than we did in the pre-Covidian era. And because my position is global, I was able to easily meet with colleagues in Singapore at 5:30 am my time, then go back to bed, get up a couple of hours later, get my work done, take another break, and still be fresh for evening meetings with U.S. co-workers whose time zone was 8 hours away. And our pets loved having us home almost 24/7.

Anyway, like I said, this is a secret confession.

Exact same sentiments. I know people had hard time being "locked down", but I had hard time with things opening up and returning to the office. And I was luckier few who could delay until very last moment. Everyone's coping mechanism of lockdown came to me post-opening up. Like plants, baking, arts and crafts etc. All my handbag buys has gone to hobbies now.

I also kind of miss having extra time. My commute is also 30 minutes one way. But that 1 hour a day saved still felt like a luxury.

 

[jblended]

I'm currently down with covid for the umpteenth time. I'm also one of the people who continues to take every precaution that we did at the start but, unfortunately, I'm susceptible due to pre-existing health conditions and have caught pretty much every strain circulating since this nightmare started. Evidently, there's little use me wearing my mask and distancing if everyone else isn't.
I keep hoping that the experience will get easier and the antibodies I've got now will help but, frankly, it hasn't. It's always a rough time.
I have no intention of dropping the safety protocols, though. I'd rather do my bit and sleep soundly at night than wonder if I've unwittingly passed it on to others.
Stay safe everyone!

 

[KatPerry]

Keep protecting yourself, even if others don’t.

 

[hermes_lemming]

I still mask up and wash my hands. I haven't gone to an indoor restaurant since 2019. Sigh I don't see things going back go normal for a while

 

[Ashanti_Rose]

Oh boy, I don't miss Covid per se, but I do miss the lockdown/ isolation time and mandatory work from home drill. I am an introvert and don't crave social interaction (especially with my co-workers with whom I have nothing in common), so I was very happy to keep my work interaction to zoom and email - no office politics or gossip, sleeping until 9 am, eating home cooked meals - I have enjoyed it. I am now required to go to the office 2-3 times a week - I don't see the point of it as I am totally unproductive there (it is open office space - I call it "toilets without stalls"), but I have to go in to "slice the card at the turnstile". Doesn't make sense, but I like to collect my paycheck so gotta play by the rules.

 

[Midge Maisel]

I agree with many of the sentiments expressed here. I don't miss uncertainty, constant fear (I remember wiping down my groceries after they were delivered, which is...a lot), never going anywhere, and, of course, the horrible early days when people were routinely becoming incredibly ill. And it devastates me that we, as a society, have decided that we're ok just not thinking about the hospitalizations and deaths that continue to emerge from Covid. The whole thing is very upsetting.

But I very much miss everyone staying home and off the roads (I live in LA, so I really miss the lack of traffic). And people being ok with online hangouts/socializing online. And staying home while sick! I don't want your germs near me!

On the subject of work in the post-Covid era, I work in entertainment, so Covid was a tough time, but this year was even tougher.