So its July 2020 and it's a whole new world. I mean, its still planet Earth but its a whole new world. Covid-19 has changed literally every aspect of life. We can't touch, or kiss strangers or shop without an alcohol swab nearby. Besides hoping we can find a cure, one of the biggest questions about all of this is in regards to the fallout. What happens next? If we can get an affective vaccine, how to we move forward? What will be the outcome of all we learned and experienced? Get ready everyone. Life is forever changed.
Redditor u/fool126 wanted everyone to discuss what we all think a post Covid world looks like.... it's time to make some hard realizations... they asked.... What's never gonna be the same after this pandemic?to the left
music video beyonce GIFGiphyFor me, I feel like even if there's a vaccine and the virus is wiped out, the world will still be at a loss.
There will always be that feeling or memory of the time when the world shut down and irreplaceable people died.
Caps Off....
Not 100% sure but graduations. My sister had a reduced and socially distant ceremony and after your child's name was called, you were allowed to leave. Do you honestly think that when the restrictions get lifted, people are going to want to sit through all 200+ names?
Sing Out....
Concerts. I love concerts and festivals. I honestly don't know that I will ever go to another one. My anxiety through all this has helped in now being so turned off at the thought of going to a concert.
This hits me hard. I love live music. There's nothing better than going to see a band you love live. But now I know I won't go to concerts in a long time.
Where I live (Finland) there will already be some festivals in August and I'm amazed that some people can go. I don't know how long will it take for me to not feel extremely anxious in crowds again.
Forgotten....
Nothing. We'll forget. Plagues, Spanish Flu, Smallpox, Polio all happened.
I doubt the people who lived through them forgot. Did you forget the great recession? I know I haven't. My grandparents never forgot WWII. My dad never forgot Vietnam. My mom never forgot quaaludes. This will forever change how people interact with strangers.
Too Close....
kid dancing GIFGiphyNightclubs , I don't ever see myself wanting to be around that many people in an enclosed space.
Bad Education....
School.
Yep. We teach in overcrowded germ factories.
And a lot of experienced teachers are retiring this year if they can rather than dealing with this crap, and something like 50% of teachers leave the field entirely within the first 5 years. The overall demographic of teachers is going to shift this year, I think.
Grounded.
People flying for business. I'm a FA so air travel is so different this year. Well tens of thousands airline employees will be furloughed come October and if things go well a good portion will be rehired by next spring. Some airlines won't rehire for years. It could be less if more employees take early retirement. Most of the airlines are expecting a year to three to come back to 2019 levels.
Right now foreign international carriers have laid off or terminated probably just shy of 100k staff. I believe close to 40 airlines have gone bankrupt this year.
People will fly again, they want to get out and vacation, see family and friends they didn't see this year and such. Those coupled with fare deals will encourage more to fly when things calm down, but that isn't working well right now with the resurgence of positive cases.
Visitation
America's reputation.
I can't speak to London but I lived in NYC for a few years. It was great for a young person but I cannot imagine doing it now that I'm older and I have no idea how people raise kids there. No car, no easy shopping, and while mass transit exists it's EXTREMELY slow and the amount of stairs is not to be underestimated, nor is the amount of walking. I would literally walk through the soles of my shoes on a regular basis.
As a younger person I loved going to all kinds of restaurants and bars and museums and stuff, and the cultural scene was amazing - lots of supposedly "amateur" shoes for $5-10 that were incredible. And DAMN, the restaurants. I find myself often thinking of them with genuinely tearful longing. Every kind of cuisine and all of it amazing.
Right now, I imagine it's kind of a second circle of hell, because apartments are TINY and often badly ventilated. The whole point of living there is that you just don't spend that much time actually in your apartment.
No Tongue.
spin dab GIFGiphySpin the bottle.
Instead of kissing we're just going to make finger guns at each other.
"summer break"
Not sure how widespread this is; but, the local universities (US) are starting Fall semester earlier (Aug). Then, when students leave for Thanksgiving break, they do not return until Spring semester starts in Jan. They don't want students to interact with so many people from all over, during the long Thanksgiving weekend; then, return to spread anything.
Plus, those who have to travel far, don't have to return for the short time frame between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Seems like a long-term beneficial shift for all, that should be considered permanent.
Similar to the year-round schooling, the big chunk of "summer break" is slimmed down.
Office Space.
Office Space GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphyWork... Many office jobs will be done remotely.
This. Businesses will see that they no longer need giant buildings and parking structures to support work that basically amounts to a few emails and some excel or word docs.
Valued Time.
I think we'll value the time spent in person with family and friends a whole lot more. I haven't seen my parents or siblings or nieces or nephews since Christmas and likely won't until (if?) this whole thing mercifully ends. I daydream all the time about what it will be like to see them all again. I surely won't be squandering that time distracted by scrolling through social media on my stupid phone.
No to Real Estate.
Our law firm is now counting the days until our office space lease is up (649). We've all been forced to work remotely for 4 months which has convinced us we don't need space. We'll likely give back about 1/2 of our floor, and convert the rest into small video-conf conference rooms and hoteling our individual office spaces, instead of the individual 100 to 200 sq ft offices we have now.
Don't invest in commercial real estate...
I'm Out.
sick day GIFGiphyCalling in sick will become calling in via Google Hangouts 😢.
It can't be. Or at least no changes from pre-pandemic. If you're on PTO or sick leave, you're off. That said, I've worked important events (outages, planned major projects, etc..) while severely sick, as I'm sure many of us have.
The Mainstream....
Remote work will be more mainstream, so needing to live close to work will no longer be as desirable, causing inflated home prices in major tech metro areas to deflate.
Home delivery services like Amazon and Instacart will mean less time spent shopping.
Malls which were already on the decline will start closing down completely.
Business travel will decline as virtual meetings become normal.
Housing with home offices/video production studios and high speed internet will be important selling features.
Tech Days Ahead.
The pandemic has made this very clear that many of activities that require you to go outside are non essential. technology has grown up to fill that gap very well. I think technology will play a big role in this transition.
Can anyone imagine what would have happened if this thing arrived 10 or 15 years ago? The Western world would be torpedoed.
"upscale"
Buffets.
Before the pandemic I could go to an "upscale" buffet and tell myself everybody else was being hygienic.
I love buffet. But I will never eat at a buffet again in my life.
tired sleep GIF
Days Off....
Hopefully the view of the work week. 4 day weeks are overdue and having the permanent option to work from home 1 or 2 days should be a thing
Not gonna happen soon though.
The 40 hour, 5 day work week has been proven many times to do more harm than not. Well for corporate M-F roles anyway. We still gotta have people doing service things but they still need a more appropriate work schedule
But then someone's going to fuss that they have to pay more to employees per hour (this is an issue across a lot of jobs tbh, not just entry level hourly gigs).
Save Retail.
shopping GIFGiphyJC Penney's is legit about to go under.
There's a lot of brick and mortar stores that could disappear by this time next year. Sears, Bed Bath and Beyond, Macy's, Best Buy. Malls are going to empty of most of their anchor retailers.
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.