Perhaps the hardest thing many of us have had to accept about being in quarantine as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is the postponement of life plans both big and small.
I was going to spend more time in Europe for work, for instance, and was prepared to make some necessary moves on the career front. Now that everything has been shutdown and I'm home, I've had more time to reflect (which is fine) but it doesn't make what could have been any less disappointing. But such is life, right? There are so many things over which we have little or no control.
After Redditor ShadowDragon0001 asked the online community, "What has quarantine ruined for you?" people opened up and shared all the things they've had to miss out on while in isolation.
"I was trying to transition..."
I was trying to transition out of my current career when this whole thing came down. Now all that's on hold for several months.
"If it's not..."
Dating has become pretty ruined for me. If it's not someone freaking out about the virus it's someone who completely doesn't believe in it. Weird times, just gonna stay at home and grow my garden.
"I love my friends..."
Funnily, social media. Ever since this has all happens I've retreated into myself. I stopped checking all social media and just used less interactive ones like Reddit & Youtube.
I love my friends, but I can't bring myself to catch up on mundane quarantine BS right now.
"People."
People. I work in a convenience store during the graveyard shift and there were tons more people during the "lockdown" coming in with all their kids at night for snacks and letting their kids touch everything, and people have been in general way more rude to me.
"Had major surgery..."
My surgical recovery. Had major surgery on both my jaws on 14th February, a couple of weeks before my first check up lockdown started. My follow ups (at two separate hospitals with two separate doctors) were both rescheduled like three times and eventually I got a meeting set up with the surgeon on April 1st.
I hadn't had anything looked at post surgery for a month and a half, I couldn't eat because the plastic holding my teeth in place wasn't removed yet, so I'd been living almost exclusively on scrambled eggs.
On March 31st I got a phone call from the surgeon saying that they'd have to postpone our meeting the next day. I very nearly had a complete meltdown. He asked how I was coping with recovery and I told him that it wasn't going as well as possible because I couldn't eat.
My appointment went forward April 1st as planned because the surgeon was appalled about the fact that I'd not had any kind of post surgery check up. Poor man was in the full bee keeper suit but I've been able to eat and brush my teeth.
"I studied many years..."
I studied many years for my PhD and was supposed to have a fancy ceremonial defense in the Netherlands in a building hundreds of years old and a committee with funny hats and friends and family all over. We did it virtually last week and of course it was a fun day, but no way in person wouldn't have been cooler. Also, the worst part was the internet cut out for my promoter just when they announced the doctorate in his entire neighborhood, so we missed the traditional speech he would have made about our time together. :(
Also, wedding celebration has been delayed from this summer to August 2021.
"The thought that home schooling..."
The thought that home schooling my children may actually be better for our collective mental health. Turns out, my little social butterflies don't really handle being alone, and I'm exhausted of being mom, teacher, and best friend 24/7. I can't wait for fall...
"I swear..."
My social skills. I swear if I were to see my friends now, I would not know how to act around them anymore.
"Job opportunities..."
Job opportunities—basically the professional career I worked years to achieve has been stolen from me.
"Considering a symphony..."
Symphony.
Considering a symphony consists of a lot of people grouped together performing for a lot of people grouped together, I've not been able to play music with anybody for months now.
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.
Redditor Dawn_Cyborgzzz wanted everyone to share about times we made that one certain, simple decision, that turned out to be the best decision, so they asked:
"What 'you know what, just to be safe' thing you did end up saving your a** later"
I believe just turning the right corner can save a life.
We're defying death on the daily.
Life Saver
Cat Save GIFGiphy"Learned CPR and first aid. Had to give CPR to a family friend when she collapsed from a heart attack and thankfully she was brought back after being down for 15 minutes. She only had minor memory problems and mostly just couldn't remember that day. She is still here and kicking years later."
CompanionCarli3
$3.50 in quarters
"Was delivering pizza in a sketchy block of town late at night. Huge apartment complex with multiple buildings. Walking up to the front door I noticed a couple of guys wearing dark clothing about 100ft behind me walking in my direction. Delivery was on the second floor and by the time I reached her door I heard the main door of the apartment complex open and close."
"She used a CC for the order and tipped in cash so when I was putting the receipt into my bag (where I kept my cash) I actually pulled the rest of the cashout and stuffed it into my inner jacket pocket just to be safe leaving just the change I had that night in the bag. Started to head down the stairs back out to my car and two guys jumped out from behind the stairs, one had a gun pointed at me and told me to give them the money."
"I quickly handed them my bag filled with quarters and they took off towards the back entrance of the apartment complex. I never ran so fast in my life back to my car. I wanted to make sure I was as far away as possible before they realized they robbed me of $3.50 in quarters."
tjohnboy
End of the Night
"I was at a sleepover as a kid, I was a little worried because my mom had been oddly tired earlier that day. I went home early because I was worried. By the end of the night, I (14 at the time) had to call an ambulance for my mom, as she was having problems with her heart and I was the only one there with her. She was incapable of forming coherent sentences and would probably not have gotten the help she needed if I wasn't there. So, good thing I was."
boredwithhorns
Side by Side
"Was on a side-by-side vehicle mudding on some property a friend and I were visiting."
Mid-ride, I turn to my friend and say 'Hey, you should probably buckle your seat belt. Just in case.'"
"Not 1 min later did he lose control and slide front first into a tree going about as fast as this thing could go given the conditions."
"Both of us were okay but the side-by-side was completely ruined."
"He looked at me right after and his eyes were as big as dinner plates."
ajohndoe17
Locked and Ready
Top Gear Electric Cars GIF by BBC AmericaGiphy"I dropped my high school girlfriend off, then for some reason I locked the passenger door."
"Not 10 minutes later I was stopped at a red light and some scummy-looking dude tried to open up the door. I have no idea why I locked that door after she got out, I really didn't have a habit of that. No idea what would have happened if that guy got in my truck."
Fat_Ryan_Gosling
Lock the doors. Every door. Always.
Minutes Later
Surf Fail GIF by Red BullGiphy"$5 breakage insurance on a rental surfboard. Broke that f**ker clean in half in my first 10 minutes."
Jaboogaman
Going Blind
"My dad lost his glasses once. He was going to just use his old prescription but last minute decided to just go to the optometrist anyway in case something changed. Turns out he had a tear in his retina and was booked for surgery within 24 hours. It was bad enough they said he probably would have gone blind really soon had they not caught it when they did."
notallamawoman
Get it all checked...
"My stomach had some issues and my doctor sent me for a colonoscopy just to get things checked out. They found 1 polyp, no big deal, not related to the current problem, and told me to come back in 5 years just in case. I put in a Google reminder and forgot about it."
"5 years later, I went for a colonoscopy and they found a lot more and said I would have ended up with cancer in 5-20 years for sure had I not gone. Instead, they removed all polyps and now I’m regularly going to colonoscopies due to having a syndrome they identified."
"I’m far away from the age where you normally get a colonoscopy so I would definitely have got cancer. When you are eligible or if it is recommended, get a colonoscopy."
matttk
5 Minutes Later
"Not my a**, but I was getting ready for school whilst Mum was vomiting in the bathroom. She said it was just a stomach bug and to just go to school but mentioned her arm hurt. Something didn’t sit right so I called the ambulance from downstairs."
"They arrived and took her into the ambulance - she then proceeded to have 3 cardiac arrests and needed defibrillating each time. A double bypass later and she was up and about within a month."
"Paramedics told me she would have died 5 mins after I left if I hadn’t called."
TheKr1tster
Weird Feelings
John Stamos Lol GIF by LifetimeGiphy"Had some weird achy symptoms and went to the doctor even though I figured I was probably overreacting. Turns out I had cancer."
Ok-Ad-2605
"I got really sick with what I thought was a virus or infection or something. turns out it might have been something like that, but whatever it was, it was made significantly worse by the fact that I had leukemia."
AHomicidalTelevision
When it comes to safety, refrain from taking chances.
The simple things save lives.
Moviegoers online shared their thoughts when Redditor Snoo_19146 asked:
"What’s the first sign that a movie is going to be bad?"
Pandering to the audience with lame humor is such a turn-off.
This Speaks Volumes
"Characters think they are funny because they speak loudly."
– drod3333
Soph-moronic Humor
"Also references to farts or weed. (Not jokes: references.)"
'Hey guys who wants to smoke some weeeeed?'
"Pause for laughter"
– Beingabummer
Premature Review
"It's advertised as one of the best movies of the year."
"And it's late January."
– M-Test24
The Poster Says It All
"There’s someone shrugging whimsically on the poster. 🤷"
– findlestick
Trailers alone can be a red flag.
Cliff's Notes Version
"When the trailer already tells you the entire movie."
– JAR_Melethril
"I've scratched titles off my watch list because I feel I've already seen the important parts of the film through the trailer, why bother?"
– butter00pecan
Recycling One-Liners
"If there are multiple trailers for a comedy movie, but they use the same joke in all of them."
– jelecel865
"And then you sit in the movie or on netflix and you're like. Oh, the joke from the trailer, I think that's where the movie starts to get funny, but it just transitions into the serious end arc and then is over."
– candybomberz
Familiar Jokes From Deadpool
"Something that always bugged me was the first Deadpool movie and it’s trailers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie, but here you have a character wearing a mask, played by an actor known for comedy in a movie that probably had a ton of jokes and multiple takes left on the cutting room floor."
"They could have EASILY dubbed different jokes into the trailer and used the final ones in the movie for an extra surprise. But nope, trailer jokes -> movie jokes. Kind of a bummer."
– LegendaryOutlaw
Some movies are destined for failure.
If It Ain't Broke
"It’s a remake of something that didn’t suck."
– Diesel07012012
"I hate that there’s so many remakes of decent/good movies. Feels like it’s just a safe money-grab. It would be cool if movies that didn’t do so hot, get reworked into good movie remakes, but I guess that’s too much of a risk for studios to bother with."
– AnEpicHibiscus
A Very Telling Intro
"An exposition in which one character explains everything that's going on to another character that should already know what is going on."
– rohawe8491
Familiar Setup
'Stacy sweetie, you know I haven’t been the same since your brother disappeared 4 years ago at the creek, & then we moved here to get away from the bad memories but it didn’t change anything & now you’re moving to college & I’ve been finding it hard to accept, & I’m struggling to hold down my job at the diner & that new guy I’m seeing is acting really shady & disappears for days, & completely unrelated to all that there’s mysterious murders happening since he arrived in town. You know all this Stacy..'
"whilst unpacking the shopping in the first scene."
– bluerain80
We Need A Reset
"Doctor: what we have here is a case of transcranial temporal reinforcement. If the patient is not restored to his original nacency the Einstein Bozeman condensate will reseed throughout the multiverse and congeal with unfortold consequences!"
"Other doctor: in English please!"
"Doctor: we need to send him back in time so his brain can restart the universe."
– ActorMonkey
Multiple Cooks
"Not always the case but when there are more than 3 writers a movie tends to lack vision. It can also occur due to rewrites. Not A Bomb Podcast reviews movies that bombed financially or critically and this is a subject often discussed if anyone is interested."
– earball1996
Maybe it's all about the journey.
Trailers do have to entice you with the best parts of a film promising audiences they'll be in for a good time.
However, movies just have to deliver on that promise by not revealing all the best bits in the trailer.
One movie I thought was going to be a succession of cheap one-liners with nothing but action was Disney's animated film Big Hero 6. The trailer was never appealing to me.
But after reading many positive reviews, I decided to give it a chance and I'm so glad I did.
It ended up being a very intelligent, emotionally mature film dealing with grief and an internal struggle about doing the right thing. While those are common tropes, it was all the more impactful watching animated characters dealing with serious themes and issues.
The bottom line is don't be quick to dismiss every movie based on its trailer.
You might be pleasantly surprised.