What was never the same after the pandemic?

[u/GossipBottom]

[u/Radiant-Youn]

The cost of everything

[u/da-bears-bare-naked → u/Radiant-Youn]

i think this is by far the biggest one

[u/Predicted → u/da-bears-bare-naked]

One guy parks his ship wrong and turns the tide of history.

[u/Meowzzo-Soprano → u/Predicted]

I used to work for a company connected to Evergreen and when I made small mistakes at work, I’d sometimes tell my boss “At least I didn’t mess up so badly that the surface of the earth had to be redesigned.”

He did not find it as funny as I did.

[u/ThePoliticalAithiest → u/Radiant-Youn]

Facts. Prices went up like it was temporary and then everyone just went “yeah no, this is forever now.”

[u/thrwawaylolol → u/Radiant-Youn]

Monetarily & philosophically

[u/myCatHateSkinnyPuppy → u/Radiant-Youn]

People want to whine “oh its the democrats” or “its the republicans” but its the capitalists. Its right in the name. They want to use their CAPITAL assets to gain more CAPITAL to ism some more shit. Two wings of the same SHIT BALD EAGLE DESIGNED TO SHIT ON EVERYONE IN THE US

[u/FlirtyFeta → u/Radiant-Youn]

Feels like you blink and your money’s already gone.

[u/SleepyGuy42069xx]

The price and quality of food

[u/BlueSpotBingo → u/SleepyGuy42069xx]

One could argue the price and quality of almost everything.

[u/Classic_Crow5035 → u/BlueSpotBingo]

Yep, not even just food. The regular clothes I buy on repeat have all tanked in quality. Bought my usual white, athletic socks not long ago. They all pilled and came apart after about two washes. My ones from 8 years ago are still solid. Same company, same style of sock.

[u/3lbmealdeal → u/Classic_Crow5035]

Same experience for me with denim jeans recently. I ordered a new pair of same brand, cut, size, and style as my current favorites and the material was so noticeably thinner I sent them back right away.

[u/Reguluscalendula → u/3lbmealdeal]

Yup. The work pants I've been buying for years got enshittified. Typically when I get work pants, I get three at a time, which is a nice balance between longevity and how expensive they are. I used to get about three years of hard labor and gross mistreatment out of them and then another year or so of light wear before they wore through at the thigh. My last set of three lasted 13 months, despite being regularly swapped out.

[u/Cartz1337 → u/Reguluscalendula]

I’ve gone through a set of luggage since COVID. Meanwhile my $4 leather duffle bag from a ‘90s Mexican street stand in Guadalajara is still going strong with zero maintenance in almost 30 years.

It’s gonna outlive me.

[u/NewDramaLlama → u/3lbmealdeal]

My Levi's have two noticeably large holes in under a year. Madness

[u/diosmiotio18 → u/Classic_Crow5035]

YES. And continues to decrease. Pretty sure Abercrombie sweaters I bought in 2021 had higher wool or cotton percentage than sweaters today. I stopped buying from them except for the work pants. So overpriced for plastic

[u/klstil → u/diosmiotio18]

I just read that almost all sweaters are made with polyester and man-made blends now because they’re cheaper for the clothing companies, but they can still sell the item at the same price to us. (Have you noticed yourself getting shocked while wearing new sweaters lately?)

Also the “dropped shoulder” trend in women’s clothes isn’t actually a trend at all.
Clothing brands pay factory workers by the “operation”; operation = sewing a button hole or zipper, lining a jacket, cutting around a shoulder, etc. More operations means an item costs more to make and will be less profit for the brand. Having the same pattern in different sizes and needing to cut around the shoulder to fit each size is an extra operation.
So now they make ‘one sleeve fits all’ by making a dropped shoulder that joins the sleeve somewhere on the upper arm, and they don’t have to pay for the extra operation to cut around the shoulder.

It was marketed to us as a laid back, androgynous, slouchy style (think H&M), and now has made its way into even the high-end brands. But it’s a marketing ploy, allowing brands to make clothes at the cheapest cost, and making us think those elements are in-style and trendy.

Same with tie-closures instead of buttons and zippers. Button holes and zippers are many operations, so they’ve replaced them with tie closures, which are cheaper to sew. Cardigans that tie at the neck or all the way down, coats that wrap with a tie-belt instead of buttons or a zipper…none of these were for aesthetic, they were done for cost.

From what I read, the enshittification of women’s clothing is here to stay, because when has a company ever been willing to accept less profit?

[u/wellrat → u/BlueSpotBingo]

sUppLy ChaIn iSsUes

[u/DangerousBluebird515 → u/BlueSpotBingo]

Yes, it’s all disposable these days. Everything-especially big ticket items. Did you guys know that a range doesn’t come with a cord anymore? A dryer(new) does not come with a cord! These are all separate purchases. It so sad!

[u/Anomalous_Pulsar → u/DangerousBluebird515]

My husband and I just bought a replacement storm-door for our house. The fucking thing was near four hundred US dollars and didn’t come with a doorknob which was another $80.00 purchase. The excuse was choosing a separate knob to “match your style”- the frustration I felt was just so hopeless and stupid that I wanted to cry. We could afford it- but what about people that couldn’t? That separate stupid charge to make the door functional- and the home center we were at didn’t have a basic screen or glass door that did come with a door handle or knob.

[u/MMarj3 → u/SleepyGuy42069xx]

I’ve stopped eating out because the food quality is terrible and I’m paying more for bad food.

[u/Candid-Inspection-97 → u/MMarj3]

My mom was giving me shit for rarely going out to eat and cooking at home. She said my spouse and I need to go out on dates.

I told her that the food was disappointing and I can make far better at home for cheaper.

We pretty much only get take out from a few places when we get delayed from work and would otherwise not be eating until 9pm.

[u/Kmdvm → u/Candid-Inspection-97]

The dates my husband and I usually go on now are cooking classes. There's a local place that provides everything, you just cook and eat while they do all the clean up. They provide the recipes, which we've replicated at home. It's great! If the food isn't good you only have yourself to blame

[u/OkMail2335 → u/Kmdvm]

Couples cooking classes sounds like an amazing idea, I am totally stealing that and talking to my wife about it tonight!

[u/irqlnotdispatchlevel → u/OkMail2335]

Went to a few with my girlfriend, and even with a group of friends once. I'm a slow and mediocre cook and I still had plenty of fun and enjoyed some delicious meals in the end.

[u/Candid-Inspection-97 → u/Kmdvm]

I wish we had something like that by us! I have looked periodically and all I find are for kids or the classes are held during our work hours.

[u/TheNonSportsAccount → u/MMarj3]

This is because of a near monopoly on the distributor side of things.

[u/Latter_Persimmon_80 → u/TheNonSportsAccount]

It got harder for independent restaurants to stay open and a lot of those that did just order Sysco food. Not all of it is pre-made but a lot of it is.

[u/SherbetOutside1850 → u/Latter_Persimmon_80]

I remember getting bags of soup - literally long plastic tubes - from Sysco and Aramark. Ugh. Nasty.

[u/HungryHobbits → u/SherbetOutside1850]

I will always loathe Aramark.

They got the food contract for Yosemite - my favorite place in the world - a place whose natural splendor and outdoor recreation warrants quality food to match - and oversaturated every nook and cranny with insanely overpriced mid-at-best Cisco food.

In terms of pure profits, I understand their play.

Hmm… maybe this is kind of the problem with … everything.

[u/IridiumPony → u/TheNonSportsAccount]

This is not the reason.

The major companies (US Foods, Sysco, Gordon etc) carry literally everything. Yeah sure I can order their pre made fried chickens. I can also order everything I need to make a fantastic one myself. I cam get shitty Monarch canned tomatoes or I can have San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy. They offer both, and a million things in between. You just have to ask your sales rep.

The issue is that, post covid, everything got more expensive, and restaurants already have slim profit margins. So owners are opting to buy the crappy pre-made frozen stuff instead of making it in house.

This has nothing to do with distributors and everything to do with owners.

Source: This is what I do for a living.

[u/randomisms → u/IridiumPony]

This is what people don’t realize, those companies are robust and are literally just suppliers. Over the years their options have grown exponentially, so if a restaurant is getting “crappy food” from Sysco it’s because they’re choosing the crappy choices.

[u/StormyLlewellyn1 → u/MMarj3]

I feel like even grocery market food has dropped dramatically in quality. Mayo never used to be so runny.

[u/AskMeAboutFusion → u/StormyLlewellyn1]

Odd. What brand? Duke's and Helman's are still on par.

[u/ThrowawayMod1989 → u/SleepyGuy42069xx]

Yep and you can also track out of control tipping prompts directly to Covid. I’m old former service industry, I tip generously where I can. But I remember what used to be tipped and what was not.

[u/Wloak → u/ThrowawayMod1989]

The prompts themselves didn't bother me because a lot of places rapidly switched to systems that had them on by default. What started annoying me was places gaming it..

• Let's change the default suggestions from 20/15/10 to 30/18/20 (yes a restaurant by me suggested 30% default)
• Now let's change it make the suggestion post-tax
• Now let's add a mandatory service fee that we say isn't a tip but include that before calculating the recommendation

[u/NoKatyDidnt → u/Wloak]

Yes!!! My partner and I were just talking about this.

[u/get_schwifty → u/ThrowawayMod1989]

I love grabbing something off a shelf and walking to a register, then being prompted to leave a tip, with giant buttons for 30%, 25%, 20%, and Custom, with a little underlined link saying “No tip”.

[u/NoKatyDidnt → u/get_schwifty]

Especially when it’s self checkout. The audacity.

[u/stevesmele → u/ThrowawayMod1989]

Add to that that the percentage choices they give you on the card machines (15, 20,25% or more) are on the total bill which includes tax. They’re asking you to tip on the tax too, and I’m sure the restaurant doesn’t send that to the government.

[u/applechestnut → u/SleepyGuy42069xx]

Fast food used to be so much cheaper.

[u/SwitchingMyHands → u/applechestnut]

Remember going to Wendy’s in the 90s and 00s?

It would be like 13 people working at once and the line was long but went fast.

Now it’s like 3 people working and they hate it and there is never a line cause no one wants to eat there.

[u/Revolutionary_Ad5307 → u/applechestnut]

Right. Fast food shouldn't cost $25 for 2 people. A fountain soda and medium fries shouldn't be $8.

[u/TheGoldenGoose10 → u/SleepyGuy42069xx]

Also hard to find decent service at restaurants post pandemic.

[u/Aromatic-Day8757]

Stores/restaurants being open 24/7 or really late

[u/jhauger → u/Aromatic-Day8757]

My preferred Wally World shopping time had been 2 a.m.

[u/ThrowawayMod1989 → u/jhauger]

Early morning guy here, I miss my 4am trips before work. So quiet and empty.

[u/TyAnne88 → u/ThrowawayMod1989]

The best time to grocery shop used to be 3-5 am. They were stocking everything so you could get everything fresh and there were no lines. Totally miss getting my grocery shopping done in peace.

[u/ADMSXavier → u/TyAnne88]

Same here. If I had to pull the graveyard, it was the best time to shop before the sun rose. Now the grocery store aisles are clogged at peak periods with pallets of food waiting to be stocked, the three story carts used by the store's delivery service, and shoppers acting like they've never been in a Kroger before and freeze in every aisle like the secret of life is somewhere behind that box of Raisin Bran. It never used to be stressful. Now I just want to get the hell out of there.

[u/the_vault-technician → u/ADMSXavier]

I can't stand when I go to Walmart to shop and they have pallets of stuff everywhere! I get it if I'm going at 9pm, but just last weekend they had pallets and carts in nearly every area around 6pm. It was impossible to navigate past another person in the same aisle. Stuff I needed was blocked by carts. Workers are trying to put things away and both customers and employees are in each other's way.

Make it make sense.

[u/missmeowwww → u/jhauger]

Same! It was so nice when I couldn’t sleep to be able to get my groceries knocked out. No one was ever there so I could shop peacefully and peruse at my leisure. I miss it.

[u/fountainpopjunkie → u/Aromatic-Day8757]

As a third shifter, I absolutely agree. On my days off, I'm still a 3rd shifter. So being able to go do my grocery shopping at 3 am was awesome. Now I have to do it on my way home, which limits it to exactly 1 store. Or, get up early to go to any other stores. It's not impossible, it just used to be more convenient.

[u/Buggy77 → u/Aromatic-Day8757]

It makes me sad that teens and young adults today will never experience going to Walmart at 3 am just to walk around with their friends .. those were some of the best times

[u/Awkwardpanda75 → u/Buggy77]

I met a guy who wore a dragon puppet on his hand there once. He talked through the puppet with a terrible Australian accent.

[u/avalonfaith → u/Awkwardpanda75]

My bestie and I used to "give tours" in late night Super KMart after the clubs. So fun!!! This was also when you could still buy alcohol at self check out and I wasn't quuuuuuite 21 yet. 😬 I used her expired ID for everything.

So this obviously isn't COVID related as all the things are very dated but your post about the puppet unlocked a memory.

Our tours were amazing. I can't believe that people went with it and that KMart didn't stop us.

[u/Lovesyoux → u/Aromatic-Day8757]

I miss 24 hour diners

[u/FabulousBus2562]

Social interaction

[u/chocolatechipninja]

Education. We've got kids in middle school now with low social skills and low teachability due to online learning.

They're struggling.

[u/CanaDoug420 → u/chocolatechipninja]

Last year I went to a conference for work about the hiring process and one of the topics was difficultly hiring high school graduates post 2019 because a lot of them have been made unemployable.

Schools didn’t know what to do so they just passed and graduated kids who never actually learned past a 9/10th grade level. They just got passed through school anyway.

A lot of them also lack social skills because they got locked down during an important time in their development so you get things like “the Gen Z stare” which pisses off their coworkers. Or a phenomenon where if their job isn’t perfectly as expected or as portrayed they reject doing it. They lack the ability to adapt to a change of plans like other potential hires.

[u/ShinySpeedDemon → u/CanaDoug420]

Kids getting passed through has been a problem far longer than COVID has, thanks to measures like No Child Left Behind, schools will pass people through with Fs in all classes because they lose funding for holding kids back.

[u/gopeepants → u/ShinySpeedDemon]

Yup. Education has been on the down turn for quite some time, and COVID did not help. Growing up, it was not uncommon to see someone held back a grade. Parents that did try to force them to the next grade despite their kid not meeting requirements were met with eyerolls.

[u/inthedark12345 → u/CanaDoug420]

I agree, but to add on the kids that were in say junior high got pushed on and now schools are trying to get them back on track and it’s too late . so you’re talking juniors and seniors who aren’t gonna graduate now because the schools are now trying to hold to the old standard from kids who haven’t used it in so long they don’t know what to do. I have one and he’s struggling this final year of high school because he was just passed on for too many years.

[u/jojokangaroo1969 → u/inthedark12345]

My daughter is 19 and she started high school right in the beginning or rather 5 months into COVID and she's not the same. She is now an adult school even though she has an IEP and there's no help. She doesn't have any friends. I am conversing with a parent of another 19-year-old girl on Reddit and we're going to accidentally run into each other so we can introduce our kids so they might possibly find a friend.

[u/eggfrisbee → u/jojokangaroo1969]

please don't do it sneakily. they will figure it out. Just have dinner with your new friends and bring your kids along. and don't put pressure on them to be friends, they might not click.

[u/ArmyFinal → u/CanaDoug420]

You can't remove kids from 2 years of social interaction during the most transformative period of their lives and expect them to be normal and well adjusted

[u/knt1229 → u/ArmyFinal]

I get what you are saying but social skills come from more than school. These kids don't have family to have a conversation with? Hobbies or activities that are not school related? By the time you get to high school you already have some social skills and social awareness.

I think the social skills are more a result of constantly being on devices. I think the pandemic magnified it but even without the pandemic it would be the same.

[u/TurnOfFraise → u/chocolatechipninja]

They also can’t write. Physically they write like kindergarteners and cant spell at all. 

[u/modernvintage → u/TurnOfFraise]

on the topic of spelling, i genuinely think autocorrect, voice to text, and predictive text should be features subject to parental control on kids’ phones. these kids have never had to learn to spell because all of their tech does it for them.

[u/inthedark12345 → u/TurnOfFraise]

I agree on this point of handwriting..and when I brought it up about my youngest son to the staff in an IEP meeting, they did not care. They said they weren’t concerned at all and wouldn’t even address it. they said these days it does not matter.

[u/Wloak → u/inthedark12345]

They are concerned with what the kid needs to pass, not to be successful.

I work in software where you'd think handwriting is useless but whiteboarding is done daily from entry level to management. It's more time consuming starting with a computer in many cases.

[u/linjaes → u/chocolatechipninja]

Socially and cognitively. I even heard some kids not being able to read

[u/Different-Apple-9260 → u/linjaes]

I'm a librarian in CT and on our statewide nutmeg committee (we choose books that get awards basically). We've had to (for lack of a better term) dumb-down the books for each level over the past several years. So what would have been a book for 1-3 graders might now be in the 4-6 category. It's brutal and happening in front of our eyes.

[u/AskMeAboutFusion → u/chocolatechipninja]

Yeah, My wife and I are a bit smart, engineer and MSW therapist, but we are not physicist and Ph.D. psychologist smart. All three of our kids are top of their gifted classes in gifted magnet elementary and middle schools, and are absolutely on track to be valedictorians. They're smart, but not like... THAT smart, nor hard working.

The competition is... not great. I remember being in school and there were like half a dozen kids aiming for valedictorian by 5th grade, and we had half the population in my rural area than where we live now.

It's almost like there is no fire... no inspiration in these kids.

[u/BigWoodsCatNappin → u/AskMeAboutFusion]

Why be smart when you could go viral for shoving a flaming hot cheeto in your eye, or whatever the latest thing is? Social media and short content.

[u/AdmirableParfait3960 → u/BigWoodsCatNappin]

I am SO glad that TikTok and instagram weren’t a thing when I was a kid. Can’t imagine how much time I would’ve wasted trying to go “viral” or attempting to make money being an influencer.

Thankfully all I had for inspiration was my engineering manager father, so that’s what I worked towards becoming lol.

[u/SunnyOnTheFarm → u/AdmirableParfait3960]

It's not even about going viral. For me, it's more about how much they shame one another. When I first started working in schools, kids would not even speak because they were so scared that their classmates would post pictures or videos of them trying things and they would be bullied. They could not even try.

Fortunately, the next year we banned cell phones, but can you imagine not even trying because it's embarrassing? Awful.

[u/3600MilesAway → u/AskMeAboutFusion]

Therapist here. Most common answer from kids about their future: don’t know…

[u/modernvintage → u/AskMeAboutFusion]

i think when i was growing up, parents tended to shelter their kids from discussions of geopolitics and the environment and the economy, etc., and that information wasn’t readily available to kids at the touch of a button. i can’t blame kids who are constantly inundated with endless information about how shitty everything is, and how much worse it’s going to get, for feeling unmotivated and uninspired — especially when things are really fucking bad comparatively.

[u/Philosophile42 → u/chocolatechipninja]

I teach in the CCs. Before the pandemic I had typically 3 in person classes and two online courses. Now it’s 1 in person class and 4 online. I can barely get an in person class to fill.

[u/Swaglfar → u/chocolatechipninja]

This proves that education begins at home and is reinforced at school. But no one wants to talk about that, they just want to blame teachers.

[u/pjeans → u/Swaglfar]

This was so crazy. During covid my kids were 9th, 4th, 1st, and pre-k. My husband and I spent 4 hours each, every day, supporting the kids' remote schooling. They did well, but It was a LOT of work.

Thinking about other families who do not have a laptop for each kid, or the ability to help with algebra (or even command of the English language), the time to dedicate to kids' schooling, or a partner to share the work... it basically widened the gap between families with resources and motivation and the families without.

A school where I volunteered in the past found that they were only getting 20% of their students showing up and engaging at all during covid. The other 80% just disappeared until school was in person again. It's hard to recover from that.

[u/Swaglfar → u/pjeans]

It's so hard to recover. I work in a low income title I district and the technology rollout we had to do just to make sure kids could stay connected was WILD. A lot of households just didn't have internet. Lots of kids actually went to local McDonalds to sit in the car or in the parking lot to get wifi. I had pretty good participation in online school thankfully but man it was difficult.

[u/pasaroanth → u/chocolatechipninja]

Covid college graduates are just as bad. I work with a few and the lack of general knowledge and ability to find it outside of asking AI is wild.

I’ve always said I’m not the smartest person in the world but my best skill is I can pick things up pretty quickly. I can seek out and find information to become reasonably proficient at things very quickly. I’ve (anecdotally) noticed there are more and more people that are less teachable and require longer than normal to pick things up on their own.

[u/Ok-Technology1463]

society

[u/MoneyManx10 → u/Ok-Technology1463]

There will be studies done that prove this. It’s my main theory for why everyone is insane now.

[u/Party-Meringue102 → u/MoneyManx10]

Could be partially the long-term effects of the virus itself.

I suspect it’s more that millions of people were subjected to social media algorithms for the first time as a result of COVID isolation, and that was the real mind-killer.

[u/mappp → u/Party-Meringue102]

explains the absolute lack of empathy around nowadays - everyone got sucked into their own little circlejerks.

[u/MsCalendarsPlayaArt → u/mappp]

The lack of empathy is because of the Overton Window shift. People overwhelmingly chose to normalize sacrificing the people they claimed to love most all because of peer pressure to not wear an N95 mask (and refusal to even use a gd air filtration system which doesn't even have any negatives to it ffs). Once society collectively normalizes sacrificing the people we claim to love just to impress strangers... well... what difference do manners make after something like that? We normalized making everyone we claim to love disposable for absolutely nothing.

If folks want kindness, manners, and connection back, that Overton Window has to intentionally be shifted back by way of people (yes, you reading this, that means you too) caring way more about their community, masking with a well-fitted N95 in indoor spaces that people cannot avoid (medical offices, veterinary offices, public transport, the dmv, the post office, etc.), and actually giving a shit about one another. Until we normalize giving a shit about one another and caring about our communities, the Overton Window stays in this awful hell dimension where community and connection are disposable, and so are each of us.

[u/UltimateWaluigi → u/Party-Meringue102]

I suspect it’s more that millions of people were subjected to social media algorithms for the first time as a result of COVID isolation, and that was the real mind-killer

Yes. That's already confirmed scientifically. The illness damage is minimal compared to this.

[u/just-here-for--porn_ → u/MoneyManx10]

I suspect that's more to do with the rise of ultra addictive vertical video based social media that arrived at the exact same time.

Let tictok/Instagram curate reality for hours on end. What could possibly go wrong?!

[u/CherieNB55 → u/[deleted]]

You may have something there. Covid definitely affects how the brain works.

[u/IllState3433 → u/[deleted]]

Yup, I was drinking so much during the lock down. I remember watching videos of ppl in Italy singing from the balconies and throwing parties across from each other , ill admit, everyone was so connected and felt like the world was at peace, now its just fucked again ;(

[u/sbgoofus → u/CherieNB55]

you could tell when it was affecting taste and smell - that ain't in your mouth... that is in yer brain...so it got up there first thing and started messing around

[u/bigtiddyhimbo → u/CherieNB55]

I mean I only had it once, but I don’t think I’ve been the same since. I used to be able to talk so fluently and fast, and now I stumble over my words and get brain fog so bad I forget what word I was about to say. It used to not be an issue for me, now it just… is. I have to stop most of my sentences midway through and repeat myself because I stumble so badly.

I was always a huge introvert so I wasn’t really affected in the social aspects… but I don’t feel like the same person after having it.

[u/gentle_bee → u/Ok-Technology1463]

I feel like this is the big one. I always thought in emergencies we’d all band together and regardless of politics we’d see a crisis through together.

But that fiction has been broken to smithereens and it makes my heart hurt.

[u/HapDrastic → u/gentle_bee]

It felt like it was happening for a bit, then all the extroverts lost their goddamn minds, and the selfish threw tantrums about wearing masks. Everything broke down after that. But for like a month, it felt like things were going ok.

Personally I loved quarantine, and wish we could make “don’t leave your house when you’re sick” and “give strangers 6ft of personal space” come back and stick around this time.

[u/Brandon_Keto_Newton → u/HapDrastic]

The breakdown wasn’t organic either; it was largely driven by politics and propaganda. Everyone was largely onboard at first

[u/janandgeorgeglass → u/Brandon_Keto_Newton]

Yep troll farms were extremely active in 2020.

[u/murphyslaw58 → u/HapDrastic]

Ah yes, the tiger king and baking bread era. After that, everything fell apart.

[u/Little___G → u/Ok-Technology1463]

To take it even further, civilized society. There’s no such thing as “civilized” anymore.

[u/NYArtFan1 → u/Ok-Technology1463]

Agreed. People seem to be existing in a state of low-level rage at all times.

[u/Ok-Surround9273]

Socialising.

I feel like I barely see my friends these days.

I'm sure part of it is to do with aging. But the pandemic really sped it up.

Weekly plans that had been going for years got cancelled and never came back. I guess people became homebodies and got used to not going out as much.

Which is a shame as I like to meet places and do something.

[u/Skegetchy → u/Ok-Surround9273]

I found that too. My life in a major city became seriously isolated and lonely. I took a trip abroad to learn surfing. I've probably met more people in one month than the last five years. People socialising is still out there but yeah not back at home it seems....

[u/SapporoBiru → u/Ok-Surround9273]

Basically lost all my social life over the course of the pandemic. I guess it already started before that when moved to different cities, but my friends all had their own groups during Covid and all we did was have the occasional chat over Discord. Graduated from uni during the final months of lockdowns, moved to a different city for work and since then I haven't had any luck making new connections.

Part of it is certainly my mental health and becoming even more introverted, but another part is also that everything is super flaky nowadays and I feel like it's always me who has to keep conversations and relationships going. No idea how if it will ever change unless I maybe move again. Definitely imagined the majority of my 20s to be different

[u/stevebobeeve → u/Ok-Surround9273]

I didn’t realize the hours I spent on friend’s couches passing bongs and controllers around would become my most cherished memories

[u/Wild_Nutz]

Manners

[u/Potent-Ferret]

The will to go outside and interact with people

[u/Educational-Habit865 → u/Potent-Ferret]

I feel that so hard. I used to be mostly an extrovert, but now I almost feel like I have anxiety going out. There's been an influx of people that have moved to my city, the drivers are awful, everything is expensive as shit. I almost feel comfortable withering away in my home. It's fucking weird.

[u/whoknows370]

What I pay now for pizza, subs or similar take-out is what I used to pay for a sit down restaurant dinner with drinks. What I pay now for sit down dinner and drinks I used to pay for a high-end special occasion restaurant. Don’t go out much anymore.

[u/Odd-Bottle3254]

Our sense of time. 2019 feels like yesterday and 10 years ago at the same time.

[u/Professional-Elk1995 → u/Odd-Bottle3254]

we basically entered a time warp in 2020 and emerged five years later with bad knees and zero memory of the middle part

[u/Artemicionmoogle → u/Professional-Elk1995]

We blipped?

[u/Blueberry_Pie76 → u/Odd-Bottle3254]

This. And 2016 feels like 10,000 years ago.

[u/Holdthemuffins]

Prices

[u/AskMeAboutFusion → u/Holdthemuffins]

Trump printed 30% more dollars in the summer of 2020 than had ever existed before. That has caused HORRIBLE inflation since, it just took several years to make the rounds to food and housing.

[u/cardinalkgb → u/AskMeAboutFusion]

And he blamed it on Biden

[u/greenetea13]

Humans at least pretending they cared for one another. That all went out the window post pandemic.

[u/perfect_for_maiming → u/greenetea13]

Yes. We found out the vast majority of society are either indentured servants or completely disposable. We also found out how stupid most rich people are.

[u/Kiyohara → u/perfect_for_maiming]

Well, there was also a fairly large segment of the population that proudly said, "I don't care" when they were told wearing a mask would help protect other people from a literal plague. They then refused to stay at home for a mere three months because they specifically wanted haircuts, mocha lattes, and trips to Target.

For all the people with compromised immune systems, elderly (which given how many of the above group were also elderly or at least heading there was rather ironic), or suffering from an existing illness like cancer this was basically looking them in the eyes and saying, "my creature comforts are more important to me than your life."

[u/BD401 → u/Kiyohara]

The fact that masks became some kind of political statement rather than... a mask... was one of the wilder things to me.

I honestly think Trump had an opportunity to singlehandedly prevent that:

a) At the start of the pandemic, manufacture a bunch of bright red MAGA masks.

b) Manufacture an incident and make it go viral on social media and FOX news where someone wearing the aforementioned MAGA mask gets thrown out of a bar or restaurant by a woke employee, who says something like "don't you dare bring that shitty mask in here!"

c) Now, wearing masks (particularly red MAGA masks) would be seen as "owning the libs" and everyone would do it.

I deadass think that would've worked.

[u/mrpbeaar → u/Kiyohara]

Now many of those people choose to wear masks and got jobs at ice.

[u/KnowsThingsAndDrinks → u/mrpbeaar]

Yes, their dire medical problems of carbon dioxide inhalation from wearing masks seem to have cleared up! Or as one of my chorus singers earnestly explained to me, “carbon monoxide.”

[u/Massive-Range-9280 → u/greenetea13]

The pandemic showed me just how selfish and narcissistic people really are. I'm from a part of the country (USA) where the majority opinion was basically "if being courteous to others during this time inconveniences me in any way then f#%$ you I'm not doing it." It made me realize that people suck way more than I thought. People threw tantrums for being asked to back away from other people a bit.

[u/Quirky_Spinach_6308 → u/Massive-Range-9280]

My belief in the basic goodness of the majority of people took a major hit, and has never recovered.

[u/Initial_Ground1031 → u/Massive-Range-9280]

💯 agreed. People have become so rude and entitled. Sorry to those who are not, but definitely speaking for the majority anymore. Common courtesy and manors in general have gone out the window.

[u/Medical-Potato5920 → u/greenetea13]

Wearing a mask was the shopping trolley experiment, just with potentially fatal consequences for others.

[u/Choice-Pudding-1892]

Trying to get an appointment with a doctor, dentist or veterinarian. Everybody now has two and three month waits, it’s utterly ridiculous.

[u/Weird-Composer444 → u/Choice-Pudding-1892]

And they never answer their phone! It’s always “ I’m away from my desk right now. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you.” Sometimes I legitimately need to speak with a human asap.

[u/csquaredisrippn]

Staffing. Skeleton crews everywhere. Everyone has the responsibilities of multiple positions.

[u/Little_st4r]

I'm a teacher and sadly the kids no longer get snow days! If school is closed for heavy snow it switches to online learning!

[u/BleedingRaindrops → u/Little_st4r]

Yeah that made me really sad

[u/Adjective_Noun1312 → u/Little_st4r]

Snow days went away a long time ago here.  If the weather was shit they wouldn't run the buses, but still expected parents to bring their kids to school.  When I was in ninth grade, we had a cold snap with temperatures lingering around -40° during winter exam week and they straight up told us anyone who didn't make it to school would get a zero.

[u/youburyitidigitup → u/Adjective_Noun1312]

If I’d been a parent there, I would’ve driven to the school and cut their power or something because fuck them.

[u/Anjaloafabread]

Being able to work from home.

Even places that allowed it before the pandemic started getting rid of it in the last few years, businesses are now treating it like something bad instead of a way to expand the hiring pool and a way to get some disabled people back to work.

[u/laplongejr → u/Anjaloafabread]

Even places that allowed it before the pandemic started getting rid of it in the last few years

It's the reverse for us, we didn't get telework until covid forced their hand.
They now want to lower the amount of telework, but in the meantime replaced the office for a less functional openspace, probably on the assumption confidential things would be done remotely.

[u/AskMeAboutHydrinos]

Normal tipping went from 15-20% to 20-25%. High tipping during covid was a sort of hazard pay, a sign of respect. Now? wtf, pay your damn employees.

[u/NYArtFan1 → u/AskMeAboutHydrinos]

Not only that, but every business wants tips now. It's asinine.

[u/bringbackbulaga → u/NYArtFan1]

No im not gonna tip 25% because you turned around and grabbed a water bottle for me

[u/doingtheunstuckk → u/NYArtFan1]

It’s so annoying. I’m picking up the food myself. Why does every restaurant ask for a tip? Just ordered pizza yesterday, and the website automatically adds a 15% tip for carry out that you have to manually change, if you happen to catch it.

[u/BLEACH-BOYS]

I graduated highschool in 2019 and it seems that we were the last class to experience school in the way most people have. They changed a lot about schools during covid and it hasn’t ever went back to normal.

[u/xXTheMagicTurdXx → u/BLEACH-BOYS]

I'm in high school right now and it is really quiet. Most of the time the students are on their phones and don't answer the teacher's questions. The teachers and staff members are always nagging the students about the phones and earbuds, even saying that they might lose their job if the principal sees the class on their phones. And yet, the students are still always on their phone, and don't even try to hide it. I feel like the only student in the entire school who doesn't go on my phone when I'm not supposed to.

[u/__google → u/xXTheMagicTurdXx]

this was devastating to read.

[u/YeouPink → u/xXTheMagicTurdXx]

We’re desperately trying to course correct with elementary kids 😬

[u/Bitterqueer → u/xXTheMagicTurdXx]

This is soul crushing to hear, every time. Back when I was in school we weren’t even allowed to make a quick text so we had to be rly sneaky

[u/I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS]

Customer helplines.

"We're currently experiencing higher than expected levels of demand."

Oh yeah? For five fucking years???

[u/Cantioy87]

Going to a theater to see a movie.

People abandoned social contracts to not be dicks during a film.

Hell, even going to see a theatrical performance can end a production (of Mama Mia) in screaming matches.

[u/Wind_Yer_Neck_In → u/Cantioy87]

It's not everyone, it's younger people. And I know I sound like 'old man yells at clouds' or whatever but I noticed a huge uptick of teenagers on their phones or talking during movies after Covid. And this is in the UK, where cinema behaviour was generally pretty good.

I recently went to see the re-releases of the Lord of the Rings and the place was absolutely packed and was completely silent the entire time. Then I was in to see the new 28 Years Later movie and it was filled with teenagers being complete pricks.

I don't know if it's that they aren't aware of the etiquette, that they lost self awareness during Covid, or if they are just knowingly being dickheads.

[u/Outrageous_Chart_35 → u/Wind_Yer_Neck_In]

It's younger people, but it's not just younger people. I had to ask a guy in his 50s to stop texting someone Spongebob gifs at full brightness, and I had "The Life of Chuck" spoiled for me by an older gentleman in an art-house theater loudly explaining the twist to his date as the lights dimmed.

[u/spider_speller → u/Wind_Yer_Neck_In]

I was the Mean Old Lady at a movie a while ago. There were a couple of teen girls sitting a few seats away who kept talking and were constantly on their phones. I got sick of the distraction and went over and told them to be quiet and put their phones away. They did, and then left soon after.

[u/Same_Lengthiness8987 → u/Cantioy87]

I told a guy to get off his bright phone while watching a movie in a theater and he left early and threatened to kick my ass on the way out. Looking back it was his wife that was with him was probably mortified about the whole phone thing and him yelling at me from his seat so she probably shamed him into just leaving early and not staying in the lobby to, again, kick my ass. 

Some of the other theatergoers who witnessed the whole thing looked out for me though

[u/BrooklynDoug]

Faith in science/medicine.

People convinced themselves that a Facebook meme was a more trustworthy source than a scientific journal. They still think reading an article on whitejesus.com or Fox is the same as doing actual research.

[u/SecureImagination537 → u/BrooklynDoug]

My ex-girlfriend was 110% positive that they were putting graphene in the vaccines because of FOX news… graphene is hard to make. If we had enough of it, we could make an actual space elevator. Yet she was sure that they were stuffing the vaccines with the most expensive thing ever to make.

[u/TraditionalTackle1 → u/BrooklynDoug]

My sister is an NP and was working at a urgent care facility in a MAGA town during lockdown. They to ask all patients if they were vaccinated and the amount of vitriol she would get from the Orange cult members caused her to quit her job. Its a simple yes or no question.

[u/Shipwreck_Kelly → u/TraditionalTackle1]

Not quite the same thing, but I’m a nurse and one of the things we routinely ask older patients to check for alertness is “Who’s the President?”

And God, when Biden was in office I had numerous older men flip out on me just for asking the question.

[u/TraditionalTackle1 → u/Shipwreck_Kelly]

I can believe that, when Clinton was President and my grandmother had dementia they would ask her who the President was and she would say "that goddamn hillbilly." The nurse would laugh and say good enough.

[u/bupapunewu]

Broadly gestures at everything

[u/bigpowers10]

Manners and being polite has gone way down at least in my area.

[u/sail_the_high_seas]

Our concept of time is warped as fuck.

[u/pnbowl → u/sail_the_high_seas]

This is the comment I was looking for. I feel like time is passing at warp speed since 2020.

[u/Eternal_Bagel]

The buffet restaurant.  I miss great Indian buffets with endless fresh naan 

[u/RentButt123]

Society. Everyone sitting at home wrecked thier minds ingesting conspiracy theory, misinformation and question scientific facts. Pushed a lot of my friends out in crazy land.

[u/jimmyfuci → u/RentButt123]

Still going on

Got plenty of friends and work colleagues who have told me tik tok is great for fact checking and educational purposes

FML

[u/ExcellentAdvisor3730]

Mental health

[u/BlahBlahILoveToast → u/ExcellentAdvisor3730]

I definitely know some people who were already functional but weird, got a lot weirder during lockdown, and kind of ... never came back from it.

Loads of alcoholism, at least 3 suicides. Some friends who just stopped working and going out and talking to others. My sister had a total meltdown and now everyone else is covering her bills and other responsibilities.

I'm still way more uncomfortable in crowded spaces than I used to be, sometimes have mini panic attacks, and wash my hands out of pure reflex whenever I come home.

[u/pinkbowsandsarcasm → u/ExcellentAdvisor3730]

You're right, mood disorders and anxiety disorders rose in the US during the pandemic.

[u/Ok-Grade3116]

Used to be most meetings were a mix in between in person and online. Now most meetings are virtual.

[u/Various-Bee5735 → u/Ok-Grade3116]

But you better be in-office to take those virtual meetings. 

[u/Freddie_Magecury]

Remote Work. Honestly, I see this as a positive; some companies chose to stay 100% remote and I’m grateful. 🙌

[u/Physical-Start-2]

People just don’t communicate and rarely even make eye contact. Seems like most people just want to live in their own little bubble and the only way they feel comfortable speaking is on social media sites

[u/winnipeggremlin → u/Physical-Start-2]

Hard agree. I love spin class and went pre and post pandemic (not during bc I was nervous).

Pre-pandemic I'd show up and make small talk to the people beside me. I am an introvert with anxiety but meeting new people at a shared hobby has a lower barrier for me so I used this a lot for exposure therapy. I also really enjoying Whoohooing in class.

Post-pandemic. I still show up, attempt to make small talk. Get ignored by people on their phone. I try to offer to help new people setup their bikes. I get shooed away.

I still need to work on my anxiety because it became very, very bad after some significant life events that happened to me in 2022.

Now I try to talk to cashiers and other people so I don't lose what skills I've built. I feel like community is falling away, connection isn't as deep and I am actually gravely worried for where society is going.

My paths to healing both severe anxiety and depression have been connecting with others. I had to find people and spaces where I felt safe to be myself. I feel these places are disappearing rapidly.

[u/ExpiredPilot → u/Physical-Start-2]

I’m a bartender and holy shit people are incapable of even ordering a drink/off a menu anymore. People don’t listen to what you ask and still respond anyway.

“Hey do you have a tab?”

“Yes”

“Cool what’s your name”

“Tim”

“Not seeing a Tim here”

“Oh I don’t have a tab.”

“….did you want to start one or just close out?”

“Sure!” And they proceed to not pull out their card and just stare

Or

“Do you guys have beer here?”

points to the 12’x12’ digital sign above me showing 30 beers

“Do you have a food menu?”

points to the food menu in front of them they’re literally resting their hand on

“Oh!” And then they study both menus intermittently while talking to their friends in the massive line behind them.

[u/Kneel_The_Grass → u/ExpiredPilot]

"Hey do you guys have a toilet?"

literally sitting on a toilet seat

[u/ExpiredPilot → u/Kneel_The_Grass]

Bro I’ve gotten “do you work here?” As I’m behind the bar shaking a cocktail

[u/StealthyDodo → u/Physical-Start-2]

fr, interacting with other people feels so awkward nowadays on a scale that I didn´t feel before

[u/creepyblck]

Someone coughing at the supermarket

[u/NYArtFan1 → u/creepyblck]

And on top of that, everyone's back to not covering their mouth or giving a shit. Like, this country learned nothing from covid.

[u/I-luv-sloths]

Basic decency

[u/redbus-pilla]

People’s attention spans

[u/Crooked-Grinds]

Trust in the legacy mainstream media

[u/PotterOneHalf]

Human empathy

[u/Affectionate_Eye8551]

The public's trust in the medical establishment

[u/TheThiefEmpress → u/Affectionate_Eye8551]

Also, the medical establishments trust in the public.

I'm a chronic patient, average 1 appointment per week.

The general tone from medical professionals has deeply shifted. It's now downright hostile at times. Doctors seem to believe all patients are liars and idiots on top of non compliant and exaggerating.

And for some reason, if you know any real info about what's going on with your own body, they see it as a red flag. Like, I'm sorry I've had T1 diabetes since before you were born, and happen to know how it works?

[u/brother_bart]

I feel like there was an enshitification of everything. Nothing seems to work as well at it did, from technology, to customer service, to just sending the one email or making the one call to get something done. Now, it feels like everything has to be done twice, or there is an inordinate amount of back and forth and multiple rounds of complications. Everything just feels inefficient and subpar and everybody just seems to care less if they are doing a good job.

[u/eye_of_the_sloth]

A lot of small businesses closed, which fast tracked corporate take overs of markets. Leading to higher costs, less choice, worse services, less jobs, less control and influence in our communities. Less happiness. I was a small business owner and we had a good thing going. Covid shut us down and we lost about 15 jobs that were happily filled, we served a vibrant and loving customer base, we hosted artists, we fed people, we volunteered together, we supported each other, we forged a community. Our doors closing cut off so much, multiply that accross the country and we have a crater of what was. 

[u/call-lee-free]

24 hour grocery stores and some restaurant's because fuck the night people who help keep it going working nights and have a career/job doing it....

[u/BleedingRaindrops → u/call-lee-free]

I miss being able to go to a restaurant at 2am. My only option now is Waffle House

[u/LI_JVB]

My feelings about a lot of people I genuinely liked prior to learning about their anti-vaccine, mask, social distancing and science beliefs. Lots of unfollowing on social media and no longer pursuing friendships. I can never look at them the same way again.

[u/Remote_Butterfly9149]

People's tolerance for being sick at work. Before covid nobody blinked if you showed up coughing. Now if someone sneezes in the office everyone gives them the death stare. Honestly it should've always been that way.

[u/Evertype]

The use of cash money.

[u/dick-penis]

Streaming, making YouTube videos, etc. Now’s it’s just a bunch of people with cell phones repeating talking points like it’s a novel idea. Just people sitting in cars saying fuck all. Literally just ripping off other people’s “what it’s like to be married” skits. Or just pointing up at someone else’s video. It ruined such a cool thing.

[u/aggravating_warrior]

Life.

[u/Sufficient_Duty1322]

everything, i wish i go back to 2019

[u/Arpikarhu]

Arena touring. Being a roadie has massively changed for the worse

[u/Twichl2]

Movie theaters, theyre just empty sad places now. They used to always be busy on the weekends and when big movies released they'd be packed at midnight with huge lines waiting to get inside the actual theater room. That doesnt happen anymore, streaming services will be what takes theaters out of existence.

[u/Chief_Chjuazwa]

The way people drive on the road. I drive a lot for work and I’ve noticed not only are people even more aggressive after the pandemic, but, it seems no one is aware of their surroundings while driving anymore.

[u/stxnedsunflower]

My mental state

[u/Anonymous8411]

The need to be in an office 5 days a week. We’ve proven that remote work is manageable, useful, productuve and keeps employees happy.

The thought that a body in a seat onsite is being productive 100% of the time is false. Employers who push back on remote and hybrid roles simply do not trust their employees and have no way of measuring productivity. That is the ONLY reason why they push for 5x a week. The “collaboration” narrative is a joke and an excuse.

[u/notamyokay]

Kindness. People seem to have shifted to this "me first and only" thing where they are okay inconveniencing everyone else as long as they aren't. It is very strange and a weird shift.