Pandemic Memories?

[4real]

Working in retail it could have been worse. But my job was in an airport so there was a lot of confusion as to what the future held and panic for a bit until the British government announced the 80% pay scheme.

April 1st 2020 was the last shift I worked at the airport for just over 2 years and the store closed for what we thought wouldn’t be long but would end up being 2 years. So I sat at home for 6 months and got paid.

It would have been fine if one of my house mates hadn’t got pregnant and her plans to move out were ruined by the pandemic. The baby was born in May and the rest of our house mates and myself had to put up with a screaming baby for months which ruined my sleep pattern which has never truly recovered (I have to sleep with the TV on now and a fan). I moved out and back with my Mum & Step Dad for a bit in August 2020 which was for the best considering I was made redundant a month later.

I do have some fond memories of just chilling out and watching tv all day with no responsibilities. With no football on as well I was able to deep dive into shows on Netflix I’d never seen like It’s always Sunny, Glow & Community all which I loved. Having Wrestlemania on a week after I left work really helped as well raising spirits a bit. Discovering Sea of Tranquility on Youtube helped as well as their music programs really kept me invested. Going out for a walk became a normal thing just to break up the boredom of tv at times. I have become an avid Walker now and love discovering new places to walk mainly anywhere wooded away from people!

Of course there were hard times. I had tickets for Euro 2020 games in Dublin & Rome which had to cancelled and the tournament got out back a year and concerts as well. One of my friends had to come back from his dream job in the US because everything shut down. My Step cousin committed suicide early on in the pandemic. She was a very well loved person which breaks my heart knowing she had so much to give. So many people turned out for her funeral even in the streets before. I regret not getting to know her better honestly one of my best friends used to work with her and they seemed close but I just never got the time really.

Being a retail worker most of my life honestly getting a job wasn’t as hard as I would imagine it would have been for others. Obviously retail work was essential in a pandemic. I found a job a month after being made redundant and left in May of 2021 after becoming frustrated with some quite frankly awful customers. Got to go away on holiday to Edinburgh in September 2021 & and it felt like some sort of normality even though masks were still very much a thing.

I finally got Covid in March 2022 the week I was due back at the airport. Timing huh? I was off for a week and Covid absolutely sucked. My first day back was April 1st though exactly 2 years after leaving which was a weird symmetry I guess.

I was also thankful that my Dad and myself went to see my sister who lives in Australia in November 2019 and hadn’t decided to leave it for 2020. I love travelling so honestly not being able to do that was one of the hardest things about the pandemic for me. Also we came out of one of our lockdowns on December 2nd 2020 (my birthday) so was amazing to just go out for dinner with my family for that even if the streets were so quiet still.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

I worked retail during it and it sucked. Because while we try to keep things extra clean. Lazy customers make it hell, like putting frozen food on a normal self and crap like that. Getting sick and dealing with deaths it was not good at all. Losing a Cousin who was also my god mother and Uncle who I was close with in a month a part was hell on me emotionally. Then April the next year losing my dad. Those things took its toll on my so badly.

Well now let me turn into the positives. Being home a lot when I'm not working what else you do. Twitch became a regular thing to watch and because of that it allowed me to become friends Lita which never would happened if it wasn't for that I'm sure and have her know me by name. Plus through that got to know people from all over and meet some of them and make friends with people I never would have without the community. That year or so she did that regularly was special and she helped me get through some stuff with what I said above. Her messages and so forth help me get through it much easier.

[Dr. T is an alien]

It left me with some trauma. I was made fully aware just how many people around me were utterly unconcerned if they got someone else killed by willful carelessness. My wife had her favorite uncle get infected by such an asshole, which killed him. Less than a month later, my father-in-law (who considered said uncle his best friend) ran into one of my wife’s more distant cousins while picking up groceries and the guy had the nerve to crack Covid jokes to him. My father-in-law has an incredibly quick wit and next to no filter to begin with. He didn’t tell us all that he said in response but I’m certain the insults would have been quite impressive.

I had to spend time EVERY SINGLE WEEK talking to my dad on the phone to debunk the misinformation he was getting from alleged “news networks”. “No Dad, don’t see if you can get any hydroxychloroquine. It’s an immunosuppressant. The last thing you want to take prophylactically during a pandemic is an immunosuppressant. It’s only potentially useful when an infection leads to overly strong immune responses that threaten to suffocate the patient.”

I have an older friend who lives in one of the most redneck county in Indiana, where he and his family were the only people taking it seriously. Even when a number of their community members died they refused to do even the minimum. They caught it several times, and the last time he caught it his neighbor dropped by for a visit while he knew he was infected. His long-Covid symptoms are really, really bad.

Literally half the people at work have lingering effects from Covid. My blood pressure started spiking REALLY high after I finally caught it late last year. I went from normal readings of 130/85 to hospitalization. I’m on meds now so my BP is now around 127/76 usually, so at least that’s being managed.

The thing is, my family financially benefited from the pandemic. My wife worked as a travel nurse for a testing company. I worked at a testing facility and my part time job as an online college instructor added more classes to my schedule. One of my sons worked as part of the Moderna pipeline for vaccine distribution and was paid well for it. I paid off a number of our debts during this time and we have savings. I should be less pissed about everything, but I’m nearly exhausted from rage fatigue.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

I moved to Korea last year for teaching and the shift here was gradual but not really major. That being said I ended up getting COVID about two months before the WHO said everything was fine, so there's that.

[Rolent Tex]

When Disney reopened it was fun having full reign over those ghost towns. Hey remember that Avatar Flight of Passage ride that normally has a 2-3 hour wait? Walk right on. Wanna ride again? Take a left.

[J. Hova]

So my job I worked from home about 70% of the time, so it was just an adjustment to moving to 100%. My friends and I still got together semi-regularly, albeit more spread out outside and had some outside movie nights.

Like others, I drank way too much. I haven't had a drink now in about 4 months. Hold your applause, I'm not quitting drinking, I've just been responsible for mom with her health issues and providing care. I'm fully intending on going on a bender once she is squared away.

I watched a lot of movies and tv shows, I relearned how to cook, and rebuilt my home office.

[Nr1Humanoid]

The effects of the pandemic was not much different from my normal life so I hardly felt the repercussions of covid at all. Not getting infected helped.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Jul 23, 2023 1:29:52 GMT -5 Nr1Humanoid said:

The effects of the pandemic was not much different from my normal life so I hardly felt the repercussions of covid at all. Not getting infected helped.

Yeah, never had it as far as I know. I did remark, again to the same liquor store woman I mentioned earlier, I smoke constantly, so now I'm super self-conscious about coughing.

I maintain a tight, close circle of friends and by pure coincidence, we all wound up working together over the years, so I would seem them there or the few that didn't, I never saw that much anyway. My best friends, it's not unusual to not see them for 6 months at a time, they have kids and wives and jobs and are otherwise busy.

Dropping by the pub once in a while to watch a hockey game went away, because the pub was closed and hockey wasn't on anyway, but life just resumed as normal for me.

The night stuff started to change, a co-worker called me asking what was going to happen. As if I really knew, this information was also 30 minutes old to me. I said what I knew was true, "You're a permanent worker, with a contract, they have to pay you, so they'll find something for you to do, laying us all off will cause chaos it would take years to unravel" So people in my position either went to work like nothing changed, because the basic functions of life still had to happen, or like myself and my co-worker, we got reassigned at our rate of pay and life went on.

I know I'm super unique to that experience, but the pandemic wasn't this life-alerating thing for me.

[schma]

I had a bit of a weird experience, or it felt weird considering. I actually felt a bit disconnected from what was happening. I was promoted in September 2019, a year later in the midst of the pandemic I was promoted again. We never closed for a minute (food factory) and I've been supervising since that first promotion. The disconnect was the fact that we never shut down. I never had those weeks stuck at home (well apart from my free time). The thing is, I had never been busier professionally, especially after the second promotion. I will tell you this, supervising during a pandemic was hard. People were scared, confused, angry and annoyed all at the same time. People were disgruntled. The company was always doing too much...until it wasn't doing enough (anytime someone at work tested positive). That was their feeling anyways and as a supervisor, I was the figure of authority they could have a go at, vent at, rage at. Not everyone was like that but it was a lot. One of the supervisors was also fired in 2020 and we spent the next 3 years shorthanded, each of the supervisors spending a month at a time alone (it's a 2 supervisor job and we do need 2). So, we basically took turns burning out.

The funny thing is though, the disconnect was when I would watch a show or see posts on facebook where it almost seemed like there was a sense of unity at first. Everyone making sourdough or calling up old friends and getting in touch. There was something that everyone was going through and...I was going to work. It also hit hard when things shut down and it had little impact on my day to day life. My schedule had left chances to see friends few and far between, but this drove home just how few chances there had been. All in all it was a weird stressful headspace to be in.

[salz4life]

Jul 22, 2023 21:38:02 GMT -5 Rolent Tex said:

When Disney reopened it was fun having full reign over those ghost towns. Hey remember that Avatar Flight of Passage ride that normally has a 2-3 hour wait? Walk right on. Wanna ride again? Take a left.

Yeah... that was probably a good trade off to having to wear a mask in that heat/humidity. I'm still not sure if I would've been able to do that, not because I'd try to refuse but it just had to be tough to breathe and would be too uncomfortable.

[animaniac]

I remember the first day or two of the shutdown I was wearing my mask in my apartment even though it was just me lol.

Otherwise it was OK at first but by the end I was going f***ing stir crazy. Was also nervous going back to work though. Still think they got us back earlier than then should.