Will life not go back to pre-covid 19? Is o/s the new way forward?

dandy-candy

I keep hearing that life is changed forever now and i have to admit I can’t quite accept it. Everyone i talk to is desperate for this to be over and for things to get “back to normal”, is it really not going to happen until (if) we find a vaccine? I now look at all the advice i picked up over the years here and where it used to appeal to me as im frugal by habit, i now think it is actually going to be essential for many. I bake, garden, sew and knit as hobbies but might the future might involve these becoming the main source of food and clothing? My DH is super handy and always will try to repair before replacing, im very glad he has those skills. 

Do you think things will go back or will we be living now like the pioneers of old?

MovingForwards

Things will change, but as for what who knows. Perhaps the screens in shops will stay, perhaps people realise why they need to wash their hands, maybe employers will be open to people working from home a day or two a week.

Some people will go straight back to pre-virus lifestyle, others will have used the time to evaluate what they want from life and what can be done to achieve it.

When people are back at work, rather than furlough or working from home, will they have the time or inclination to keep up jogging / running / gardening / growing what they have.

I know a lot of my friends who are actively social have struggled, some of my friends have slipped into a spiral and are struggling to get out of it, others have embraced the time.

I was helping my brother strip down a car engine before even hitting my teenage years, I know how to paint, fill holes, put up shelves, change plugs, change wheels, do oil changes, use drills / nail guns / saws and my other power tools and the list goes on; partly because I want to know how to do things myself, partly because my mom wanted me to be independent and partly because my brother saw my eyes light up everytime he was doing 'man' work.

My lifestyle hasn't changed during this as I rarely went out, once or twice a year I would meet up with friends for a few drinks / meal.

My life has changed though as I finally achieved what I wanted to (own home/garden) and that will keep me occupied for years. Just have a few other small plans like work / life balance.

My plan all along was to grow some of my own food, it would never be enough for me to walk away from commercially grown. The only other thing I'm actively doing is buying local and supporting local businesses. I'm also pretty handy and get stuck in, health permitting or I supervise while it's done by my OH if I can't physically do it anymore (physical disabilities).

I budget down to the last penny and, due to moving, had used the unpacking time to sort out enough things to give to charity when they open as there will be people who need things because they haven't come out the other side as I have.

The world has moved too far forward to turn the clock back in first world countries, however, not everyone has the same skills to sew or do other 'basic' home tasks; they are not taught any more. 

[Deleted User]

I think we will all be changed by having lived through these very different times. I don't see from where we are today that life can be exactly as it was before the pandemic happened at least not for quite a time to come. I don't see any changes in behaviour that have been made from choice except in a very few people, most seem to be straining at the leash to get out and about again and do everything they are used to doing when and wherever they want as often as they like, in some cases regardless of possible results to their health.  I think we're alternative anyway so my norm is not that of 99% of the population so I'm happy with little, happy with a simpler life anyway and my treasures are not 'things' and the life we live now is maybe less luxurious and pleasure filled than many folks are so what we might find when life gets back to a new 'normal' in the fullness of time it's a bit closer to where we've always been anyway.  Whatever, we're content and not deprived so we'll have to wait and see what the future brings us all.

MoneySeeker1

Fingers crossed it will all go Back to Normal again - well most of it. We could do without people leaping in their cars to go a distance their feet or public transport could get them. We could do without all the consumerism. I'm actively celebrating the way this looks likely to deal a "death blow" to airlines - even though I'm not underneath the Heathrow flightpath or the like.

Re screens etc in shops - those will certainly go. If only because customers will "vote with our feet" and try not to go in shops etc that are still set up like that. I know my Tesco trip used to be once a week - but I simply don't want to go there any longer and have to queue/go "one way"/have arrows directing me everywhere and see "fear faces" and have managed to cut Tesco trips to about once every 3 weeks now and, as far as possible, go to shops etc that are as "near Normal" as possible. The shop that I didnt go in much at all prior to Lockdown now gets as much of my custom as possible - precisely because there are NOT "fear faces"/screens/masks/arrows and the only concession to Covid impacting on me is a restriction in customer numbers allowed in at a time - but, apart from that, it's pretty "normal". I certainly know personally the places I will go back to soonest after this is all over are the most "normal" ones and will try to avoid any still "set up for Covid" as much as I possibly can (rather than having constant reminders thrust in my face all the time).

If my dentist is doing "Fear face/precautions" and another dentist isn't - then guess which one I'll go to (and it won't be the "Fear Face" one and I'll swop away from Mr/Ms Fear Face) and that will apply to everything.

cbrown372

MoneySeeker1 said:

Fingers crossed it will all go Back to Normal again - well most of it. We could do without people leaping in their cars to go a distance their feet or public transport could get them. We could do without all the consumerism. I'm actively celebrating the way this looks likely to deal a "death blow" to airlines - even though I'm not underneath the Heathrow flightpath or the like.

Re screens etc in shops - those will certainly go. If only because customers will "vote with our feet" and try not to go in shops etc that are still set up like that. I know my Tesco trip used to be once a week - but I simply don't want to go there any longer and have to queue/go "one way"/have arrows directing me everywhere and see "fear faces" and have managed to cut Tesco trips to about once every 3 weeks now and, as far as possible, go to shops etc that are as "near Normal" as possible. The shop that I didnt go in much at all prior to Lockdown now gets as much of my custom as possible - precisely because there are NOT "fear faces"/screens/masks/arrows and the only concession to Covid impacting on me is a restriction in customer numbers allowed in at a time - but, apart from that, it's pretty "normal". I certainly know personally the places I will go back to soonest after this is all over are the most "normal" ones and will try to avoid any still "set up for Covid" as much as I possibly can (rather than having constant reminders thrust in my face all the time).

If my dentist is doing "Fear face/precautions" and another dentist isn't - then guess which one I'll go to (and it won't be the "Fear Face" one and I'll swop away from Mr/Ms Fear Face) and that will apply to everything.

Have you any idea at all what its been like for any shop workers having to continue serving customers throughout this pandemic? I'm quite sure your local Tesco will be more than pleased not to have to serve you with your talk of "fear faces". As a Tesco customer people like you put the fear of death, literally, in other customers when you don't think the arrows pertain to you and blythly stop, start and go the wrong way.  As for a dentist and of course your hairdresser, well its all been said already, beggars belief.

dolly84

MoneySeeker1 said:

Fingers crossed it will all go Back to Normal again - well most of it. We could do without people leaping in their cars to go a distance their feet or public transport could get them. We could do without all the consumerism. I'm actively celebrating the way this looks likely to deal a "death blow" to airlines - even though I'm not underneath the Heathrow flightpath or the like.

Re screens etc in shops - those will certainly go. If only because customers will "vote with our feet" and try not to go in shops etc that are still set up like that. I know my Tesco trip used to be once a week - but I simply don't want to go there any longer and have to queue/go "one way"/have arrows directing me everywhere and see "fear faces" and have managed to cut Tesco trips to about once every 3 weeks now and, as far as possible, go to shops etc that are as "near Normal" as possible. The shop that I didnt go in much at all prior to Lockdown now gets as much of my custom as possible - precisely because there are NOT "fear faces"/screens/masks/arrows and the only concession to Covid impacting on me is a restriction in customer numbers allowed in at a time - but, apart from that, it's pretty "normal". I certainly know personally the places I will go back to soonest after this is all over are the most "normal" ones and will try to avoid any still "set up for Covid" as much as I possibly can (rather than having constant reminders thrust in my face all the time).

If my dentist is doing "Fear face/precautions" and another dentist isn't - then guess which one I'll go to (and it won't be the "Fear Face" one and I'll swop away from Mr/Ms Fear Face) and that will apply to everything.

The screens in supermarkets are a total waste of time, when you load your shopping onto the belt you are not behind it and when you pack your bags you are not behind it.  If supermarkets hadn't been allowed to sell anything beyond the absolute basics they would be calling for this to be over, they are using it as a money making tool, never for one minute believe that they care about your safety, Tesco are currying favour with the government to get what they want later in the day.  People wearing masks seem to believe they are breathing in an airborne contagion, we've all known since childhood that washing your hands is the best way to avoid colds and flu, common sense seems to have left most people.  As for saving lives, locking us all up at home won't do that, the govenment and the public need to accept that some people will get sick and they will be cared for till they get well, some people will die, that is just life and is how it is meant to be.

tessie_bear

i too am wishing for what went before x you sound in a good place with skills and ideas .I think its a waiting game to firstly see what they say and then what everyone feels happy with x

Foofoopuppy

I think life will slowly go back to normal, but I'm hoping some of the positives of quarantine continue. 

MoneySeeker1

Foofoopuppy said:

I think life will slowly go back to normal, but I'm hoping some of the positives of quarantine continue. 

Are there any positives to quarantine?

Racking brains and the only one I can think of is it gives those people who aren't that sociable and agree to social events without really meaning it a cast-iron excuse not to go to them any longer (ie because they aren't happening). 

Not being one of those people that make excuses to avoid social events anyway - I either say I'm going and go or don't say it and possibly don't go - then I can't honestly think of any positives.

Happycas

There's a lot of old normal I'm desperate to get back to.  Hugging our grandchildren, meeting a friend for coffee, visiting an elderly neighbour for a chat, visiting a sick relative in hospital - all things I've not done for 7 weeks.  
I've not been to any shops so don't know about screens, but can't think they'll bother me too much.
It's the day to day human interactions I miss.

Nargleblast

I am certain that society will not revert completely to how it operated before. Some people will have used this time to reconnect with themselves, their families, their homes and gardens. They will have learnt the value of the simple pleasures in life and will try and preserve some of the new habits and routines they have acquired even when back to work and a "normal" routine. Some organisations will consider the benefits of having some of their employees work from home, better for their employees' mental wellbeing, a reduction in costs of running large offices, reductions in traffic and pollution with fewer people commuting. Overall I feel optimistic about the future.

However, and this is a big however, lockdown has not been a happy time for everyone. There are some who have struggled financially and emotionally. I can foresee many cases of anxiety and a form of PTSD occurring in the months to come. How an overstretched health service can deal with that I do not know. Ultimately we are all responsible for our own wellbeing and for making our lives as good as possible. Many people are capable of that, (I think I am, as are many of the OS persuasion) but those who are not that strong are going to need a lot of understanding, support and kindness from the rest of us. Here's to a stronger, kinder society!