Three years since lockdown: What has changed?

[Wilfrid]

I have been acutely aware that we were approaching the third anniversary of New York City shutting down. It's almost impossible to believe three years have passed -- and that made me start reflecting on how many changes associated with COVID have become permanent.

If you would like to read my general reflections, they're published here.

I also published a list of those changes, pasted below for convenience. I would genuinely appreciate reactions or additions (there are some references in here to the first part of the article).

Changes that stuck around

1. Remote working. Video calls. Virtual conferences. Seeing colleagues in the flesh maybe once or twice a year. Recording things I would once have presented live. No commute. No office. Interacting on tools like Slack. A less clear dividing line between work and leisure (doing the laundry during the working day, finishing up a piece of work outside normal hours). What do weekends even mean? (Note: This is an odd one because during the lockdown I accepted a job with a company that is natively remote. It was remote when nobody had ever heard of COVID and there is no office to go back to. I would be working remotely anyway. Nevertheless I will alway associate remote working with COVID.)
2. Nights on the town. Look back at my introduction. Four days in March, four different bars. That had been my life for decades. And I grew up in Europe, so I started young. Under lockdown? First, and for weeks, there were no bars open. Then there was outdoor drinking, kind of okay in the summer. For a long spell, while living primarily outside the city, the closest decent bar was a mile's walk away. I have never (so far) gone back to my almost daily bar visits. One reason: I knew intellectually that my drinks expendure was huge, but seeing the savings pile sky-high in my bank account was a whole different thing. 
3. The dining scene. Far fewer restaurant meals too, and along with that a relative detachment from the New York dining scene. The latter was underway before COVID. I was traveling so much on business that I did most of my restaurant-going in other cities. There was less excitement about going out when I got home. Anyone who knows the rest of the content on this blog will understand what a huge change this has been.
4. Who needs cash? This is one that was accelerated, I think, by COVID, when from high-end restaurants to corner delis touchless payment became a thing. I can go weeks now without pulling cash from an ATM. You just tap for everything, including buses and subways.
5. No commute. Most of my adult life, I've gotten on buses and trains to go to and from an office. My commute is now about ten yards and I don't need to bundle up for it. This does shave time off the normal working day (speaking of which, shaving and other ablutions don't always need to happen at dawn). Downside, I rarely take the 12 trips during the week after which MTA trips are free.
6. Time. I could write at length about this. Perceptions of time have changed, and probably in different ways for different people. Living those months and years under restricted conditions was a long haul. But looking back, the last three years flashed by like three months. Case in point: When I run into people I used to see frequently before lockdown, it's almost impossible to believe I haven't seen them in three years. It's like, we just pick up the conversation where it left off. Similarly, I sometimes think of places I used to visit a lot: When was I last there? Oh, wait, 2018? 2017?
7. A rigid routine. We all found our own routes through lockdown and those months of relative solitude and practical home confinement in 2020. Mine was to adopt a rigid routine, with activities meticulously assigned to small sections of the day. Some of that I've certainly abandoned, but some has stuck. It seemed very important in 2020 and 2021 to follow the local news, not least to track the course of the pandemic. Everything still stops at 5pm for me to check the local headlines and weather. I set aside specific times to read specific numbers of pages in my current books (I tend to read three at a time). I still do that. With the bars closed, I instituted a home cocktail hour. On the nights I don't go out (most nights; see 2. above) that remains in place.
8. Plenty dishes, little laundry. Thanks to remote working, no BEC on the way to the office, no steam table lunch. With fewer restaurant dinners, that has meant many, many days of cleaning up after three meals. And snacks. And tea and coffee. And cocktails. During lockdown, I was living with household members on completely different diets to me. That meant fewer shared utensils. On the other hand, if you don't commute; if you spend days indoors working in casual gear (and you know we do), look at how the quantity of laundry has plummeted. And dry cleaning? How are dry cleaners still in business?
9. Delivery and pick-up. I was an Amazon user before COVID but of course I was buying books, not groceries and household items. I went through an unprecedented period of having meals delivered rather than eating out -- partly because so many restaurants raised their delivery game. That's hardly necessary where I live now, surrounded by casual food options. But who gets take-out any more? By which I mean stopping by a restaurant, looking at the menu, ordering the food, then waiting for it to be prepared and schlepping it home. With the exception of a local Chinese place with no web presence, I never do that now. I order ahead and select a time for pick-up. And I use whichever online ordering service is currently offering me a discount.
10. Off the road. In 2019, I visited Las Vegas three times, San Francisco twice, Dallas twice, Boston twice, Orlando twice, Chicago twice, Austin, Denver, Miami, New Orleans and Philadelphia. Those were all work trips. I also flew to Barcelona for pleasure. That adds up to 19 trips. Of course travel was drastically curtailed in 2020 and 2021; it started returning last year. This year, I expect to make six or maybe seven trips. I don't believe it will return to 2019 levels in my working lifetime. It's a pity; I like travel.

[StephanieL]

I'll answer your thoughts with my thoughts:

1. Remote work. Definitely a thing.  Before, I was able to work from home one day a week, and that was only after I'd moved to California.  I never wanted to be a freelancer and I absolutely hated having to work remotely every day for months on end--I need a lot of stimulation and change.  Plus, it's really boring in my part of the suburbs. (The one plus: I started walking more, just to keep in shape). I'm glad I can work in an office at least part time, and if I lived in SF I might come in every day. 
2. Online meetings.  Zoom/Teams got old really fast.  Doing chorus rehearsals over Zoom was even worse, and I ended up quitting chorus for a while.  The one thing that worked much better online: virtual beer tastings, where the beers were shipped to my house ahead of time.  No lines, no drunks, easy bathroom access, and I didn't have to open all the beers at once. 
3. Off the road.  My companies realized how much money they could save by having remote meetings (or in my case, filming interviews through online platforms), so most business travel is cut for me.  I have maybe one meeting a year.  I was never a big fan of business travel, so I don't miss it much.  I'm back to doing travel for fun, though we're taking more road trips than plane trips simply because of costs.
4. The death of downtown and reduced opening hours.  They say that San Francisco commercial real estate has had the worst post-pandemic bounce back of any US city, and I believe it.  When I started being able to return to the Financial District, it was so disheartening to see what had closed and stayed closed.  The same is true for my new work location up by Fisherman's Wharf.  The tourists are back and could definitely support more restaurants reopening.  The corollary to that is how many places have kept in their reduced opening hours.  This isn't just restaurants and shops--many museums and such have permanently scaled back.  I wonder if all of the labor shortages will ever get resolved.
5. Movies.  I'd already started going to movies less because here it's such a shlep to do so and all of the arty houses are far away.  I saw a movie in Livermore with friends as the last public act before the lockdown, and I've been to just one in the theaters since.
6. Bars/drinking. The pandemic prompted us to develop a well-stocked bar at home.  My mixology skills went up, but I think so did my alcohol consumption, and that's something that hasn't gone back down, for better or worse.  The local tiki bar did offer drinks to go--you just had to get a food item along with them.
7. Restaurants. I really missed going out to eat, though we saved plenty of money.  As soon as I could go back, I did, without wearing masks either.
8. Who needs cash? N never carried much cash even before the pandemic, but I've been using our joint credit card more as well as doing more online bill paying.  I think we're paying attention less to our overall spending because of it.
9. Homebody time. I was already going out much less than when I was in NYC, again because everything is so spread out and a real shlep to get to and from, but now I hardly ever go out on weekdays.
10. Attention span.  Since I can so easily tune out during Zoom/Team meetings, and pause movies when I'm watching them at home, my attention span has totally gone to hell.
11. Finally, Fear.  N is still wearing masks everywhere, including chorus rehearsal, and I'm talking about one of those elaborate, beyond-N95 ones.  She has a few medical issues, so she's more at risk than others, but thanks to the various successive COVID waves (including one recent one among her students) she has no plans to abandon them anytime soon, maybe ever.  It bothers me for reasons I can't fully explain, other than I feel it creates a barrier between us, especially in public spaces.

[Wilfrid]

Thanks Stephanie.

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Doing chorus rehearsals over Zoom was even worse, and I ended up quitting chorus for a while. 

Good one. I was taking vocal lessons before the lockdown and I could see zero attraction in doing that over Zoom.

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 I'd already started going to movies less because here it's such a shlep to do so and all of the arty houses are far away.  I saw a movie in Livermore with friends as the last public act before the lockdown, and I've been to just one in the theaters since.

I have been to one movie in a theater since 2019. EO. One reason is so many good movies going straight to streaming (remember straight to video?).

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The pandemic prompted us to develop a well-stocked bar at home.  My mixology skills went up, but I think so did my alcohol consumption, and that's something that hasn't gone back down, for better or worse.

Yep. The one good thing is that measuring cocktails rather than just free pouring slugs of booze permits monitoring consumption.

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Fear.

Part of the story I didn't tell is that the first (non-immmediate household) person I started hanging out with had deep anxiety because of pre-existing lung problems. We used to meet in the park, masked and sit at opposite ends of a bench. Deeply weird and could be weather-affected. She eventually caught it, but vaxed and boosted was fine.

[joethefoodie]

I think I was a happier person before the Covid Pandemic.

Can't wait for my next booster!

[voyager]

Before Covid, I was all over town on public transport.    Haven't been on a bus or train since '19.    Husband is much worse than I.   I am willing to board but besides covid he sites over-publicized muggings.   I will respect his concerns, but I am very put off by fears of bogymen.    Keep your eyes open, your phone closed and leave your flashy watch at home.

[Orik]

For me everything is pretty much the same, except in the sense that goods and services are obviously crappier and more expensive.

[small h]

Stuff that changed for me:

Pre-pandemic, I almost never had hard liquor in the house. I kept wine and beer on hand. I bought a bottle of vodka or scotch if I was hosting something, and when it ran out, it ran out and was not replaced 'til the next hosting thing. If I wanted a cocktail, I went out and paid someone to make it for me. Now I have a reasonably well-stocked liquor cabinet, so I go out a lot less just for drinks. I also learned to shuck oysters and clams when I was denied my beloved $1 oyster hours, so I go out a lot less for that as well.

I learned to teach online. I further learned that I really, really hate teaching online. I came to understand what it's like to be a late night radio DJ, blathering into the void with no assurance that anyone is listening. But I've added some courses to my schedule that are both remote and asynchronous, so basically correspondence courses. I hate them, too, but they're really easy (and fairly lucrative), and at least they don't require me to sit in a Zoom meeting yammering at a sea of black squares.

I see my doctors online sometimes, and my accountant.

If my local liquor store offered home delivery pre-pandemic, I didn't know about it. I sure know about it now.

I stopped going to movie theaters almost entirely. I was moving that way already, because the movie theater experience is pretty awful now. When I tallied up the Best Picture nominees I'd seen this year, it was 7/10, but only one in a theater. Women Talking, if you're interested, and only because it was both free and at MOMI.

Stuff that didn't change:

I never stopped going out to eat, although I did stop sitting inside for a while.

I still pay cash to vendors who prefer it, like my mushroom wallah.

[hollywood]

Just finished up my second bout of Covid.  Pretty quickly thanks to Paxlovid.  I go out some but am wearing a mask more now than in the past year.  Nothing like some Covid to make you embrace mask wearing.

[Wilfrid]

Thank you all. I will respond more.

[Evelyn]

I am basically back to normal. Lots of time on airplanes and in airports. And in arenas (and stadiums) filled with screaming fans. I’d guess I see less than 5% of people masked in planes and arenas. Maybe a few more in airports. Haven’t seen anyone masked in a restaurant basically anywhere (and I travel a lot) YMMV. 

[Sneakeater]

That was really good @Wilfrid.

[Anthony Bonner]

My impressions are skewed by having moved out of the city in May of 20 - which was not COVID related. So it's hard for me to say which changes in lifestyle are the move vs COVID.  One easy one is I eat out a lot less as the options aren't very appealing - even relative to what we can pull together at the end of a work day.

It seems like the Burbs are basically back to Normal. The city most definitely is not. Even on peak days (weds-thurs) midtown is pretty quiet and on the occasions that I venture downtown it really doesn't feel the same way it used to. Kind of depressing.  

Personally travel wise - it's still coming back. Pre-Covid I probably did 5 week long work trips a year and the occasional 2-3 days to London.  I've travelled 4x in the last year and I don't have anything else on calendar until fall (tho June might do France or Japan for work stuff)

The biggest barrier - even is situations that aren't client facing - is that no one wants to do in-person meetings on Monday or Friday. Which makes it harder to pull trips together.

That said my impression from talking to Folks is that the US has continued to embrace WFH for much longer than most of Western Europe - which is I think interesting.  

[Orik]

Monday definitely doesn't exist in the city. Fridays you get some B&T traffic. Also tourist numbers still haven't really recovered. (I think counts are down only 15% but stays are shorter) 

 

[mitchells]

53 minutes ago, Anthony Bonner said:

 

Personally travel wise - it's still coming back. Pre-Covid I probably did 5 week long work trips a year and the occasional 2-3 days to London.  I've travelled 4x in the last year and I don't have anything else on calendar until fall (tho June might do France or Japan for work stuff)

The biggest barrier - even is situations that aren't client facing - is that no one wants to do in-person meetings on Monday or Friday. Which makes it harder to pull trips together.

 

This is spot on for me. I traveled 30-40% of the time and I'm now down to 10%.  It would be worth spending money if I could cobble a trip together for 4 or 5 days. For 2 days, it is difficult to justify the airfare unless business critical. 

I only live 4 miles from my office but I have embraced WFH even though the office is open every day. Coffee is better at home, lunch is better and I can get in quick workouts when I have open times in my schedule.  

I do miss having in person meetings.....

[Maison Rustique]

I continue to mask up and make the spouse do the same. It has been wonderful to not suffer any colds/flu for 3 years and I'd like to keep it that way. We were pretty isolated during most of the first 2 years. During this time, my husband has been diagnosed with vascular dementia and it is declining pretty quickly. I find myself wondering if the isolation had anything to do with the onset and progression. He does enjoy going out and seeing people, but getting him to get ready for it and actually getting him moving (It causes fatigue, dizziness, falls, etc.) is exhausting for me and I tend to put off going out much. 

Is it related at all to the pandemic or just coincidence? Hard to say. I do think that isolation/loneliness in the elderly is detrimental to their mental health. Depression and dementia feed on each other. I've not seen any statistics to say if dementia cases rose drastically during the pandemic,, but I'd guess it is possible.

An aside, when I was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 8, the hospital was still requiring masks for all. I'm glad my gall bladder went when it did because just last week, St. Luke's did away with mask requirements. There were lots of germs in that place that I did not want to be breathing! I'm not sure why hospitals don't always require masks.