Question With ongoing social distancing, what are some things you used to take for granted?

SHaines

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Nov 12, 2019
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Hey there,

With much of the world working to slow the spread of coronavirus via social distancing, some folks may find it easier to adjust than others, but pretty much everyone has had their life impacted in one way or another.

What are some things you used to take for granted, but have a newfound appreciation for?

I've worked from home for a few years now, so that is old hat for me. However, it is only really starting to hit me how much I came to love going on walks around town, especially to the grocery store.

Just the tiny little interactions with strangers from a nod while walking around or helping someone grab an item off a high shelf in a grocery store, are the things that I didn't know I cared about.

We're excited to hear from you!
 
Nov 11, 2019
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I rather miss taking simple proximity for granted - particularly in grocery store aisles. Now it's a full-on panic attack if someone is coming down the aisle from a different direction and taking up the center.

I also miss the leisurely strolls through the shopping mall. The most casual window shopping and consumerism that would often serve as a good reason to get out of the house.
 
Mar 31, 2020
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The 6 foot distance is arbitrary . It does not take into consideration air currents, which can carry an infectious aerosol for two or three times that distance. Thus don't think one is safe once the 6 foot distance is maintained. Sure, six feet is safer than 4 feet, and 10 feet is safer than 6 feet, etc. The line from your living room to the nearest person outside your residence is probably the safest distance to maintain. Stay home unless absolutely necessary.
 
Apr 1, 2020
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I miss seeing all my friends at church and all the hugs. I miss interacting with employees at stores like Lowes, Wal-Mart small shops and neighbors. We miss getting together with our kids and friends to play games and have dinner together.
 
Mar 24, 2020
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As retirees and not social much other than our families we don't mix much other than at the grocery store and pharmacy. But, I do miss talking with other genealogists and helping others with their family history at our local Family History Center, where I volunteer weekly. But, I can and do a lot of work on mine at home, such as the 500 page report I'm tidying up and adding to now. Meanwhile my wife brings us and our disabled son joy with her wonderful homemade bread, which she hadn't done in 20+ years. I still keep our outside birds well fed and our 3 inside cats happy. I keep in touch with our daughters and grandchildren over the phone, and will be trying out Skype soon.
 
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Apr 2, 2020
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Touching things/people/surfaces. Touching is almost a reflex action for humans but now I'm leery about it, thanks to COVID-19. I'm instantly alert whenever someone gets within 3 feet of me. Feels like we're all part of a bad Hollywood -style disaster movie and it's not gonna end anytime soon.
 
Mar 6, 2020
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I definitely miss going outside whenever I like. Before, if I wanted to take a walk, there was no reason I shouldn't, but now I hardly ever get to go outside because I then have to awkwardly move to the other side of the street whenever another person is there.
 
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Reactions: Nikoleta and April
Jan 1, 2020
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Hey there,

With much of the world working to slow the spread of coronavirus via social distancing, some folks may find it easier to adjust than others, but pretty much everyone has had their life impacted in one way or another.

What are some things you used to take for granted, but have a newfound appreciation for?

I've worked from home for a few years now, so that is old hat for me. However, it is only really starting to hit me how much I came to love going on walks around town, especially to the grocery store.

Just the tiny little interactions with strangers from a nod while walking around or helping someone grab an item off a high shelf in a grocery store, are the things that I didn't know I cared about.

We're excited to hear from you!
I took for granted just doing my own cooking -& doing the usual meals -but now 'm going to try some new ones -or doing one thats more difficult
 
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Reactions: Belle
Mar 9, 2020
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The ability to go to work! Now more than ever I need work! I live in Arkansas and my landlords may kick me out in the middle of this pandemic!
Oh no! I hope by this time that Arkansas has adopted rules like those in California that restrict/forbid evictions during the Covid-19 crisis.
 

CParsons

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Dec 4, 2019
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I just miss going out and exploring. There has been a lot of new growth in my city with new restaurants and shops opening in the past few months and I always liked to pick one of them and stop in and see what's up, what they have to offer, etc. Now I can't really do that.
 
This is going to sound silly, but I miss the icecream truck. I used to be a homecare worker and seeing people end up in hospital constantly scared me into eating really healthy. My supplements literally form a handful in my palm. The ice-cream truck was such a temptation. Whistling it’s tune though it’s speakers weaving in and out of the streets. Sometimes i would go outside and realized the song had tricked me because he was still mozying down another street. I bet reading this the tune has started up in your head and now you want icecream. it was the perfect sin. It gave you the excuse, how can i refuse that when it’s literally right out side my door. I used to get a banana float because if youre going to get sidetracked from eating healthy, you may as well get the biggest. People always laughed watching me carry in that triple glacier with two long sides of banana Into the house.
 
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Reactions: JeetsN123
Dec 12, 2019
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With the new "Social Distancing" regulations, things have become something of a mixed bag:
1: No more "stopping for a burger to get out of the weather" or having dinner at a nice restaurant. No more "movies on Saturday night" and "Pizza with the gang"; that sort of stuff.
2: No burger-stops equals my cholesterol levels are a bit lower, and nice restaurants are also expensive ones. No Saturday night movies means that there is no screeching, whining five-year-old behind you (and infanticide is so very illegal...) and no "Pizza with the gang" means no garlic-flavored hangover the next morning (usually a workday).
So, all in all, like I said: it's a mixed bag. We'll be better for accepting the change, methinks.
 
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Dec 12, 2019
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The Internet has been a "take-it-for-granted" thing until recently. Now it's a safe way to socialize. There are even platforms like Second Life that allow you to experience a form of normal social interaction with zero likelihood of being infected by anyone.
Ah yes, the times they are a-changin'...
 
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Reactions: aspenbs and April
Dec 12, 2019
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Basic freedoms. We are becoming more and more a police state where freedoms are a thing of the past.
Police state? Dun think so... China is a police state, and their rate of infections was way lower than ours. We're still free, and the rate of infections shows it. A Police State would have had far fewer infections than we do since the populace would be forcibly quarantined, but that isn't happening here.
What is happening here is an attempt to slow the rate of infections by restricting known methods of transfer. That's not like a police state, that's just concern and attempted protection.
 
Dec 12, 2019
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This is going to sound silly, but I miss the icecream truck. I used to be a homecare worker and seeing people end up in hospital constantly scared me into eating really healthy. My supplements literally form a handful in my palm. The ice-cream truck was such a temptation. Whistling it’s tune though it’s speakers weaving in and out of the streets. Sometimes i would go outside and realized the song had tricked me because he was still mozying down another street. I bet reading this the tune has started up in your head and now you want icecream. it was the perfect sin. It gave you the excuse, how can i refuse that when it’s literally right out side my door. I used to get a banana float because if youre going to get sidetracked from eating healthy, you may as well get the biggest. People always laughed watching me carry in that triple glacier with two long sides of banana Into the house.
This reminds me of the old saying, "You never miss the water till the well runs dry". Historically, from Egypt forward, in times of stress it's the small things that are most missed. I guess that still applies today.
 
Jan 4, 2020
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I live in a senior community where our hugs (and sometimes kisses) upon greeting one another often are the only human contact we get in a day. I don't want to be man-handled, but just a little touch from time to time can make the difference between feeling like a valued member of society and feeling like an outcast. And with our masks in place, we sometimes have trouble even recognizing one another! Very sad.