Have You Pondered How Your Life Might Have Been Different If We Didn't Have A Covid Pandemic?.....

[global1]

I was thinking about this yesterday.

If the Covid pandemic never happened what would I have done during the time we were in lockdown and protecting ourselves?

Would I have traveled more? Would I have spent more time with my grandkids? Would I have gone to more sporting events; concerts or movie theaters? Would I have spent more money? Would I have gained weight? How much more time would I have spent with my friends? How might my retirement been better during those times? How would my life have changed if there was no Covid?

Would our lives been better or worse?

You could also extend these questions - politically. Would Tr**p be more successful or more sinister? What would the now known 'anti-vaxxers' have been protesting about? What additional crimes would Tr**p have committed? Would there have been and insurrection?

There are hundreds of questions and 'what ifs' to ponder - of how life would have been different if there was no Covid pandemic.

I'm really curious as to others answers about this?

Comment: We really lost some precious time in our lives. That time - gone forever.
In some respects - I really resent that this happened at a time when I should have been enjoying my retirement. Instead I lived in fear and in some ways that fear has stayed with me as it looks like - people are ignoring some of the cautions we should still take to protect ourselves and loved ones.

[panader0]

1. I had very strained relationships with a few people I know that were anti-vax.

Two contracted the virus but pulled through okay I guess. My twice weekly music sessions ended for
over a year and have just sort of started up again. I don't go out much so that aspect of covid didn't
affect me very much. I think the virus and it's denial by TFG hurt him quite a bit politically. But I still
don't think he would have been reelected.
My heart goes out to those who suffered greatly from the pandemic. I guess it'll never really disappear.
I will continue to get boosted as recommended.

[CountAllVotes]

6. Same here

I lost a few of them and I have never heard from them again, one of them being a very old foster relative.

It was all Make American Great Again w/this person.

Uh huh ...

It seemed to be a mutual feeling that never changed thanks to tRUMP!

[CountAllVotes]

2. My husband died last year

I had been taking him to doctors and slipping them notes about his mental state. It was ignored.

It was all about doing the patriotic thing and get vaccinated and be a good American.

We listened to them.

Would he still be here today had they not ignored him/me?

I suppose I'll never know but blot clots in the brain make me wonder I must admit.

[Chautauquas]

10. I'm sorry you lost your husband

My condolences

[CountAllVotes]

21. Thank you

It has been tough going since he died.

I'm at a loss I'll have to admit.

God? Who/what the hell is that?

[Samrob]

16. Mine died in 2020 before they even knew what it was and he died alone because every

hospital and rehab was closed to the public. I will never really get over it.

[CountAllVotes]

22. Same here

I know that feeling!

It was not until I received his death certificate that the cause of death was deemed to be "vascular dementia". Was it really that?


It this was true, why wouldn't the do an MRI scan on his brain?

We have insurance to pay for it and the VA was willing to do it if I could get him to the local VA that can do an MRI scan that is 300 miles away. He was far too sick to travel that far and I cannot drive that far any longer.

So sad I am. Forever.

[NewHendoLib]

3. What an interesting thing to ponder...

Thinking about the personal impacts...

The onset of COVID had interesting timing for us. We closed on our house in western NC in early January (after 28 years in increasingly hot and crowded Raleigh), and moved soon after. Then COVID hit and things shut down. BUT - instead of traveling all over to do my gardening workshops (my last was to Oregon, and CT, in February 2020), I started doing Instagram Live from my garden - and converted my workshops to Zooms from my home office. Thus, I became a home body, and will remain so - I turned down a request to speak in Arkansas because I simply don't want to get on a plane unless necessary.

Being in a rural area, we love to hike and COVID shutting stuff down meant we had time to explore the many trails, instead of the town we moved to. This extended our time to explore our new place, and three years later, it still feels somewhat new to us, which is great. We typically don't do take out or eat out much, since we both love to cook (and our big garden gives us plenty to use).

My wife and I are retired and in our mid 60s - and perhaps unusually, we personally are probably better off following the COVID years because of what I related above. It allowed us to slow down, listen to more books and podcasts, and get out into nature.

As far as politically, COVID exposed TFG as an even bigger asshole in the ways he pushed so much misinfo. In a way, COVID may have helped cement the MAGA cult, which we of course continue to grapple with.

So - in pondering the last three years, it certainly was a unique time in our lives, but for the most part, we were not significantly impacted for the worse - and the changes actually led to a better quality of life for us.

[snowybirdie]

4. Wed been traveling

in retirement and enjoying different places. Had to stop, and now, due to some infirmaties developed since then, we'd find it difficult to go. Dang!

[snowybirdie]

5. Wed been traveling

in retirement and enjoying different places. Had to stop, and now, due to some infirmaties developed since then, we'd find it difficult to go. Dang! And also wouldn't have made Florida our permanent place to live.

[StarryNite]

7. It has affected my family in so many ways.

I'm just so tired of it but I'm not letting down my guard, still masking and trying to avoid large groups of people, etc.

[boston bean]

9. At salon I wore my mask today. Only damn one.

LOL. I am like if I am spending 2 hours in here I am gonna do my damndest not to catch it a second time.

I caught it pre vax. Someone brought it home to me.

[Chautauquas]

8. My biggest concern was my grandkids

One was 12 and the other one was 15 when the pandemic began. To see them miss out on socialization they were getting at school before classes went remote due to covid, and to see my grandson miss out on a full season of soccer was heartbreaking. The pandemic hit at a crucial time of their development and it's really a damn shame it went that way.

[Johonny]

24. I don't think my kids have recovered

My oldest hit kindergarten and he's not doing that great. My youngest is in special ed for speech delay. Neither is good at social interaction. I think the school system is completely not designed to handle lost years.

[orleans]

11. yes, i think about this too

and it absolutely pisses me off

for a lot of reasons

[Earth-shine]

12. If there was no COVID, Trump might have won the presidency.

Then, life for all of us would be different.

[peggysue2]

17. Well, there's a truly horrible thought

Think you're right, too. Without Trump's total incompetence during the pandemic, he might very well have slithered into a 2nd term.

Yikes!

[raccoon]

37. Thank you.

[Meowmee]

13. Any time missed etc and anything else is nothing , absolutely nothing

Compared to the loss of my father, murdered by covid, and I would give anything to have him back and well. And also it’s nothing compared to having had double c pneumonia and now having long haul c and heart problems. Those who are still alive and healthy should be happy for that because they are the lucky ones.

[GusBob]

14. Actually I was able to "make the best of it"

In a dark cloud/silver lining way. I was able to collect and edit family food recipes into a cookbook of sorts

Another project: I transcribed my grandpas WW1 diary into type so everyone could read it and uploaded it to shutterfly and made a book for his umpteen grand kids to read

Also I was quarantined alot from work. Lost income, but was able to spend many days, isolated, hunting and fishing. Did alot of scouting too which really paid off

This is an interesting topic fer sure: One thing we should all have learned is what to do if/when the next pandemic hits

[pandr32]

15. It was certainly a reset.

Some good and some bad came out of it, but it was a reset for sure. Our path has veered.

[Silent3]

18. We'd probably be enduring a second Trump administration right now

It's sad to think that all of that needless death was needed to save us from more Trump (or at least buy us a four-year reprieve), but I think the odds are high that without the unhappiness over Trump's COVID response, a shift of a few percentage points in voting results would have handed the 2020 election to Trump, and probably the House and Senate to Republican control as well.

COVID may in fact be what saved American democracy. A second Trump term and Republican control of Congress would have enabled Republicans to deeply entrench their power over elections and every other aspect of government. We might not have been able to escape that for a very long time.

Even now, we aren't completely out of the woods, we just have a much better fighting chance to keep American democracy going.

[meadowlander]

19. I switched jobs to full time work at home

which has made all the difference in the world. If I hadn't I would likely have quit or gone on medical leave from my last job from the stress. Working at home, I've also lost 40 pounds and saved a lot of money by cooking my own lunches. And I get two extra hours a day back from commuting.

So personally, if we hadn't have had the pandemic, my life would almost unquestionably have been worse.

[Emile]

20. I travelled all I want when I was working. 3,000 miles every

week as an 18 wheel truck driver. When I retired the last thing I wanted to do was travel. I have acreage, woods, large lawn and a fishing/swimming pond. Plenty things to do to stay busy and active. I enjoy being home so the pandemic really didn't effect my life that much.

[maxrandb]

23. Yes, and I have also pondered recently how my life would be different

If Fred Trump's condom hadn't broken.

[hunter]

25. I'm a creature of the internet and the wilderness so it wasn't a severe impact on myself.

My wife's work shifted to 50% internet. Unfortunately covid-19 doubled her work load and quadrupled the stress. Yeah, she's a front line medical provider. Patients died.

Our children have work that shifted to near 100% internet but I think they often missed the face-to face office work.

One of my nieces missed out on a lot by this, forced to do most of her university work at home on the internet. The greater depths of my own university experience, for the better and the worse, weren't anything I could have accomplished on the internet.

[Texaswitchy]

26. I think what would have happened with Hillary in the White House .

She would have controlled the virus.

Remember the Panic Resource Team Trump got rid off.

I had just retired and had plans on taken my Grandkids on a cross country trip in the RV that I had bought.

We didn't go.

Maybe we should have gone looking back.

But with Trump in the White House who knew what was going to happen.

[SKKY]

27. I would rather not, because it's likely Trump would have been re-elected...

...so, yea. I'm good.

[Texaswitchy]

29. The virus sort of saved us in a odd way.

From Trump.

[SKKY]

36. I mean, yea, silver linings and all...

[Sky Jewels]

33. Didn't see your comment at first and posted the same below.

[Texaswitchy]

35. The virus made a lot of people get out to vote for President Biden.

To bad Trump was ever in the office to begin with.

[friend of a friend]

28. My life would be exactly the same.

[hack89]

30. The pandemic actually had a positive impact on my life.

I was able to shift to working from home full time. Neither myself or my wife were financially impacted as our jobs continued without any interruption. Because we are empty nesters we didn't have to deal with remote learning for our kids.

In general, we found it gave us a calmer life with more time to ourselves. We were never scared nor did any one close to us ever get sick enough for us to be concerned.

We were extremely lucky.

[Sky Jewels]

31. The thing that truly terrifies me is that Trump likely would have been re-elected if not for Covid.

His botched handling and the resulting hundreds of thousands of deaths was really all that stood between him getting a second term.

It's bone-chilling to think about.

[PJMcK]

32. I don't feel I lost anything during the pandemic

We were very fortunate to have a country house in rural Pennsylvania to retreat to.

We were both able to work remotely, something I’ve been doing since way before it was called that. In fact, for one of my clients, we had one of our best years ever!

We applied our free time to projects around the house and yard. Because the area is so undeveloped, we went on hikes or canoe rides when it was warm. We built a small greenhouse so my wife could grow vegetables.

We created new daily routines emphasizing time we could spend together. The highlights of our weeks were simple: trips to the supermarket, post office and the dump. We spent extra time preparing meals. We’d have our cocktails in front of a fire when it was cold or watching the river and wildlife when it was warm.

We feel very fortunate to have the comfort and safety we have. Oddly, however, it wasn’t a wasted or lost time for us.

[Sky Jewels]

34. My life didn't change all that much.

Before pandemic: Work at home. Take long neighborhood walks daily. Putter around in yard. Spend time reading books, surfing the internet, and watching movies and shows on TV/streaming services. Entertain and snuggle kitties. Cook from scratch mostly, heavy on the vegan soups and salads.

During pandemic: Work at home. Take long neighborhood walks daily. Putter around in yard. Spend time reading books, surfing the internet, and watching movies and shows on TV/streaming services. Entertain and snuggle kitties. Cook from scratch mostly, heavy on the vegan soups and salads.

[liberal_mama]

38. My life has been destroyed from the pandemic. I've lost 2 family members, including my beloved dad

3 months ago. I feel such anger at the Covid deniers, anti-maskers, and eugenic fans who act like the pandemic is over while thousands of Americans are still dying each week.