Depending on who you ask, COVID is either behind us or taking a 'lil summer breather to pounce back once summer is over. It has had a huge impact on all our lives, and continues to do so, even if
the current infection numbers are “low” and vaccines and medication have improved the situation. So I thought it would be interesting to take stock of how it impacted the lives of my
household. Let’s compare notes.
First of all, our shopping habits have vastly changed. I used to love to walk the aisles of supermarkets to see what was new. I rarely do that anymore.
When COVID hit, we started to order curbside pick-up, and we have not moved back. I find that the supermarket apps do a great job of saving me at least an hour of time, plus they show you new products
and suggested items right in the app. The only time I walk into a grocery store is to shop for those “oops, we forgot XXX” items that always seem to crop up. Or to get one or two specialty
items that our regular grocer does not stock.
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Number two is that we have become full-time streamers. We ditched the cable (I wrote about that here.) All our TVs have been “Roku-ed,” after being a mishmash of
technologies before. It has been remarkably easy to switch. We did add a simple antenna to most of our TVs so that we can see what is on offer for free “over the air” (the answer is:
“not much, but hey, it is free”).
Radio is played from a phone or Alexa (mostly in the kitchen). We love the “Flash Briefing” option, which is a self-curated news
line-up that automatically plays the latest news updates from self-selected stations/providers. We like being in our bubble.
Number three is reduced travel. It seems that the days of weekly or
almost-weekly business trips is behind us. It's more of a monthly occurrence now. I have worked on projects where I have never met the client in person (even over a two-year period). In the pre-COVID
days, that would have been unspeakable in consultant land, but now it seems perfectly normal. It could be just be my clients or my personal business. But I have heard it from others in the industry as
well, and business travel apparently is still 30% behind pre-COVID times.
And finally: reading. I recently spent a good few hours weeding out subscriptions to newsletters. I think that during
COVID I suffered a bit from overenthusiasm and clicked “sure, get me that every week” a few too many times. But now that many “normal life” activities have come back, I find I
have less time and patience for some of the emailed news offerings. At the same time, certain offerings that I would not want to miss have become part of my daily diet. In general,
newsletters have become one of my key news sources.
What else? My son did not have a graduation or a prom in 2020, but is making up for it as a newly minted 21-year-old junior at UNCW.
Our 10-year wedding anniversary was celebrated at the 12.5-year point. And yes, we redecorated. I think COVID has created many “new normals,” and that includes how we live. What and how
have you changed?