After the pandemic ... June 12, 2020 8:48 PM Subscribe
What are you looking forward to doing after the pandemic, or even after restrictions are lifted in you area?
Some things for me:
* Seeing family.
* Getting my hair cut.
* Getting my nails done.
* Seeing my dermatologist.
* Getting my teeth cleaned (sort of, really).
* Live political action and community service.
Some things for me:
* Seeing family.
* Getting my hair cut.
* Getting my nails done.
* Seeing my dermatologist.
* Getting my teeth cleaned (sort of, really).
* Live political action and community service.
ANYTHING AT ALL OUTSIDE THIS HOUSE
posted by scrump at 8:56 PM on June 12, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by scrump at 8:56 PM on June 12, 2020 [12 favorites]
Playing music with people.
Karaoke.
It'll be at least a year though, I imagine. :(
posted by daisystomper at 9:04 PM on June 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Karaoke.
It'll be at least a year though, I imagine. :(
posted by daisystomper at 9:04 PM on June 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
I’m going to sit around the house and not do much. But voluntarily.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:05 PM on June 12, 2020 [42 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:05 PM on June 12, 2020 [42 favorites]
Once it's safe again: Dating in person. Hugging people. Snuggling. Sex.
posted by bridgebury at 9:07 PM on June 12, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by bridgebury at 9:07 PM on June 12, 2020 [12 favorites]
Going to the library. Picking up my holds, checking out the new books table, reading physical books instead of e-books again. I mean lots of other things, but that one’s really on my mind lately.
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:08 PM on June 12, 2020 [18 favorites]
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:08 PM on June 12, 2020 [18 favorites]
In the general sense, seeing my friends in person; hugging hello and goodbye for the hugging sorts; being able to casually share space with someone in quiet familiar ways without worry.
In the specific sense: I miss walking to the Beer Porch food cart pod up the road a ways from my house and plopping down with my laptop or a book at one of the picnic tables with a beer, and whiling away a couple hours alone but in public. I miss going and sitting down for breakfast with my wife at our favorite cafe. I can still visit both those places for takeout and I'm glad they're managing to function under the new system, but I miss, sometimes very badly, the comfort of going and just *being* in a place, surrounded by mostly strangers also just quietly being.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:16 PM on June 12, 2020 [17 favorites]
In the specific sense: I miss walking to the Beer Porch food cart pod up the road a ways from my house and plopping down with my laptop or a book at one of the picnic tables with a beer, and whiling away a couple hours alone but in public. I miss going and sitting down for breakfast with my wife at our favorite cafe. I can still visit both those places for takeout and I'm glad they're managing to function under the new system, but I miss, sometimes very badly, the comfort of going and just *being* in a place, surrounded by mostly strangers also just quietly being.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:16 PM on June 12, 2020 [17 favorites]
Live music. I don't know when I'll feel OK with cramming into a room with 100 strangers all up in my face yelling and spilling beer on me again, but it'll happen one day and it will be glorious.
posted by btfreek at 9:26 PM on June 12, 2020 [14 favorites]
posted by btfreek at 9:26 PM on June 12, 2020 [14 favorites]
Sitting at a bar with a Friem pilsner and a big red steak, reading something interesting. Even if I have to leave at 10 it would be better than now.
posted by bendy at 9:27 PM on June 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by bendy at 9:27 PM on June 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
Seconding my library opening.
My barbershop is open, but they're not doing beards. Argh!
posted by Marky at 9:28 PM on June 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
My barbershop is open, but they're not doing beards. Argh!
posted by Marky at 9:28 PM on June 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
My scoliosis is barely controlled by me being a stronk and getting bi-monthly chair massages. In a perfect world I could get free therapeutic massages from an actual physio but my GP is shit, and the mall reflexology chair massages are all I can afford. Unfortunately three months plus out of work not slinging soil around has depleted my stronk and I can’t go to the mall. I’m already beginning to get the warning neck and rib twinges... so I just really really need a chair massage- but I’m probably not going to be able to get one in a while. Fingers crossed my back doesn’t go out!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:30 PM on June 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:30 PM on June 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
There’s a bar a few blocks away that has nice big tables next to HUGE windows, excellent pizza, quiet music, and a few cocktails I really love.
It used to be that every 2-3 weeks I would go over there on a sunny Saturday afternoon, order a pizza and a drink, and just relax and read for a few hours. Sometimes with my partner, sometimes on my own. But just the experience of a pleasant space, enjoy some tasty food and drink, and have a quiet afternoon.
I really miss that. And in the mean time I am ordering take-out from them as often as I can safely manage to keep that place alive.
posted by a device for making your enemy change his mind at 9:32 PM on June 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
It used to be that every 2-3 weeks I would go over there on a sunny Saturday afternoon, order a pizza and a drink, and just relax and read for a few hours. Sometimes with my partner, sometimes on my own. But just the experience of a pleasant space, enjoy some tasty food and drink, and have a quiet afternoon.
I really miss that. And in the mean time I am ordering take-out from them as often as I can safely manage to keep that place alive.
posted by a device for making your enemy change his mind at 9:32 PM on June 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
Volunteering with my currently on-hold domestic violence advocacy program.
posted by Gorgik at 9:43 PM on June 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Gorgik at 9:43 PM on June 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
Doing the scuba bouyancy course I signed up and paid for in February!
Going to the library.
Seeing my sister, and having a game of tennis with her.
Getting the kids back into swimming lessons.
posted by smoke at 9:55 PM on June 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Going to the library.
Seeing my sister, and having a game of tennis with her.
Getting the kids back into swimming lessons.
posted by smoke at 9:55 PM on June 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
My chiropractor and massage therapist are stop #1. Then sushi where I can see the fish being served. Next to the park to meet all my friends for a giant group hug and sobbing session.
Then I'm driving up to Canada to marry my fiance, goddammit.
posted by ananci at 9:56 PM on June 12, 2020 [19 favorites]
Then I'm driving up to Canada to marry my fiance, goddammit.
posted by ananci at 9:56 PM on June 12, 2020 [19 favorites]
Estate sales! I want to have brunch with my friend M and then go to the houses of dead people and joke about their about weird crocheted items.
posted by vespabelle at 10:11 PM on June 12, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by vespabelle at 10:11 PM on June 12, 2020 [13 favorites]
I have not been home to Ireland in almost a year, and I cannot tell you how much I am longing for a proper pint of Guinness.
posted by StephenF at 10:20 PM on June 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by StephenF at 10:20 PM on June 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
Furry conventions.
The Pearl Jam show I still have virtual delayed tickets for which I assume will exist forever until a vaccine is discovered.
My annual homecoming Halloween party which we've held every year for over 30 years except for one year, and which we won't have this year (second time since the late 80s), and goddammit I love these people and they are my life and I only see them once a year and now not this year and fuck this whole COVID bullshit.
Sorry got a bit carried away there.
Also, concerts.
posted by hippybear at 10:23 PM on June 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
The Pearl Jam show I still have virtual delayed tickets for which I assume will exist forever until a vaccine is discovered.
My annual homecoming Halloween party which we've held every year for over 30 years except for one year, and which we won't have this year (second time since the late 80s), and goddammit I love these people and they are my life and I only see them once a year and now not this year and fuck this whole COVID bullshit.
Sorry got a bit carried away there.
Also, concerts.
posted by hippybear at 10:23 PM on June 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
Estate sales! I want to have brunch with my friend M and then go to the houses of dead people and joke about their about weird crocheted items.
This is oddly why I wish we lived less than 5 hours apart.
posted by hippybear at 10:25 PM on June 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
This is oddly why I wish we lived less than 5 hours apart.
posted by hippybear at 10:25 PM on June 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
I cannot wait to go back to England, we’ve had restrictions lifted in France but I’m not comfortable with where London and the south of England are.
My nan turns 100 in November so I will definitely travel then even if in a Naomi Campbell biohazard suit!
From a month out of lockdown here, going to the hairdressers and back to physio and other medical appointments has been so good.
posted by ellieBOA at 10:49 PM on June 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
My nan turns 100 in November so I will definitely travel then even if in a Naomi Campbell biohazard suit!
From a month out of lockdown here, going to the hairdressers and back to physio and other medical appointments has been so good.
posted by ellieBOA at 10:49 PM on June 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
A couple months before things exploded I was participating every couple weeks in getting a group off the ground to do social photography events. We meet at some park/trail/garden/beach whatever and take photos. We were all the way up to event number three when quarrantine hit and I find I'm missing that interaction more than anything else.
posted by Mitheral at 11:12 PM on June 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Mitheral at 11:12 PM on June 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
I want a haircut (which I could legally do already, but I'm being cautious), and I want to see my family and my husband's family (which we cannot legally do yet) so we can hold his father's funeral. I don't know if the latter is something I am looking forward to, exactly, but it's something I feel like we are in a holding pattern waiting for.
I AM looking forward to taking advantage of travelling to see family and the fact that we won't be going back to in-person work until 2021 to work very remotely. I'm going to spend some time sightseeing in New Zealand, which I've never really done, because I left at age 20, before which I was too poor to have holidays away from home, and after which I always had only a couple of weeks leave at a time, which got maxed out on visiting family. I'm going to do ALL THE TOURIST THINGS.
posted by lollusc at 11:37 PM on June 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
I AM looking forward to taking advantage of travelling to see family and the fact that we won't be going back to in-person work until 2021 to work very remotely. I'm going to spend some time sightseeing in New Zealand, which I've never really done, because I left at age 20, before which I was too poor to have holidays away from home, and after which I always had only a couple of weeks leave at a time, which got maxed out on visiting family. I'm going to do ALL THE TOURIST THINGS.
posted by lollusc at 11:37 PM on June 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
Going to the beach.
Hugging my parents.
Visiting museums again.
Definitely getting a haircut.
Maybe.. hopefully.. going on a date.
Oh! And Disneyland.
posted by Kitchen Witch at 12:31 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Hugging my parents.
Visiting museums again.
Definitely getting a haircut.
Maybe.. hopefully.. going on a date.
Oh! And Disneyland.
posted by Kitchen Witch at 12:31 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
dragging every member of the current administration to the guillotines
posted by poffin boffin at 12:36 AM on June 13, 2020 [72 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:36 AM on June 13, 2020 [72 favorites]
Polka.
posted by clew at 12:36 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by clew at 12:36 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
Having little e’s friends over for play dates. I miss the ambient giggling.
Going to the pool.
Out of town visitors, staying in our guest room, talking til all hours.
The neighborhood festivals! So much of the identity of my home hinges on these summer weekends, now lost. Standing in line for a little paper boat of food from a local restaurant and finding an awkward perch where we can sit and eat it. Listening to a band playing exciting music from somewhere far away.
posted by eirias at 12:40 AM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Going to the pool.
Out of town visitors, staying in our guest room, talking til all hours.
The neighborhood festivals! So much of the identity of my home hinges on these summer weekends, now lost. Standing in line for a little paper boat of food from a local restaurant and finding an awkward perch where we can sit and eat it. Listening to a band playing exciting music from somewhere far away.
posted by eirias at 12:40 AM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
* Train journeys
* Day trips to non-local countryside walking trails
* Nipping into a shop for a random impulse purchase
posted by Mauve at 12:48 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
* Day trips to non-local countryside walking trails
* Nipping into a shop for a random impulse purchase
posted by Mauve at 12:48 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Retrieving my grip on the passage of time. It still feels like March. I meant to get my tyres changed in April before the big drive to my cousin's wedding in May, neither of which happened for obvious reasons. I still have the mental "you need to change your tyres" notification sitting around, which I can't justify as essential maintenance when I'm doing a short drive once every two weeks for groceries (I've used half a tank of fuel since March, when I usually fill up every couple of weeks), but I can't dismiss the notification either because I still need new tyres sometime and need to not forget.
I'm looking forward to eating food that I didn't prepare myself, which I've only done once since we went into lockdown (we got pizza for my partner's birthday last weekend and it was GREAT). Eating with a friend at a restaurant would be heavenly right now, but I have no idea when that's going to be possible here.
My mother has given my sister permission to get another dog, most likely around October time, and I'm really hoping that we're allowed to go and stay in other people's houses by then (they live 300 miles away) because I really want to bond with that dog.
I also want to get my scoliosis/elbow nerve thing assessed, as being at home all the time and working out more is really highlighting all of the ways in which my posture is off. I suspect I'm not going to get to investigate either for a while, particularly not the nerve side of things, as both my regular GP service and the specialist service I have access to via my work are only taking emergencies right now due to COVID. I have no sense of when that stuff will be opening back up again, especially given that "open" doesn't necessarily mean "safe and/or worth the risk".
posted by terretu at 1:01 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm looking forward to eating food that I didn't prepare myself, which I've only done once since we went into lockdown (we got pizza for my partner's birthday last weekend and it was GREAT). Eating with a friend at a restaurant would be heavenly right now, but I have no idea when that's going to be possible here.
My mother has given my sister permission to get another dog, most likely around October time, and I'm really hoping that we're allowed to go and stay in other people's houses by then (they live 300 miles away) because I really want to bond with that dog.
I also want to get my scoliosis/elbow nerve thing assessed, as being at home all the time and working out more is really highlighting all of the ways in which my posture is off. I suspect I'm not going to get to investigate either for a while, particularly not the nerve side of things, as both my regular GP service and the specialist service I have access to via my work are only taking emergencies right now due to COVID. I have no sense of when that stuff will be opening back up again, especially given that "open" doesn't necessarily mean "safe and/or worth the risk".
posted by terretu at 1:01 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Oh and I really really want to go immerse myself in water somewhere. The beach, a lake, a hot pool or the Turkish hammam near us...
posted by lollusc at 1:18 AM on June 13, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by lollusc at 1:18 AM on June 13, 2020 [8 favorites]
Going back to school. I've been avoiding zoom as long as possible (I hate video chatting with the passion of a thousand fiery suns) but I have to take a math class that's entirely through zoom starting in three weeks. Ugh. I was supposed to take an in-person math class starting last March, and there was free tutoring available and I finally got myself psyched up for it... then a week later people started to get sick here and my campus closed. And shall remain closed until January. I dropped the class but can't put it off any longer, otherwise I would lose my financial aid. So now I'm taking math and my chem/bio labs online. Which I am dreading.
So yeah, I'm looking forward to going back to school. 2021!
I am also excited to go to the movies but based on my newfound fear of being indoors with strangers for longer than ten minutes that also probably won't happen until 2021. Or when we get a vaccine.
posted by mollywas at 1:33 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
So yeah, I'm looking forward to going back to school. 2021!
I am also excited to go to the movies but based on my newfound fear of being indoors with strangers for longer than ten minutes that also probably won't happen until 2021. Or when we get a vaccine.
posted by mollywas at 1:33 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
Teaching my nerdy orchestra students in person (and touching them to adjust technique without thinking about it, which seems like an impossible dream). And preparing them in huge groups for concerts with actual enormous audiences, but I think that’s further away than anything else right now. Getting to see actual kids‘ actual faces not in f*cking Zoom would be a start.
My state, Alaska, is fully “open for business” so there are lots of things I could be doing (haircuts, going to the tiny gym that I desperately miss) that apparently everyone else in the state is doing which are the reason we are well into a COVID peak that has blown right past our initial well-controlled spike.
posted by charmedimsure at 2:18 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
My state, Alaska, is fully “open for business” so there are lots of things I could be doing (haircuts, going to the tiny gym that I desperately miss) that apparently everyone else in the state is doing which are the reason we are well into a COVID peak that has blown right past our initial well-controlled spike.
posted by charmedimsure at 2:18 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Opera. Soup dumplings. Flowers and shellfish and a moment of connection about the kind of dirt specific tomatoes have been grown in with the greengrocer from Pike Place. Seeing the baby of my best friend who will probably be TALKING by the time we feel safe to visit for in-person game night. Going to the yarn store to touch things.
posted by Mizu at 2:20 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 2:20 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
I want a tree change with a vege patch, maybe in Tassie, depending on how long I have to live, other wise sunshine coast. As much as I can afford to (i.e. as long as I get medical certificates saying I'm unfit for work, I will paint, sew, garden, hang with my old cat and hopefully do some walking.
posted by b33j at 2:41 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by b33j at 2:41 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
Besides the obvious ones (hugs, friends, restaurants), I am really looking forward to using my reusable bags again. The grocery stores and farmers market here aren’t allowing them, and it’s been very hard to limit my plastic bag consumption.
posted by obfuscation at 4:28 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by obfuscation at 4:28 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
- Haircut
- Beer and a burger at our local pub.
- A road trip and some camping.
- Just hanging out with my friends and family.
- Watching a movie at the local theatre.
- Concerts, I wasn't big on music concerts pre quarantine but I miss that kind of festival atmosphere and want to experience that again. It's been too long.
- I just want to not have to think about a deadly virus or the POTUS for a single day. To just not have that be a thing in my brain.
posted by Fizz at 4:36 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
- Beer and a burger at our local pub.
- A road trip and some camping.
- Just hanging out with my friends and family.
- Watching a movie at the local theatre.
- Concerts, I wasn't big on music concerts pre quarantine but I miss that kind of festival atmosphere and want to experience that again. It's been too long.
- I just want to not have to think about a deadly virus or the POTUS for a single day. To just not have that be a thing in my brain.
posted by Fizz at 4:36 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
I miss going to the movies more than anything but I can't imagine when I'll be comfortable doing that again. Or eating in a restaurant. Or going to a concert. I guess when there's a vaccine but not 'till then.
posted by octothorpe at 5:06 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 5:06 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
One of my favorite things on the planet has been cancelled for this year, so no hope of doing that before Sept. 2021. In the meantime, I would just like for boyfriend to be able to visit (2 states away, haven't seen him for 3 months, you know the story, lots of people have that story) and then we walk 2 miles down the river trail and eat lunch and walk back and then doze off on the couch with the cats and then watch Perry Mason.
posted by JanetLand at 5:12 AM on June 13, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 5:12 AM on June 13, 2020 [8 favorites]
Going back to irl yoga classes, if those still exist.
My bff and I both adopted cats in the last month. I am definitely looking forward to seeing her in person again and meeting her new family member. Here is mine: Sneakers, admiring the view out my bedroom window.
posted by janepanic at 5:29 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
My bff and I both adopted cats in the last month. I am definitely looking forward to seeing her in person again and meeting her new family member. Here is mine: Sneakers, admiring the view out my bedroom window.
posted by janepanic at 5:29 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
I want to go to the office then out to lunch to a mediocre and crowded fast casual place with my coworkers where we'll complain about the office and gossip. Then we'd get coffee at the coffee cart before riding a crowded elevator up to our tiny open plan office.
Wake up with no plans and just decide to go do something or call a friend and just go hang out. Have a dinner party. Yoga classes in person.
Move on with my life and stop living in the pandemic/grief cloud I've been in since my partner died in January. I feel like time has stopped and I want to be able to plan for a future.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 5:43 AM on June 13, 2020 [21 favorites]
Wake up with no plans and just decide to go do something or call a friend and just go hang out. Have a dinner party. Yoga classes in person.
Move on with my life and stop living in the pandemic/grief cloud I've been in since my partner died in January. I feel like time has stopped and I want to be able to plan for a future.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 5:43 AM on June 13, 2020 [21 favorites]
I want to go back to work!! I'm laid off until the libraries reopen in their entirety, which Admin says will probably not happen until 2021. :^/
Swimming, which I will be able to do starting Wednesday (and believe you me I will be the first person in line at the pool). I also didn't realize how much I looked forward to my BodyPump classes at the Y until they were gone. They use a lot of shared equipment so it's unlikely they'll be back anytime soon.
Going to the Art Museum.
Seeing my elderly parents without a glass door between us!
And baseball. Oh God how I miss baseball. I want to sit in the stands on a hot day with a giant beer and just take it all in.
posted by Gray Duck at 5:45 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
Swimming, which I will be able to do starting Wednesday (and believe you me I will be the first person in line at the pool). I also didn't realize how much I looked forward to my BodyPump classes at the Y until they were gone. They use a lot of shared equipment so it's unlikely they'll be back anytime soon.
Going to the Art Museum.
Seeing my elderly parents without a glass door between us!
And baseball. Oh God how I miss baseball. I want to sit in the stands on a hot day with a giant beer and just take it all in.
posted by Gray Duck at 5:45 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
I had a trip planned (tickets bought, car rental paid for) to visit my hometown at the end of April that I had to cancel that I'd like to cash in my rain check for. Otherwise, my office is embracing the idea that people could work remotely on a permanent basis, so there's the possibility that I can move anywhere and still keep my job, which is just about one of the best ones I've ever had. I moved to my current area for my ex's career, so I really have no ties to the place other than the job and while I like where I'm living, the possibilities are wide open.
I'm not a huge gym rat, but it'd be nice to go back to my once or twice a week routine.
I was taking some continuing education art classes at a local university that I'd like to resume.
posted by LionIndex at 5:52 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm not a huge gym rat, but it'd be nice to go back to my once or twice a week routine.
I was taking some continuing education art classes at a local university that I'd like to resume.
posted by LionIndex at 5:52 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Attending as much theater as the budget will allow.
posted by Flannery Culp at 6:00 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by Flannery Culp at 6:00 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
Not having to think so hard about stuff. And traveling.
posted by Namlit at 6:08 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by Namlit at 6:08 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
Go out without worrying. So much fucking worrying (and we live in relatively responsibly managed pandemic Germany.) 'Cause no one seems to give a shit and it casually freaks me out. What about this winter/Fall? Is this the new future?
posted by From Bklyn at 6:21 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by From Bklyn at 6:21 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
I started a monthly dinner night with some old work friends at the beginning of this year. I got two in before the pandemic hit, and they were both so lovely and fun. I just had to cancel the third month in a row, and I am so bummed. I suppose one day I'll get to see these people again, but not today.
Extra irony: I was halfway through reading The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker when all this hit. You know, so I can be better prepared for all these gatherings I'm gonna be hosting.
posted by gueneverey at 6:54 AM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Extra irony: I was halfway through reading The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker when all this hit. You know, so I can be better prepared for all these gatherings I'm gonna be hosting.
posted by gueneverey at 6:54 AM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
I agree with so much of what people have already said.
First on my fantasy list would be massage, followed by spending an afternoon sitting at the bar reading and having a beer, maybe ordering some happy hour food.
And hugs. I haven't had physical contact with a person in months except for a few accidental hand touches at the checkout counter. Going back to being able to have casual/low-key physical contact, like hand shaking and hugs and so on, will feel incredibly nice.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:15 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
First on my fantasy list would be massage, followed by spending an afternoon sitting at the bar reading and having a beer, maybe ordering some happy hour food.
And hugs. I haven't had physical contact with a person in months except for a few accidental hand touches at the checkout counter. Going back to being able to have casual/low-key physical contact, like hand shaking and hugs and so on, will feel incredibly nice.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:15 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
I miss going to the movies. I love the feeling of anticipation I get when the previews are done, the lights go all the way down, and the studio logo/music appear on the screen. Watching at home isn't the same, because everything in the apartment is still visible to distract me -- at the movies, I know it's going to be just me and the story.
posted by shiny blue object at 7:19 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by shiny blue object at 7:19 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
The first two that have come to mind, I have already had a little taste of. I think that is making this a little harder to deal with, and more understanding of those who just want to "open it all back up". I still think it's a bad idea, but I can better understand people getting to their breaking points. It probably doesn't need to be said, but this shit is hard.
The first is human touch. While I was assisting someone at work a couple of weeks ago, they accidentally grazed my hand. I got goosebumps. That was the first non-family person that has touched me (even acidentally!) since mid-March. I most definitely feel for those of you who have not had any human touch. I can't even imagine.
The second is food and/or experiences? A couple of weeks after all of this began, I fell asleep one Friday night only wanting to wake up and eat at one specific taqueria. The food is good! Not great, but good. It's not our only place the partner and I eat breakfast, but it is definitely on the default list. In fact, whenever we road trip, we almost certainly start there as it is either on the way out of town or a very tiny detour.
We finally got breakfast burritos from there last weekend (and I forgot how good they were). But, we took the food home. One of the reasons we go to that taqueria is that we can just shut out the world for an hour. That's probably another reason we start our road trips there.... when we don't leave town, we usually go there when kiddo is at a sleep over or some such, so it's like an official start to our weekend. Similarly, when we go at the start of a road trip, it's mentally like turning on our out of office notification.
I haven't gotten to turn my OOO on (pragmatically) in 2020 at all. It's definitely better than being laid-off/furloughed/unemployed. I am really tired, though. That's something I have subconsciously missed.
Back to experiences, one of our local theatre companies has a really solid season scheduled. We saw the opening night of their last play, which also happened to be the closing night of their last play because of CoVid. The facility is large enough that social distancing won't be an issue and I'll feel comfortable going back there before a lot of other places.
I could go for a drink at my local pub, too.
And, dammit.. Ireland?....
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:30 AM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
The first is human touch. While I was assisting someone at work a couple of weeks ago, they accidentally grazed my hand. I got goosebumps. That was the first non-family person that has touched me (even acidentally!) since mid-March. I most definitely feel for those of you who have not had any human touch. I can't even imagine.
The second is food and/or experiences? A couple of weeks after all of this began, I fell asleep one Friday night only wanting to wake up and eat at one specific taqueria. The food is good! Not great, but good. It's not our only place the partner and I eat breakfast, but it is definitely on the default list. In fact, whenever we road trip, we almost certainly start there as it is either on the way out of town or a very tiny detour.
We finally got breakfast burritos from there last weekend (and I forgot how good they were). But, we took the food home. One of the reasons we go to that taqueria is that we can just shut out the world for an hour. That's probably another reason we start our road trips there.... when we don't leave town, we usually go there when kiddo is at a sleep over or some such, so it's like an official start to our weekend. Similarly, when we go at the start of a road trip, it's mentally like turning on our out of office notification.
I haven't gotten to turn my OOO on (pragmatically) in 2020 at all. It's definitely better than being laid-off/furloughed/unemployed. I am really tired, though. That's something I have subconsciously missed.
Back to experiences, one of our local theatre companies has a really solid season scheduled. We saw the opening night of their last play, which also happened to be the closing night of their last play because of CoVid. The facility is large enough that social distancing won't be an issue and I'll feel comfortable going back there before a lot of other places.
I could go for a drink at my local pub, too.
And, dammit.. Ireland?....
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:30 AM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
I want to hug my friends. I want to sit close to my BFF and giggle about stupid memes on our phones. Baseball. Canoeing trips with framily (friends who are family). Celebrating our holidays together. I have a milestone birthday this year that was supposed to be celebrated in the woods in a huge rented cabin with 20+ of our closest friends. Maybe we'll do that next year? I hope we'll do that next year. Lots of travel was put on hold. We were supposed to be in the UK in August, possibly in Germany in November.
I want to not plan every trip outside the house like it's the Oregon Trail. Just swing by the store on my way home from work. I want to go to work instead of working from home. Museums, the zoo, movies at the cinema, grabbing drinks with friends. Baseball. Did I mention baseball?
posted by cooker girl at 7:37 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
I want to not plan every trip outside the house like it's the Oregon Trail. Just swing by the store on my way home from work. I want to go to work instead of working from home. Museums, the zoo, movies at the cinema, grabbing drinks with friends. Baseball. Did I mention baseball?
posted by cooker girl at 7:37 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
I want to run errands without it being a whole project.
posted by bookmammal at 7:55 AM on June 13, 2020 [19 favorites]
posted by bookmammal at 7:55 AM on June 13, 2020 [19 favorites]
I miss going to bars, and I wasn't really much of a bar person. The conviviality of a bunch of strangers sitting at the same bar or watching the same big game on the televisions - the stickiness of the dive bar across the street from my office - I miss it all. This sounds weird but I *want* to become more of a bar person when this is all done.
I want to attend every half-ass town festival in my area next year, even the tiny ones with just a hot dog cart, a Scientology booth and the PTA. Nephew A *just* became an amusement park ride fan late last summer. We need to go to Six Flags and Dorney Park.
More concerts/events, more going out, more being out in public with others even if they're strangers. Maybe I'll even go see the big July 4th celebration in Philly that I have never seen because 'too many people.' When it all comes back (and it will!) I'm doing more of it.
posted by kimberussell at 8:00 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
I want to attend every half-ass town festival in my area next year, even the tiny ones with just a hot dog cart, a Scientology booth and the PTA. Nephew A *just* became an amusement park ride fan late last summer. We need to go to Six Flags and Dorney Park.
More concerts/events, more going out, more being out in public with others even if they're strangers. Maybe I'll even go see the big July 4th celebration in Philly that I have never seen because 'too many people.' When it all comes back (and it will!) I'm doing more of it.
posted by kimberussell at 8:00 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
I don't know when, if ever, I will feel safe in my college classroom again, but being in a room full of undergraduates and teaching them about the social construction of technology is one of the best feelings in the world. I hope I can be back there someday.
Hugging another person sounds nice, but my girlfriend dumped me about a month ago and I don't really have friends who hug, so who knows when that will happen again.
posted by k8lin at 8:02 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
Hugging another person sounds nice, but my girlfriend dumped me about a month ago and I don't really have friends who hug, so who knows when that will happen again.
posted by k8lin at 8:02 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
In the early days, before it really hit home how long this was going to run, I’d look out at the as yet empty lots across the street from us. There’d be an apartment building when we moved in, then, a couple years ago, it got torn down, giving us a lovey view of the valley we live on the cusp of (mind you, suburban greater Tokyo area valley, it’s all houses and apartments as far as the eye can see). That land started getting developed into houses last year, and we enjoyed our view as long as we could.
The goal, for me, was to have a giant goddamn barbecue. Invite everyone I know. A big ass birthday party for everyone who had to celebrate their birthday alone and isolated from their friends. Get the whole neighborhood in on it. Set up tables and chairs in the empty lots, just have a massive party.
Well, one of those lots has a nearly finished house that finally blocks out most of the view that we gained. I’m having a couple friends over to have a little bbq because it was my birthday last week, and I haven’t not had a birthday bbq in years, even though it’s supposed to rain all day, which kills my hopes of being able to have everyone just hang out outside the whole time, and makes me sort of want to call the whole thing off. Dammit. Stupid rainy season.
But yeah, big ass barbecue. That’s what I want to do. That, and a small group trip to San Diego for a week to avoid the Olympics. Craft beer brewery hoping, checking out a baseball game, and just relaxing with good folks and great beer.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:03 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
The goal, for me, was to have a giant goddamn barbecue. Invite everyone I know. A big ass birthday party for everyone who had to celebrate their birthday alone and isolated from their friends. Get the whole neighborhood in on it. Set up tables and chairs in the empty lots, just have a massive party.
Well, one of those lots has a nearly finished house that finally blocks out most of the view that we gained. I’m having a couple friends over to have a little bbq because it was my birthday last week, and I haven’t not had a birthday bbq in years, even though it’s supposed to rain all day, which kills my hopes of being able to have everyone just hang out outside the whole time, and makes me sort of want to call the whole thing off. Dammit. Stupid rainy season.
But yeah, big ass barbecue. That’s what I want to do. That, and a small group trip to San Diego for a week to avoid the Olympics. Craft beer brewery hoping, checking out a baseball game, and just relaxing with good folks and great beer.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:03 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
I am honestly having a very hard time imagining what life will be like once this is over, which I think is partly that I know my life isn't going to go back to normal until after my mother dies. My pandemic experience is so totally tied up with my caregiving experience that it makes me feel really guilty for wishing for normal. And honestly, I don't even know who I'm going to be after this is all over. I suspect not exactly who I was before.
But yes: leisurely trips to the grocery store or Target or other random places that I used to be able to go to without fear of contamination. Going for a run without feeling anxious or guilty. Access to my own home with my own stuff. Free time.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:06 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
But yes: leisurely trips to the grocery store or Target or other random places that I used to be able to go to without fear of contamination. Going for a run without feeling anxious or guilty. Access to my own home with my own stuff. Free time.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:06 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
I want to not plan every trip outside the house like it's the Oregon Trail.
I have taken to rewriting my grocery list over and over until everything is listed in the exact order I will come to it in the store. This doesn't really help the experience but it gives me a slight feeling of control.
posted by JanetLand at 8:10 AM on June 13, 2020 [12 favorites]
I have taken to rewriting my grocery list over and over until everything is listed in the exact order I will come to it in the store. This doesn't really help the experience but it gives me a slight feeling of control.
posted by JanetLand at 8:10 AM on June 13, 2020 [12 favorites]
This sounds weird but I *want* to become more of a bar person when this is all done.
I love bars for all the reasons you talk about, and I've had times in my life when I've consciously sought out bars more than others because that sort of casual intimacy and shared space of a bar (less common in the US than in the UK because of the public house tradition there) is something I really desire at times.
I'd probably become more of a bar person after this is over, too. There's a great bar about 4 blocks from my house I've ignored for years except for a couple of visits. I could see going there a few times a week, getting known as a regular. I'd enjoy that.
posted by hippybear at 8:11 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
I love bars for all the reasons you talk about, and I've had times in my life when I've consciously sought out bars more than others because that sort of casual intimacy and shared space of a bar (less common in the US than in the UK because of the public house tradition there) is something I really desire at times.
I'd probably become more of a bar person after this is over, too. There's a great bar about 4 blocks from my house I've ignored for years except for a couple of visits. I could see going there a few times a week, getting known as a regular. I'd enjoy that.
posted by hippybear at 8:11 AM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
I just want to travel again. I want to go to new places and see new sights and try new food. We were just starting to plan an international trip I was really excited about when the news hit. Now I can only "travel" as far as my legs will take me. The fact that I've been willing to take 3-4 hour walks just to see neighborhoods in my city I don't usually visit is a sign of how much I've been craving it.
posted by capricorn at 8:17 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by capricorn at 8:17 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
Eating out and live theater. Estate sales and hardware stores, just for fun. Having grocery shopping just be annoying, rather than causing a full-on panic attack.
But also - being alone in the house. Just for a few hours.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 8:18 AM on June 13, 2020 [8 favorites]
But also - being alone in the house. Just for a few hours.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 8:18 AM on June 13, 2020 [8 favorites]
I want to hug my mom and dad.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:20 AM on June 13, 2020 [28 favorites]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:20 AM on June 13, 2020 [28 favorites]
I'm looking forward to family get-togethers. We're now allowed to meet outside at a distance and I am beyond thrilled I'll soon get to see my mom, mother-in-law, and niece again. I've really missed them. (I set out some lawn chairs awhile ago, so they can be only touched by other people when they visit.)
In our next expanding, I'm most looking forward to picking up holds at the library. Pretty happy at the thought of being able to return our heap of books too. I'd also like to be able to drive to nearby parks for a walk. We've just been walking in our neighborhood (the parking lots at parks have been closed) and I know these streets so well now.
It's also interesting the equity differences between neighborhoods. I had thought it was a bit easier to walk on the roads without sidewalks, because it's easy to cross when someone approaches. On the few streets with sidewalks we can get to, you have to step into the street or walk close enough to accidentally brush by. At a march last week, I saw that the sidewalks up north are so wide that you can give someone six feet of space and still be on the sidewalk. Now I want good sidewalks everywhere. (That's probably more of "during pandemic" hope though.)
posted by Margalo Epps at 8:29 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
In our next expanding, I'm most looking forward to picking up holds at the library. Pretty happy at the thought of being able to return our heap of books too. I'd also like to be able to drive to nearby parks for a walk. We've just been walking in our neighborhood (the parking lots at parks have been closed) and I know these streets so well now.
It's also interesting the equity differences between neighborhoods. I had thought it was a bit easier to walk on the roads without sidewalks, because it's easy to cross when someone approaches. On the few streets with sidewalks we can get to, you have to step into the street or walk close enough to accidentally brush by. At a march last week, I saw that the sidewalks up north are so wide that you can give someone six feet of space and still be on the sidewalk. Now I want good sidewalks everywhere. (That's probably more of "during pandemic" hope though.)
posted by Margalo Epps at 8:29 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
There was gonna be a family reunion in May, including a bunch of people I see maybe once every five years, at my aunt's beautiful house farm in rural Illinois. We decided to move it to next year and I'm already looking forward to it.
Also? A FUCKING PEDICURE. The past few months I have worn shoes like once a week and the callouses, they are out of control.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:33 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Also? A FUCKING PEDICURE. The past few months I have worn shoes like once a week and the callouses, they are out of control.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:33 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Also - guess who had JUST told her shrink, after a couple years of self-enforced celibacy, that she was ready to try dating again? In late February?
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:35 AM on June 13, 2020 [18 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:35 AM on June 13, 2020 [18 favorites]
Two main things, which were supposed to happen this summer:
Going to Canada to see all our friends there, which I have done every summer for 23 years and my wife has done every summer for 60 years... except this one.
Going to a Phish concert, which in a good year is a giant pit of filth and disease anyway, but not, like, you-or-your-loved-one-might-actually-die-from-it disease.
But mostly, like others, I just want to return to simple things. I want to walk into a grocery store without being surrounded by reminders of what's going on. I want to sit down in a nice restaurant and have a nice meal. I want to hike down a trail without thinking "ok, people are coming, put your mask on."
I just want to feel normal again.
posted by bondcliff at 8:40 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
Going to Canada to see all our friends there, which I have done every summer for 23 years and my wife has done every summer for 60 years... except this one.
Going to a Phish concert, which in a good year is a giant pit of filth and disease anyway, but not, like, you-or-your-loved-one-might-actually-die-from-it disease.
But mostly, like others, I just want to return to simple things. I want to walk into a grocery store without being surrounded by reminders of what's going on. I want to sit down in a nice restaurant and have a nice meal. I want to hike down a trail without thinking "ok, people are coming, put your mask on."
I just want to feel normal again.
posted by bondcliff at 8:40 AM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
I'd like to see my boyfriend again.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 8:47 AM on June 13, 2020 [26 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 8:47 AM on June 13, 2020 [26 favorites]
I, too, would like to see your boyfriend again!
But, I mean, probably for different reasons.
posted by bondcliff at 8:48 AM on June 13, 2020 [13 favorites]
But, I mean, probably for different reasons.
posted by bondcliff at 8:48 AM on June 13, 2020 [13 favorites]
Right now I want a coffee with cream, and I'm out of cream. In normal times I'd be back from the corner store already but now I'm like... ok I need to find my mask and change out of the two day old PJs I'm wearing and find some shoes that don't need socks because I haven't been washing socks because why would I, and then after all that I'll have to face the gauntlet of poorly-masked or non-masked humanity, and it's just easier to stay here in my depression hole without caffeine and brood.
Maybe I'll go do it now.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:54 AM on June 13, 2020 [10 favorites]
Maybe I'll go do it now.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:54 AM on June 13, 2020 [10 favorites]
Going to restaurants with my partner, specifically the Ethiopian place that doesn't offer our favorite dish as takeout.
Sitting in the butterfly room at the museum for hours and hours.
Browsing the used bookstore in our library.
Sharing food with the in-laws while watching a few episodes of whatever show we're co-watching at the moment.
Being able to run to the grocery store to pick up one or two things, instead of waiting until I'm almost out of food.
posted by brook horse at 8:57 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
Sitting in the butterfly room at the museum for hours and hours.
Browsing the used bookstore in our library.
Sharing food with the in-laws while watching a few episodes of whatever show we're co-watching at the moment.
Being able to run to the grocery store to pick up one or two things, instead of waiting until I'm almost out of food.
posted by brook horse at 8:57 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
The thing I'm missing most right now as we move into summer is travel. Long summer road trips, weekends camping with friends, exploring new places, summer festivals.
posted by geegollygosh at 8:58 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by geegollygosh at 8:58 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Pints at the pub with Dad. Pizza and pitchers at our regular hole-in-the-wall with my husband. Brunch with my BFF. Flights to any coast, or across an ocean, with any or all of them.
posted by armeowda at 8:59 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by armeowda at 8:59 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Traveling. Staying in a hotel and starfishing in a big bed with lots of pillows.
Getting back into making money as a musician. Tonight, my band is playing a drive-in concert, but it's just not the same.
Dinners with friends. Dinners in restaurants. Seeing family members for longer than a quick drop by at a distance.
posted by emelenjr at 9:01 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Getting back into making money as a musician. Tonight, my band is playing a drive-in concert, but it's just not the same.
Dinners with friends. Dinners in restaurants. Seeing family members for longer than a quick drop by at a distance.
posted by emelenjr at 9:01 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Live music. Concerts. Movies in a movie theatre. Dinner and drinks with friends in our favorite sushi/Thai/Italian/etc restaurant. Going to Hawaii or the Caribbean or Europe/Asia/Africa/ANYWHERE . IRL dance and yoga classes. Playing with my band.
I can’t wait.
posted by gt2 at 9:19 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
I can’t wait.
posted by gt2 at 9:19 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm going to be an outlier, but I'm really looking forward to being able to just nip over to the hardware/home improvement store. It's so frustrating to be in the middle of a project, need a little fitting or something and find yourself thinking "hmm, well, I could go, but it might kill me." Fortunately, I have a pretty serious stash of stuff and can usually get jobs done anyway. I also am really looking forward to going to work without feeling constant, intense anxiety. All the standard stuff too- seeing friends/family, dining out etc.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 9:22 AM on June 13, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 9:22 AM on June 13, 2020 [10 favorites]
sex dates. HUGGING. seeing friends.
also, yeah I really need a haircut and I'm overdue for a facial. on the other hand I'm getting better at painting my own toenails!
posted by supermedusa at 9:58 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
also, yeah I really need a haircut and I'm overdue for a facial. on the other hand I'm getting better at painting my own toenails!
posted by supermedusa at 9:58 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
***hugs***
posted by calgirl at 10:09 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by calgirl at 10:09 AM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
So many things that others have mentioned, but one very specific thing I miss is being able to go to the laundromat and fold/hang my clothes piece by piece as I take them out of the dryer and get them arranged and smoothed and sorted. My laundromat has been able to stay open with the provision that people go inside only to put things in washers, move them from washers to dryers, and unload them from dryers and take them immediately outside. This means that I do a sort of cack-handed job of trying to fold the wrinkliest stuff in the backseat while standing in the parking lot, but really I've just ended up being permanently rumpled for the past three months. Of course, it's not a big deal, because the cats don't care, and who the hell else is going to see me anyway? But still, I miss feeling even vaguely kempt. (In the same vein, I so miss having my hair cut by someone who knows what they're doing and isn't flailing wildly around with a clippers and handmirror, though I'll admit I've made my peace with just going by feel and buzzing it 1/2 inch all over.)
posted by Kat Allison at 10:57 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Kat Allison at 10:57 AM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm going to be an outlier, but I'm really looking forward to being able to just nip over to the hardware/home improvement store.
As someone who has had to visit Home Depot a few times during this pandemic I can assure you they are taking all necessary precautions by wearing masks over their chins.
posted by bondcliff at 11:02 AM on June 13, 2020 [16 favorites]
As someone who has had to visit Home Depot a few times during this pandemic I can assure you they are taking all necessary precautions by wearing masks over their chins.
posted by bondcliff at 11:02 AM on June 13, 2020 [16 favorites]
Throwing dinner parties. I used to love them so much, the crowded little house, the hugging hello, the talking and laughing around the table by the fireplace, passing food around, the hand on your shoulder as someone squeezed behind you, sometimes a baby crawling under the table, hugging goodbye . . . .
And believe it or not I actually miss work meetings.
posted by HotToddy at 11:19 AM on June 13, 2020 [8 favorites]
And believe it or not I actually miss work meetings.
posted by HotToddy at 11:19 AM on June 13, 2020 [8 favorites]
I went to Home Depot once a month ago because my smaller, safer local hardware store was out of tomato stakes, and THAT's not happening again. At least 20% of the people there didn't even have masks.
I am desperate to hug an adult, so that. I've been with my five-year-old and cat, so not totally devoid of touch, but hugging grown-ups is what I miss most.
I want to not plan every trip outside the house like it's the Oregon Trail.
That too. I want to run errands without wondering if someone will die because I selfishly needed milk/dish soap/allergy medicine/tomato stakes. Whether I'll get a "YOU HAVE DIED OF COVID" screen myself is lower on the list.
posted by centrifugal at 11:26 AM on June 13, 2020 [5 favorites]
I am desperate to hug an adult, so that. I've been with my five-year-old and cat, so not totally devoid of touch, but hugging grown-ups is what I miss most.
I want to not plan every trip outside the house like it's the Oregon Trail.
That too. I want to run errands without wondering if someone will die because I selfishly needed milk/dish soap/allergy medicine/tomato stakes. Whether I'll get a "YOU HAVE DIED OF COVID" screen myself is lower on the list.
posted by centrifugal at 11:26 AM on June 13, 2020 [5 favorites]
Right now I want a coffee with cream, and I'm out of cream. In normal times I'd be back from the corner store already but now I'm like... ok I need to find my mask and change out of the two day old PJs I'm wearing and find some shoes that don't need socks because I haven't been washing socks because why would I, and then after all that I'll have to face the gauntlet of poorly-masked or non-masked humanity, and it's just easier to stay here in my depression hole without caffeine and brood.
Maybe I'll go do it now.
I suited up and went out. First to the garden store for some plant food I needed, then a half hour walk around the neighborhood looking at other people's gardens, then instead of coffee a stop at my favorite Thai place for a Thai iced tea (so glad they're hanging on), then picked up two beautiful handmade face masks from a street vendor. While I was out I saw people painting a huge Black Lives Matter on the street two blocks away in Bed-Stuy. I feel so much better than I did this morning.
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:27 AM on June 13, 2020 [21 favorites]
Maybe I'll go do it now.
I suited up and went out. First to the garden store for some plant food I needed, then a half hour walk around the neighborhood looking at other people's gardens, then instead of coffee a stop at my favorite Thai place for a Thai iced tea (so glad they're hanging on), then picked up two beautiful handmade face masks from a street vendor. While I was out I saw people painting a huge Black Lives Matter on the street two blocks away in Bed-Stuy. I feel so much better than I did this morning.
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:27 AM on June 13, 2020 [21 favorites]
I was just thinking the other day about my past half-year...
I ended the previous year in a bit of a funk - no real reason, just generally a bit down - but then in January I got a burst of energy. I was going to take cooking classes! Renew my interest in photography! Join a photography club! Be social! Be creative! Cook new tasty things!
What I actually managed to do in the first couple months of 2020 before all gang agley:
- Take one cooking class (a second one got postponed)
- Go on a couple very brief solo photo outings
- Add some photos to a few Flickr groups
- Spend my tax refund on a couple new lenses that I haven't had a chance to play with
So I miss following through on those plans, and I hope I still have gumption left to do so once I have the opportunity again. I also miss potlucks and hanging out with friends, camping, IRL meetups, restaurants, and pubs with lots of beers on tap to try.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:32 AM on June 13, 2020 [5 favorites]
I ended the previous year in a bit of a funk - no real reason, just generally a bit down - but then in January I got a burst of energy. I was going to take cooking classes! Renew my interest in photography! Join a photography club! Be social! Be creative! Cook new tasty things!
What I actually managed to do in the first couple months of 2020 before all gang agley:
- Take one cooking class (a second one got postponed)
- Go on a couple very brief solo photo outings
- Add some photos to a few Flickr groups
- Spend my tax refund on a couple new lenses that I haven't had a chance to play with
So I miss following through on those plans, and I hope I still have gumption left to do so once I have the opportunity again. I also miss potlucks and hanging out with friends, camping, IRL meetups, restaurants, and pubs with lots of beers on tap to try.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:32 AM on June 13, 2020 [5 favorites]
I've been trying not to think about it because I don't know when will be After or what will be lost.
I would like to see my family.
posted by betweenthebars at 11:37 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
I would like to see my family.
posted by betweenthebars at 11:37 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
Dating. I really really want to meet some new people and hopefully kiss them.
Spiritual community. During These Times this has become crystallised as a need I have to which I am willing to dedicate the next few years in the search for its fulfilment. I'm not sure what it will look like, but I'm excited to explore options. This will involve travel. I really hope that is an option sooner rather than later.
posted by Balthamos at 11:45 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
Spiritual community. During These Times this has become crystallised as a need I have to which I am willing to dedicate the next few years in the search for its fulfilment. I'm not sure what it will look like, but I'm excited to explore options. This will involve travel. I really hope that is an option sooner rather than later.
posted by Balthamos at 11:45 AM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
Travel. And time off. I haven't had a real chance to unplug from work for a full day since February (when I stayed an extra few days out of town on a work trip to explore, and got awful food poisoning). Work hasn't been very welcoming of time off since the lockdown started, and even on weekends I mostly just feel a) like I need to be catching up on work and b) like I need to tackle the thousand repairs our decrepit house needs. I was supposed to spend a few weeks in Japan in April (hahahaha), and now I would do just about anything just to pack a bag and sleep in a bed I didn't have to make and wash and stare at different scenery and turn off my work email. I even miss flying and having a few hours to at least claim that the plane wifi was too shitty to use.
Also, nthing going out for any reason without it being a moral dilemma and logistical headache (do we REALLY need groceries this week or can I push it one more? Is it possible to go back to an earlier aisle if I missed something, or do I need to just do without somother people can come in the store? If I go get a bubble tea am I helping the cafe stay in business, or putting a poor barista in danger from having to go to work with my selfishness? I have a yard, do I really need to walk to the park or should I just pace the yard? Yard needs work anyway, should I even do something that isn't chores? Better just sink into a puddle of depression on the floor and do nothing instead).
I was already pretty brain weasels before this all started so I don't really have a robust family or social life to resume, but I miss at least going places alone and not feeling evil for it.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 11:59 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
Also, nthing going out for any reason without it being a moral dilemma and logistical headache (do we REALLY need groceries this week or can I push it one more? Is it possible to go back to an earlier aisle if I missed something, or do I need to just do without somother people can come in the store? If I go get a bubble tea am I helping the cafe stay in business, or putting a poor barista in danger from having to go to work with my selfishness? I have a yard, do I really need to walk to the park or should I just pace the yard? Yard needs work anyway, should I even do something that isn't chores? Better just sink into a puddle of depression on the floor and do nothing instead).
I was already pretty brain weasels before this all started so I don't really have a robust family or social life to resume, but I miss at least going places alone and not feeling evil for it.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 11:59 AM on June 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
In-person Al-Anon meetings! Movies at movie theaters. Libraries. In-person work dates with buddies. Visiting the US so I can have a memorial for my late dad. Meeting up with a kinky buddy for kissing and other things after more than a year of no kissing. Dating in hopes of finding some one or ones I can kiss on the regular. Being able to chat with strangers without being on constant alert that they are edging too close to me (I had to glare someone into moving back at the grocery store yesterday after they practically bumped my ass).
posted by Bella Donna at 12:13 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 12:13 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Dancing and holding hands with other dancers; I do International Folk Dance weekly, or did. Zoom dances are a pale imitation. I miss almost everything about dancing with people. Work, maybe. I'm sort of retired but had planned to work the census and some part-time stuff. Spontaneity. Hugging. Hanging out in the bookstore, library, coffee shop. I just started hanging out at a nice pub with occasional music, but then Covid. Talking to people without the mask, which removes so much expression. MeFi Meetup. Volunteering. No one knows when singing with other people will be allowed, but I want to. Voting in person.
posted by theora55 at 12:28 PM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 12:28 PM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
All I want right now is to get a job and my own place. I returned home for the job search after graduating last year (My lease was up and it was unlikely I’d find work in the city/state where I had been living) and what I thought would be a few months has turned into beiing stuck here for 10months with no end in sight. I don’t have my own room, really, just the den and I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress this whole time. So the other thing I’m looking forward to is a real bed! My 39 year old body is so very tired of that air mattress,
posted by acidnova at 12:30 PM on June 13, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by acidnova at 12:30 PM on June 13, 2020 [12 favorites]
Church. I miss my church friends a lot. Live music, for sure. LOUD loud live music. Drinking, eating, and gossiping with friends. Dance class in person and yoga classes. Both of those take place in a studio space I love and can't wait to get back to. Eating at a restaurant, where Im not stared at by begging dogs.
My boyfriend and I are breaking our quarantine today, for the first time in 3 months. To say I'm looking forward to it is an understatement.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 12:35 PM on June 13, 2020 [14 favorites]
My boyfriend and I are breaking our quarantine today, for the first time in 3 months. To say I'm looking forward to it is an understatement.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 12:35 PM on June 13, 2020 [14 favorites]
Oh and of course we wanted to go antiquing for various styles of cocktail coupes.
posted by Namlit at 12:58 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Namlit at 12:58 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Going away for the weekend. (All kinds of travel, really, but especially a weekend trip by train somewhere at the last minute.)
Hanging out in my favourite coffee shop with my laptop for a few hours, eavesdropping, writing and feeling like part of the fabric of humanity.
Going to an art gallery, movie or performance and basking in someone else's creativity.
Hugging my friends, getting a massage, facial, pedicure etc..
posted by rpfields at 1:05 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Hanging out in my favourite coffee shop with my laptop for a few hours, eavesdropping, writing and feeling like part of the fabric of humanity.
Going to an art gallery, movie or performance and basking in someone else's creativity.
Hugging my friends, getting a massage, facial, pedicure etc..
posted by rpfields at 1:05 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
In Raleigh we have this crazy annual event called the Kirby Derby, where grownass adults build extremely dangerous soapbox cars and race them down a steep hill in wild costumes, with hundreds of spectators drinking and eating and wandering around chatting with strangers in the summer sunshine - it is the most life-affirming experience, such pure fun that when I'm there I imagine myself as a child thinking about what adulthood would be like, and that if I'd known there were going to be things like the Kirby Derby I would've been a lot more excited about growing up. Anyway, Kirby Derby 2021: I can't wait.
posted by something something at 1:17 PM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by something something at 1:17 PM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
Travel for sure. I've got a vacation coming up that was supposed to be an epic roadtrip but is now likely going to be me playing Disco Elysium 18 hours a day for a week. Still looking forward to it.
Pubs! God, pubs.
posted by rodlymight at 2:07 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Pubs! God, pubs.
posted by rodlymight at 2:07 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'll be waiting for the inevitable eviction notice. Hopefully I'll have found a real job where I can play with big toys or at least decided where I'd like to live by then. Then a trip home, it's been about seven years or so and kids are leaving the nest and the old generation is getting old.
posted by zengargoyle at 2:14 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 2:14 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Hotels. Pubs. Browsing (anywhere, but particularly second-hand books, food shops, small places with unexpected things). Haircut. Dentist. Being on my own.
Mostly, though, making music with other people. Plans are afoot for some socially-distanced music with some friends but it takes so. much. planning. I had great plans for doing lots of practice on my own during lockdown, and it just hasn't happened - other people are so crucial to the music I like to play.
posted by altolinguistic at 3:03 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Mostly, though, making music with other people. Plans are afoot for some socially-distanced music with some friends but it takes so. much. planning. I had great plans for doing lots of practice on my own during lockdown, and it just hasn't happened - other people are so crucial to the music I like to play.
posted by altolinguistic at 3:03 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
This is a great question. Currently travel- travel to my hometown without the pretzel logistics of stressful flights and quarantines, travel to all the places I assumed "would always be there" and so on.
posted by bquarters at 4:29 PM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bquarters at 4:29 PM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Cafe.
Being properly fitted for a bra. (I finally have the funds to invest in a proper lingerie collection.)
An entire day at a day spa, complete with the fancy-ass session with a body scrub.
Going to a movie in a movie theater.
Although, really, the thing I'm looking forward to most is not having to wear a damn mask any more.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:32 PM on June 13, 2020 [5 favorites]
Being properly fitted for a bra. (I finally have the funds to invest in a proper lingerie collection.)
An entire day at a day spa, complete with the fancy-ass session with a body scrub.
Going to a movie in a movie theater.
Although, really, the thing I'm looking forward to most is not having to wear a damn mask any more.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:32 PM on June 13, 2020 [5 favorites]
My children being back at school and being able to interact with their teachers and friends.
Me being back at the office but also being able to work from home a few days a week.
Working from home with the kids back at school.
Going to the library and browsing bookstores
posted by biggreenplant at 5:03 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Me being back at the office but also being able to work from home a few days a week.
Working from home with the kids back at school.
Going to the library and browsing bookstores
posted by biggreenplant at 5:03 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Watch my kids play freely with their friends. Go to a movie with them and eat junk food while watching a silly kids movie.
Eat at a sushi counter with my husband.
Yoga class at the local rec center. Have lunch with my parents at a restaurant. (I have resumed careful visits with my parents - we’re in an isolation bubble- and it’s great. But there’s not a lot we can do together).
One thing I realized is I really enjoy picking up my kids from school. I’ll enjoy it more in the future rather than being so stressed about getting out of work and getting to the school on time.
posted by areaperson at 5:12 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Eat at a sushi counter with my husband.
Yoga class at the local rec center. Have lunch with my parents at a restaurant. (I have resumed careful visits with my parents - we’re in an isolation bubble- and it’s great. But there’s not a lot we can do together).
One thing I realized is I really enjoy picking up my kids from school. I’ll enjoy it more in the future rather than being so stressed about getting out of work and getting to the school on time.
posted by areaperson at 5:12 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
draught beer, metal gigs, large bookshops (foyles had better gird its loins, i tell you what), buying six exquisite mouthfuls of different cheeses from the cheese shop while revelling in the appalling customer service and then consuming them in unbroken succession like a goddamn animal
i just feel like at some point i’m going to end up singlehandedly reenacting that cringey zion dance scene from the matrix due to the sheer joy of being freely outside, and i can’t predict when or where this will happen, only that it will
posted by inire at 5:27 PM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
i just feel like at some point i’m going to end up singlehandedly reenacting that cringey zion dance scene from the matrix due to the sheer joy of being freely outside, and i can’t predict when or where this will happen, only that it will
posted by inire at 5:27 PM on June 13, 2020 [7 favorites]
Sex. Kissing. Someone! Anyone! (FWIW: the guy I started dating last year imposed a moratorium on physical affection between us. So I've had zip zilch nada nothing in the way of touch since the very beginning of March. I AM. Not. Happy) Like possibly many others, I am reconsidering this whole relationship. So yeah, sex is at the top of my list.
posted by annieb at 5:48 PM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by annieb at 5:48 PM on June 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
I have three items on the top of my list. First, riding BART from San Jose to Berkeley (been waiting for 3 years for that, and the station will be at its cleanest). Sitting in the balcony at the Stanford Theater for a classic movie double feature; dinner beforehand at the Palo Alto Creamery, sitting at the counter on a swiveling stool.
posted by JDC8 at 5:58 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by JDC8 at 5:58 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
I don't know if "looking forward" is the most apt term, but my grandfather's funeral was originally scheduled for March and now has optimistically been pushed back to August. While it would involve international travel on my part to get to NYC and who knows what that will be like, whenever it's held, it will likely be the last time I see certain members of my extended family.
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 6:29 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 6:29 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
I just had to look back to the first weekend of March for a short-list of activities, with some things that were on the schedule later in the spring:
Having dinner with mr computech’s family, including kitty snorgling and hugs all around.
Dropping into my neighborhood coffee spot
Ramen or spicy noodles or tacos at the last minute
Riding my bike with friends and taking a very lengthy donut break in Nyack
Hiking in the Catskills, with breakfast stops beforehand and pizza and snacks after
A haircut and wash!!!!!
A teeth cleaning
Trying on multiple sets of glasses frames so I can order glasses to replace my 7-yr-old ones
Not having to worry if I’ve forgotten my mask or my gloves or wipes or gel for every single trip anywhere.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:46 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Having dinner with mr computech’s family, including kitty snorgling and hugs all around.
Dropping into my neighborhood coffee spot
Ramen or spicy noodles or tacos at the last minute
Riding my bike with friends and taking a very lengthy donut break in Nyack
Hiking in the Catskills, with breakfast stops beforehand and pizza and snacks after
A haircut and wash!!!!!
A teeth cleaning
Trying on multiple sets of glasses frames so I can order glasses to replace my 7-yr-old ones
Not having to worry if I’ve forgotten my mask or my gloves or wipes or gel for every single trip anywhere.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:46 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Making music with other musicians, at the same time in the same room. I miss that so much. There's a trust, an affinity, that you get that way which (for me) you get nowhere else. From watching/listening to the other person's breath and feeling their intention from the way they breathe, and matching it. I miss it like crazy.
Acting with other actors-- we're doing some stuff over Zoom, but it's not the same as actually being in a room with others.
Going to see music and theatre.
Taking the train to green places and hiking.
DINNER PARTIES oh god I want to cook for people and put candles on the table and pour something good to drink and just *talk* for a while.
Late night conversations with friends in general.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:11 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Acting with other actors-- we're doing some stuff over Zoom, but it's not the same as actually being in a room with others.
Going to see music and theatre.
Taking the train to green places and hiking.
DINNER PARTIES oh god I want to cook for people and put candles on the table and pour something good to drink and just *talk* for a while.
Late night conversations with friends in general.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:11 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
DINNER PARTIES oh god I want to cook for people and put candles on the table
HyacinthBucket Bouquet? Is that you?
posted by hippybear at 7:16 PM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Hyacinth
posted by hippybear at 7:16 PM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Going to the library!
posted by Archipelago at 7:24 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Archipelago at 7:24 PM on June 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Getting a haircut
Traveling!
Visiting relatives
Hugging people
Petting strangers’ dogs
Going to sporting events
Not feeling uneasy about doing routine things
posted by SisterHavana at 9:42 PM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Traveling!
Visiting relatives
Hugging people
Petting strangers’ dogs
Going to sporting events
Not feeling uneasy about doing routine things
posted by SisterHavana at 9:42 PM on June 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Dental work I’ve already paid for. A full service restaurant experience. Setting foot in a grocery store without a “zombie apocalypse supply run” mentality. Voting the bastards out. Seeing my parents. Truly rediscovering vanity.
posted by Selena777 at 10:15 PM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 10:15 PM on June 13, 2020 [6 favorites]
Not living in existential fear for a week after each time I do something mildly normal.
posted by Automocar at 10:32 PM on June 13, 2020 [15 favorites]
posted by Automocar at 10:32 PM on June 13, 2020 [15 favorites]
A couple weeks ago I splashed out on a front-row ticket to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for their show here in October. It was going to be one of the highlights of my last ten years, the one incredible experience in a decade that I pretended to be able to afford. It was my one good thing this year, my motivation to avoid dying from COVID-19 before November and my consolation prize in case US politics go to shit in November.
Wednesday morning I got an email saying the show had been canceled.
So, ya know, I *was* looking forward to that.
posted by bendy at 11:19 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Wednesday morning I got an email saying the show had been canceled.
So, ya know, I *was* looking forward to that.
posted by bendy at 11:19 PM on June 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
International travel, to somewhere with doobies.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:18 AM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Meatbomb at 1:18 AM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
Odly enough, I have read this whole thread and nothing aligns for me. Maybe because I am working retail, there has been little change except for wearing a mask everytime I go somewhere.
Not having a constant sense of underlying doom filtering about may happen, but that will depend on events other than returning to previous levels of quasinormal.
I don't miss hugs because I didn't have a hug relationship with anyone before; plus, I live alone and don't have an active social life. Pretty much all has been the same for me except that I have developed a flight reponse to gatherings of people.
My greatest hope is that my decent job picks back up steam because just having a few days work sporadically is killing my megar savings and my state didn't allow me to qualify for unemployment.
What I can look forward to is hearing people who are happy and joyful. I enjoy reading your posts about your lives and elaborate dinners, road trips, children's wins, hectic ordinary weeks full of living.
posted by mightshould at 3:04 AM on June 14, 2020 [7 favorites]
Not having a constant sense of underlying doom filtering about may happen, but that will depend on events other than returning to previous levels of quasinormal.
I don't miss hugs because I didn't have a hug relationship with anyone before; plus, I live alone and don't have an active social life. Pretty much all has been the same for me except that I have developed a flight reponse to gatherings of people.
My greatest hope is that my decent job picks back up steam because just having a few days work sporadically is killing my megar savings and my state didn't allow me to qualify for unemployment.
What I can look forward to is hearing people who are happy and joyful. I enjoy reading your posts about your lives and elaborate dinners, road trips, children's wins, hectic ordinary weeks full of living.
posted by mightshould at 3:04 AM on June 14, 2020 [7 favorites]
Dancing and holding hands with other dancers; I do International Folk Dance weekly, or did. Zoom dances are a pale imitation. I miss almost everything about dancing with people.
I'm kind of loving our zoom dance classes. Not having to travel an hour and a half each way to class is a big part of it. I can go to dance class and STILL have an evening for doing other things! But also I find folk dance sessions almost always have one or two slightly creepy dudes who maybe are just socially awkward but stare at your boobs and hold you slightly too close or with their hands slightly closer to your butt than necessary, and compliment you awkwardly and far too often. Not having to deal with that has been just lovely. No hand-kissy 'm'ladying. The Zoom format does mean our dance repertoire has been pretty limited because there's no point in trying to do complex 8 person dances that rely on everyone being aware of everyone else's position. But it also means we are practising some of the more obscure ones we don't usually bother with.
posted by lollusc at 3:14 AM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
I'm kind of loving our zoom dance classes. Not having to travel an hour and a half each way to class is a big part of it. I can go to dance class and STILL have an evening for doing other things! But also I find folk dance sessions almost always have one or two slightly creepy dudes who maybe are just socially awkward but stare at your boobs and hold you slightly too close or with their hands slightly closer to your butt than necessary, and compliment you awkwardly and far too often. Not having to deal with that has been just lovely. No hand-kissy 'm'ladying. The Zoom format does mean our dance repertoire has been pretty limited because there's no point in trying to do complex 8 person dances that rely on everyone being aware of everyone else's position. But it also means we are practising some of the more obscure ones we don't usually bother with.
posted by lollusc at 3:14 AM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
I as a gay man literally do not go to contra dancing or other such social dances literally because I don't want to be mistaken for a creepy single dude there to hit on the women. It's a weird social response, but I don't want to make people uncomfortable.
posted by hippybear at 3:19 AM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:19 AM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
Fly to see my one year old nephew. That's the one thing that's really sad even with Facetime and Whatsapp it doesn't replace giving him hugs and just being there.
posted by Mouse Army at 4:49 AM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Mouse Army at 4:49 AM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
I would like to be able to get a human alcohol beer from a regular human bartender
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:08 AM on June 14, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:08 AM on June 14, 2020 [7 favorites]
Hippybear, I'm sorry to hear that. If it's helpful I can tell you there are plenty of single guys who come to our dancing groups who do not come across as creepy. As long as you are literally not kissing my hand, touching my butt, staring at my boobs every time I look at you, and giving effusive compliments every time I talk to you, you are not going to be a problem.
As a gay man, I suspect you are especially unlikely to come across as creepy, in fact.
posted by lollusc at 7:46 AM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
As a gay man, I suspect you are especially unlikely to come across as creepy, in fact.
posted by lollusc at 7:46 AM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
Swimming and the gym!!!
posted by jgirl at 8:29 AM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by jgirl at 8:29 AM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
I as a gay man literally do not go to contra dancing or other such social dances literally because I don't want to be mistaken for a creepy single dude there to hit on the women.
I wouldn't worry about it. At the few SFBay contra events I've been at you would merely have been mistaken for a creepy single dude there to hit on the men.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:53 AM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
I wouldn't worry about it. At the few SFBay contra events I've been at you would merely have been mistaken for a creepy single dude there to hit on the men.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:53 AM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
But also - being alone in the house. Just for a few hours.
GOD, YES, still_wears_a_hat
There are only 3 people in my condo and it's over 1000 sq. feet but sometimes it feels so much smaller. I mean, I'm an extrovert but my 10-year-old needs more interaction than even I can deal with. Thank god my in-laws are retired and willing to talk to her on the phone/computer for hours.
posted by bijou243 at 9:32 AM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
GOD, YES, still_wears_a_hat
There are only 3 people in my condo and it's over 1000 sq. feet but sometimes it feels so much smaller. I mean, I'm an extrovert but my 10-year-old needs more interaction than even I can deal with. Thank god my in-laws are retired and willing to talk to her on the phone/computer for hours.
posted by bijou243 at 9:32 AM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
Baby steps: I'm looking forward to being able to take the train again. Until I can do that - catch a train for a non-essential journey, ideally on a whim and without fear - I'm not going to be able to do any of the other things on my list: go to see friends and family, browse in a bookshop, visit a museum, eat a meal I haven't prepared myself, walk in countryside that's not under threat of development, travel somewhere new.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:40 AM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:40 AM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
There are only 3 people in my condo and it's over 1000 sq. feet but sometimes it feels so much smaller.
I'm one person in an 1800 sq foot house and I would be tossing bodies out the front door at this point. "Why yes, death from coronavirus *does* resemble being suffocated in your sleep."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:48 AM on June 14, 2020 [5 favorites]
I'm one person in an 1800 sq foot house and I would be tossing bodies out the front door at this point. "Why yes, death from coronavirus *does* resemble being suffocated in your sleep."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:48 AM on June 14, 2020 [5 favorites]
The fucking OPTOMETRIST because my prescriptions are TOO FUCKING WEAK and I have PROGRESSIVE LENSES (three blended prescriptions). I'm in hell. HELL.
posted by tzikeh at 11:09 AM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by tzikeh at 11:09 AM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
Pub...and I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but the gym, mainly because three months of working from home and being a lot more sedentary has me feeling like a HORRIBLE SENTIENT HAM GOLEM BLARGH.
Also, I know that the pub and the gym aren't exactly compatible. I contradict myself; I contain multitudes.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 11:16 AM on June 14, 2020 [6 favorites]
Also, I know that the pub and the gym aren't exactly compatible. I contradict myself; I contain multitudes.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 11:16 AM on June 14, 2020 [6 favorites]
I was already a hermit who cuts my own hair, so:
Cuddling (which unfortunately requires first going on dates because I broke up with my gf in February)
Petting random dogs
Going to the grocery store whenever I feel like it and as often as I want
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:17 AM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
Cuddling (which unfortunately requires first going on dates because I broke up with my gf in February)
Petting random dogs
Going to the grocery store whenever I feel like it and as often as I want
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:17 AM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
HORRIBLE SENTIENT HAM GOLEM
Get your sock puppet name while they're fresh and hot!
posted by hippybear at 11:22 AM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
Get your sock puppet name while they're fresh and hot!
posted by hippybear at 11:22 AM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
Dancing kizomba
Dancing bachata
Dancing merengue
Dancing salsa
Game conventions
Eating out with friends
posted by meinvt at 11:36 AM on June 14, 2020
Dancing bachata
Dancing merengue
Dancing salsa
Game conventions
Eating out with friends
posted by meinvt at 11:36 AM on June 14, 2020
My kids are missing their grandparents so much. My folks live a thousand miles away, a short flight but too long a drive, and we're all suffering without them. We typically try to visit 3 or 4 times a year. It's been since December.
We were supposed to go on a cruise next week. I don't know if cruises are ever coming back and frankly being stuck in a small room with my three children doesn't sound ALL that vacation-like right now. But what I want is for a cruise to sound like a nice idea - to have enough time away from my kids that being thrown together like that sounds fun and different.
And, wow, last but not least, my phone just alerted me that it's time to leave now if I want to make it to the Seattle symphony in time for the performance we were supposed to see. *sob*
posted by potrzebie at 1:18 PM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
We were supposed to go on a cruise next week. I don't know if cruises are ever coming back and frankly being stuck in a small room with my three children doesn't sound ALL that vacation-like right now. But what I want is for a cruise to sound like a nice idea - to have enough time away from my kids that being thrown together like that sounds fun and different.
And, wow, last but not least, my phone just alerted me that it's time to leave now if I want to make it to the Seattle symphony in time for the performance we were supposed to see. *sob*
posted by potrzebie at 1:18 PM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
Having people over without interrogating whether they are well or not- whether that's out loud or just in my head. I don't think this will go away anytime soon- see baby update below.
Having games night where we can sit around a table together and laugh and play cards and eat junk food. While we can have gatherings they are supposed to be physically distanced.
Going to social/family events without thinking about what the rules are, and what message I'm sending as a church elder when I make choices about gathering. (There will be 21 people total when the law says 20 is the cap, do I go, knowing this?)
Getting over the 'ugh people' feeling. I do actually enjoy being with people once I get out and do it, but it's been such a long time that I don't really want to go back to big social events like church yet.
Pandemic has corresponded with Gestational Diabetes and the second half of my pregnancy, so while working from home was an AWESOME thing for pregnant me, I'm just really looking forward to being able to eat chocolate, chips and cake again. This isn't strictly an 'after the pandemic' thing though! I'm also just hanging out for this baby to get here (but not too soon, we are still in the middle of insulating the walls!)
posted by freethefeet at 3:44 PM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
Having games night where we can sit around a table together and laugh and play cards and eat junk food. While we can have gatherings they are supposed to be physically distanced.
Going to social/family events without thinking about what the rules are, and what message I'm sending as a church elder when I make choices about gathering. (There will be 21 people total when the law says 20 is the cap, do I go, knowing this?)
Getting over the 'ugh people' feeling. I do actually enjoy being with people once I get out and do it, but it's been such a long time that I don't really want to go back to big social events like church yet.
Pandemic has corresponded with Gestational Diabetes and the second half of my pregnancy, so while working from home was an AWESOME thing for pregnant me, I'm just really looking forward to being able to eat chocolate, chips and cake again. This isn't strictly an 'after the pandemic' thing though! I'm also just hanging out for this baby to get here (but not too soon, we are still in the middle of insulating the walls!)
posted by freethefeet at 3:44 PM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
I would like to be able to touch my boyfriend. Even just like ... hold his hand. Clearly, I would like more than that, but at this point, I'll take anything.
(His housemate/business partner is high risk so we're being as cautious as possible. Maybe overly so, but neither of us have figured out a good solution yet, so here we are ...)
posted by darksong at 4:53 PM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
(His housemate/business partner is high risk so we're being as cautious as possible. Maybe overly so, but neither of us have figured out a good solution yet, so here we are ...)
posted by darksong at 4:53 PM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
I want to be able to visit my aging parents (especially them within the next year, please), family, and friends in the USA, Canada, and UK and not spend a fortnight locked in an Auckland hotel upon return in self-isolation because there isn't a vaccine yet. I want to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner and not have that low-level and pervasive fear that I might get coughed on and get sick (am immuno-compromised). As an avid home cook, I want to enjoy grocery shopping and going to the markets again. I want to go to the cinema and see films in all their gigantic glory. Making sweetie treats for those I love.
posted by lemon_icing at 7:28 PM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by lemon_icing at 7:28 PM on June 14, 2020 [4 favorites]
Getting together with a human being who I consider a friend and seeing them face to face, maybe do a board game or RPG session with them. Do that without worrying I'll be killing someone. That would be nice.
I may be able to have dinner with a human on an outdoor patio later this month, so that's closer than I've come to my dream in a while. Sadly, I don't think it's a "step in the right direction." I think the relaxed restrictions and amount of additional cheating I've seen in my particular area mean by winter we'll be worse off again and forced to clamp down. I feel like we're just giving up and I finally figured, screw it, I'm going to snatch a few moments of companionship I think low risk or it might be a friggin' year like this.
posted by mark k at 7:49 PM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
I may be able to have dinner with a human on an outdoor patio later this month, so that's closer than I've come to my dream in a while. Sadly, I don't think it's a "step in the right direction." I think the relaxed restrictions and amount of additional cheating I've seen in my particular area mean by winter we'll be worse off again and forced to clamp down. I feel like we're just giving up and I finally figured, screw it, I'm going to snatch a few moments of companionship I think low risk or it might be a friggin' year like this.
posted by mark k at 7:49 PM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
I would like to go to a buffet, but I don't think those are going to survive the pandemic. It would be a shame if the only remaining buffets in 2025 were ones in Vegas.
Massages, haircuts, and the gym, definitely. And having people over to play with the cat!
I had scheduled a wedding for family this December in Florida with a reception for friends in Seattle at a later unspecified time. I wouldn't say that I was ever looking forward to the wedding itself (I'd have to be cheerful or otherwise appropriately emotional for a whole day ;_;) but I had been looking forward to the family photos that would come out of it. So maybe that.
Part of the reason for cancelling is that flying with a mask on seems like no fun at all. I look forward to flying being a fun experience again.
I don't miss hugs or "going out".
posted by batter_my_heart at 7:58 PM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
Massages, haircuts, and the gym, definitely. And having people over to play with the cat!
I had scheduled a wedding for family this December in Florida with a reception for friends in Seattle at a later unspecified time. I wouldn't say that I was ever looking forward to the wedding itself (I'd have to be cheerful or otherwise appropriately emotional for a whole day ;_;) but I had been looking forward to the family photos that would come out of it. So maybe that.
Part of the reason for cancelling is that flying with a mask on seems like no fun at all. I look forward to flying being a fun experience again.
I don't miss hugs or "going out".
posted by batter_my_heart at 7:58 PM on June 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm in Australia, so hugging and catching up with people is already happening, though more cautiously than before. I'm looking forward to:
- Pub trivia, complete with pub meal of parma and chips
- Going to the movies
- Having the option of going to an exercise class. Not that I often do, but I'd like the option.
- Travelling outside the state
- My holiday to the US. I have flights in September, but no expectation of being able to use them.
- No longer having the "how risk adverse do you personally feel in this catchup scenario" conversations. Also, stopping the 1.5m distancing dance. I don't like people too close to me, but 1.5m is inconvenient in most urban spaces.
- Not having to worry about the current, local case count or gathering restrictions. Or the risk of the sudden shutdown of my workplace due to someone getting tested or (god forbid) a 14 day isolation because I was a close contact with someone who got it.
I'm also hoping that post pandemic, the general level of frustration, anxiety and irritation goes down.
posted by kjs4 at 8:50 PM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
- Pub trivia, complete with pub meal of parma and chips
- Going to the movies
- Having the option of going to an exercise class. Not that I often do, but I'd like the option.
- Travelling outside the state
- My holiday to the US. I have flights in September, but no expectation of being able to use them.
- No longer having the "how risk adverse do you personally feel in this catchup scenario" conversations. Also, stopping the 1.5m distancing dance. I don't like people too close to me, but 1.5m is inconvenient in most urban spaces.
- Not having to worry about the current, local case count or gathering restrictions. Or the risk of the sudden shutdown of my workplace due to someone getting tested or (god forbid) a 14 day isolation because I was a close contact with someone who got it.
I'm also hoping that post pandemic, the general level of frustration, anxiety and irritation goes down.
posted by kjs4 at 8:50 PM on June 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
I have been lucky to be at home with a beloved husband and pets, a pantry that was already well stocked, and a job I didn’t lose that remained engaging. But without minimizing that good fortune and my gratitude for it --
Many mentioned things.
Getting my hair cut last week was awesome. If only I could hug my sweet and caring stylist.
(Sensory deprivation) floating.
Eating out. Especially Chinese.
A manicure and pedicure with non masked laughing and talking.
Non-masked laughing and talking everywhere. Within 6 feet.
Grocery shopping without arrows, endless 6 foot waiting, or missing basics like wheat germ.
Hugging friends.
Shaking hands.
Committee meetings in person with people I like
Baseball games.
Travel.
All the festivals.
Not worrying about me or people I love getting sick or dying.
Exchanging smiles
Taking riding the bus, elevators, and trains with other people for granted.
Saunas and hot tubs and the whole spa thing.
Having a normal President with a soul, with competent well meaning people working for him.
Inviting people over to hang out.
Going to the library and browsing bookstores
Going to the symphony, ballet, plays and movies. And my synagogue
Meeting up with friends.
Farmer's markets.
Here's hoping for massive improvement in everything in 2021.
posted by bearwife at 9:33 PM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
Many mentioned things.
Getting my hair cut last week was awesome. If only I could hug my sweet and caring stylist.
(Sensory deprivation) floating.
Eating out. Especially Chinese.
A manicure and pedicure with non masked laughing and talking.
Non-masked laughing and talking everywhere. Within 6 feet.
Grocery shopping without arrows, endless 6 foot waiting, or missing basics like wheat germ.
Hugging friends.
Shaking hands.
Committee meetings in person with people I like
Baseball games.
Travel.
All the festivals.
Not worrying about me or people I love getting sick or dying.
Exchanging smiles
Taking riding the bus, elevators, and trains with other people for granted.
Saunas and hot tubs and the whole spa thing.
Having a normal President with a soul, with competent well meaning people working for him.
Inviting people over to hang out.
Going to the library and browsing bookstores
Going to the symphony, ballet, plays and movies. And my synagogue
Meeting up with friends.
Farmer's markets.
Here's hoping for massive improvement in everything in 2021.
posted by bearwife at 9:33 PM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
I am looking forward to getting back to work someday, but as my job doesn't exist without the ability to assemble hundreds of people indoors in close proximity for several hours at a time...it's gonna be awhile.
I finally got to touch a human earlier this week after 90 days without. (Visited a friend and her husband--all three of us have come down with and recovered from covid.)
posted by mollymayhem at 10:36 PM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
I finally got to touch a human earlier this week after 90 days without. (Visited a friend and her husband--all three of us have come down with and recovered from covid.)
posted by mollymayhem at 10:36 PM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
Live music. I've been getting all the emails about canceled and postponed shows I had tickets for and it's making me sad.
Massages.
Working out at the gym.
Camping, although that's starting to open up and I'm working on making plans.
Tattoos - finally getting work started on a new sleeve.
posted by gingerbeer at 12:14 AM on June 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
Massages.
Working out at the gym.
Camping, although that's starting to open up and I'm working on making plans.
Tattoos - finally getting work started on a new sleeve.
posted by gingerbeer at 12:14 AM on June 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
shop for yarn in person instead of online
i want to touch it
posted by Jacqueline at 12:30 AM on June 15, 2020 [11 favorites]
i want to touch it
posted by Jacqueline at 12:30 AM on June 15, 2020 [11 favorites]
Flea markets.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:37 AM on June 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:37 AM on June 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
I would like to go to a buffet
Doggam do I miss my routine of big vegetarian Indian buffet / thrift store run.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:27 AM on June 15, 2020 [4 favorites]
Doggam do I miss my routine of big vegetarian Indian buffet / thrift store run.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:27 AM on June 15, 2020 [4 favorites]
I wanna play a show with my band in our usual venue which is tiny and struggling to stay open via takeout food & drink.
I want ALL the hugs (from the appropriate people).
I want to feel comfortable mask-free in my neighbourhood, which is VERY CROWDED, even if only because it's summer and having the ability to casually drink water would be very welcome.
posted by wellred at 8:36 AM on June 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
I want ALL the hugs (from the appropriate people).
I want to feel comfortable mask-free in my neighbourhood, which is VERY CROWDED, even if only because it's summer and having the ability to casually drink water would be very welcome.
posted by wellred at 8:36 AM on June 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
But also - being alone in the house. Just for a few hours.
Oh, I've been feeling this too; my roommate's great, but lately I've noticed that I'm hanging around in my room because he's always there.
However, in a couple weeks he is going to South Korea for a month. He has a Korean friend who decamped back "home" to wait things out, and while he was there the friend decided to finally marry his girlfriend. The Korean friend is also quite well-to-do, so he is flying my roommate to Seoul to be in the wedding. He'll be in the mandatory quarantine for two weeks, his buddy will be showing him around Seoul for two weeks, and then there's the wedding and then the day after to recover from the hangover and then he comes home.
He's excited about his first-ever international trip. Meanwhile, I am secretly just as excited for hallelujiah I can be alone in the house for an entire month and can do whatever I want thank you jesus
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:51 AM on June 15, 2020 [16 favorites]
Oh, I've been feeling this too; my roommate's great, but lately I've noticed that I'm hanging around in my room because he's always there.
However, in a couple weeks he is going to South Korea for a month. He has a Korean friend who decamped back "home" to wait things out, and while he was there the friend decided to finally marry his girlfriend. The Korean friend is also quite well-to-do, so he is flying my roommate to Seoul to be in the wedding. He'll be in the mandatory quarantine for two weeks, his buddy will be showing him around Seoul for two weeks, and then there's the wedding and then the day after to recover from the hangover and then he comes home.
He's excited about his first-ever international trip. Meanwhile, I am secretly just as excited for hallelujiah I can be alone in the house for an entire month and can do whatever I want thank you jesus
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:51 AM on June 15, 2020 [16 favorites]
Taking my kids to the Children's Museum and seeing them happily running around playing and exploring. Taking them to the public pools, to the beach, to the playground, to go out for pizza, to the library, just everywhere that has been closed off to them since March. Bringing them to a friend's birthday party (or a party for their own birthday) and all of us just singing our hearts out as loud as we can, "Happy Birthday to you," kids eating cake and tooting party blowers and smashing pinatas and running around being wild.
Toasting the happy couple at a big cheerful crowded wedding.
A holiday, any holiday, with my extended family, everyone gathered around rows of tables and just listening to bits of conversation and noticing the nice smell of the food and coffee and feeling warm and safe.
Flying into a new city for a vacation and walking into a hotel room and looking out the window at the view and deciding with my husband where we want to go out to eat that evening, maybe we'll get a cocktail first at that nice bar we passed on the way here.
posted by castlebravo at 1:55 PM on June 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
Toasting the happy couple at a big cheerful crowded wedding.
A holiday, any holiday, with my extended family, everyone gathered around rows of tables and just listening to bits of conversation and noticing the nice smell of the food and coffee and feeling warm and safe.
Flying into a new city for a vacation and walking into a hotel room and looking out the window at the view and deciding with my husband where we want to go out to eat that evening, maybe we'll get a cocktail first at that nice bar we passed on the way here.
posted by castlebravo at 1:55 PM on June 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm looking forward to having no one in the house in the morning so that I can listen to any music I want at a decent volume - my wife isn't a fan of noisier music and I'd rather not have my kids listen to the lyrics of some of the stuff I listen to.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:21 PM on June 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:21 PM on June 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
Any portmanteau in a storm I feel that way about the car. I want to blast my music. Alone
posted by biggreenplant at 7:05 PM on June 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by biggreenplant at 7:05 PM on June 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
I am in a constant struggle with my husbear about my desire for music volume and how it interacts with our particular house. To the point where he has once in the past gone to a hotel room that I paid for for a weekend so I could just get it all the fuck out of my system. I understand what you're going through.
posted by hippybear at 8:04 PM on June 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 8:04 PM on June 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
Physical therapy! Seeing friends and family! Going to a bar or a cafe or the botanic garden or riding around on a bus or train with a book for as long as I damn well want.
posted by ferret branca at 10:18 PM on June 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by ferret branca at 10:18 PM on June 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
One of my roommates hates a capella singing, like it's sensory thing and she just can't stand it. And when I'm home alone I'm singing out loud about half the time. Right now, when she and my other roommate go on walks is the only time I can sing anymore :(
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:15 AM on June 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:15 AM on June 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
I can blast in the car but it doesn't sound anywhere near as good, plus I'm sitting in the car instead of on my sofa. I could wait until they're all outside playing or going for a bike ride but if I'm home then I'm the one who should be with them to give my spouse a break.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 7:38 AM on June 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 7:38 AM on June 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
I miss a lot of the things everyone else misses: sitting outside at a restaurant on a summer evening with a drink in my hand. Travel. Having friends over. The feeling of being alone, but surrounded by strangers. Running errands without it being a big production. Going for a walk without noticing how many people are or are not wearing masks, and how.
Lately, though, I've found myself missing particular routines of plane and train travel. By that I mean, getting on the subway in the morning and firing up a podcast. Staring out the window on a train. The moment you step off the plane in a new city. Reading departure boards in airports. Sitting at a cafe and waiting for your plane or train while sipping a coffee, nibbling on a stale pastry and people watching.
You don't get those small, liminal moments while walking or driving, really, and I miss them. I've always had a certain fondness for them.
posted by breakin' the law at 8:05 AM on June 16, 2020 [5 favorites]
Lately, though, I've found myself missing particular routines of plane and train travel. By that I mean, getting on the subway in the morning and firing up a podcast. Staring out the window on a train. The moment you step off the plane in a new city. Reading departure boards in airports. Sitting at a cafe and waiting for your plane or train while sipping a coffee, nibbling on a stale pastry and people watching.
You don't get those small, liminal moments while walking or driving, really, and I miss them. I've always had a certain fondness for them.
posted by breakin' the law at 8:05 AM on June 16, 2020 [5 favorites]
Overseas travel. Planning an annual trip somewhere new with Lil' Ubu.
With zero or very close to zero new cases in weeks in New South Wales, the government has announced that everything can open again except nightclubs. Because they hate the idea of young people having a kind of fun that they can't understand and probably never did growing up.
The gyms opened again last weekend. That was one of the main things I was looking forward to during lockdown.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:36 PM on June 16, 2020
With zero or very close to zero new cases in weeks in New South Wales, the government has announced that everything can open again except nightclubs. Because they hate the idea of young people having a kind of fun that they can't understand and probably never did growing up.
The gyms opened again last weekend. That was one of the main things I was looking forward to during lockdown.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:36 PM on June 16, 2020
Being able to go outside and not being in a state of constant paranoia and anxiety. I miss summer weather.
Being able to do anything that involves the words “outside my apartment” and not being in a state of constant anxiety.
Just being able to go anywhere at all without constant anxiety. I used to never be home and now I can’t leave.
I miss having a reason to dress up on both top and bottom. I miss dresses. I see no point in that any more. These days I get dressed if there’s a play and otherwise I am just sleeping and living in a tank top and shorts 24-7. I MIGHT put on a shirt for personal Zooms.
Not freaking out if someone delivers a package and having to leave it in the hall for a week.
Not counting every two week period since the last time I breathed outside air.
Not freaking out if I hear a sneeze or cough.
I want to redye my hair (well, have someone else do it because I can’t see back there and I have no clue), but I’d have to dye it back to its natural color because god only knows if I can ever get it done again.
I want to be in theater again and go to rehearsals and goof off with my friends for hours.
I want to eat in a restaurant. Or just not my own cooking but I can't deal with even tiny potential risks of takeout.
I miss karaoke.
I miss being able to think of other humans as anything but a biohazard.
I really miss touching people.
I miss seeing the people who “aren’t good with online” that you have to see in person to get anywhere with.
I miss not crying all the fucking time.
I don’t want to have to feel guilty telling people who want to see me no. I really wish they wouldn’t ask but “now everything’s okay!” and they have started asking and I feel like an asshole.
I miss my sanity not constantly devolving from extreme stress that nobody else other than me and some folks here seem to be feeling.
I miss having any reasons to be hopeful in life, because man, that shit's gone now. I had hopes for love, for plays, hell, maybe even find another job someday and that shit is GONE FOREVER now.
Not living in existential fear for a week after each time I do something mildly normal.
I've been trying not to think about it because I don't know when will be After or what will be lost.
Yeah, THIS.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:00 PM on June 16, 2020 [7 favorites]
Being able to do anything that involves the words “outside my apartment” and not being in a state of constant anxiety.
Just being able to go anywhere at all without constant anxiety. I used to never be home and now I can’t leave.
I miss having a reason to dress up on both top and bottom. I miss dresses. I see no point in that any more. These days I get dressed if there’s a play and otherwise I am just sleeping and living in a tank top and shorts 24-7. I MIGHT put on a shirt for personal Zooms.
Not freaking out if someone delivers a package and having to leave it in the hall for a week.
Not counting every two week period since the last time I breathed outside air.
Not freaking out if I hear a sneeze or cough.
I want to redye my hair (well, have someone else do it because I can’t see back there and I have no clue), but I’d have to dye it back to its natural color because god only knows if I can ever get it done again.
I want to be in theater again and go to rehearsals and goof off with my friends for hours.
I want to eat in a restaurant. Or just not my own cooking but I can't deal with even tiny potential risks of takeout.
I miss karaoke.
I miss being able to think of other humans as anything but a biohazard.
I really miss touching people.
I miss seeing the people who “aren’t good with online” that you have to see in person to get anywhere with.
I miss not crying all the fucking time.
I don’t want to have to feel guilty telling people who want to see me no. I really wish they wouldn’t ask but “now everything’s okay!” and they have started asking and I feel like an asshole.
I miss my sanity not constantly devolving from extreme stress that nobody else other than me and some folks here seem to be feeling.
I miss having any reasons to be hopeful in life, because man, that shit's gone now. I had hopes for love, for plays, hell, maybe even find another job someday and that shit is GONE FOREVER now.
Not living in existential fear for a week after each time I do something mildly normal.
I've been trying not to think about it because I don't know when will be After or what will be lost.
Yeah, THIS.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:00 PM on June 16, 2020 [7 favorites]
- Actual in-store grocery shopping without anxiety
- LARPing
- going to a Ren Faire
- sitting around a table with friends to play D&D
- flying cross-country to visit family
Singing with other people, getting a pro massage, going to the grocery for one thing, dining in at a restaurant, never using Zoom again, knowing I could go somewhere even though I fucking hate travel.
posted by less of course at 4:15 PM on June 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by less of course at 4:15 PM on June 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
I read a response with theater in it and I felt like crying for a second so that, even if the theater here isn't all that great.
posted by less of course at 4:16 PM on June 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by less of course at 4:16 PM on June 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
One of the biggest things I miss is people cooking for me. Not only because I don't have to make the food, because there's a lot of gaps in my cooking knowledge, and I love to learn from the meals I eat.
Like last night - I was at the Cap Hill Autonomous Zone, and someone handed out cheeseburgers that were made from a local bar. I never order cheeseburgers, because I just cannot stand cheese. But last night? The combo of charred beef, grilled onions, and soursalty Cheddar was a revelation, and tasted absolutely wonderfully. It's like, now I kinda of *get* cheese, and I found a way where not only could I tolerate it, I actually *enjoyed* it. To the point where I could see myself making my own cheeseburgers at home now.
It's culinary phenomena like that that just broadens my horizons, because it's food combos that I wouldn't have thought of. I'm grateful that I know how to cook, and I like cooking my own food, but sometimes it's like reading a book where you already know what the ending is.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:27 PM on June 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
Like last night - I was at the Cap Hill Autonomous Zone, and someone handed out cheeseburgers that were made from a local bar. I never order cheeseburgers, because I just cannot stand cheese. But last night? The combo of charred beef, grilled onions, and soursalty Cheddar was a revelation, and tasted absolutely wonderfully. It's like, now I kinda of *get* cheese, and I found a way where not only could I tolerate it, I actually *enjoyed* it. To the point where I could see myself making my own cheeseburgers at home now.
It's culinary phenomena like that that just broadens my horizons, because it's food combos that I wouldn't have thought of. I'm grateful that I know how to cook, and I like cooking my own food, but sometimes it's like reading a book where you already know what the ending is.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:27 PM on June 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
My usual summer solstice gathering/music festival in the woods is canceled for this year. I hope it will be on next year.
Last year my sister and I discovered one of our long lost Lithuanian relatives and subsequently met up with him in NYC when he came to visit. My sister and I had been planning to go overseas for a reunion with a larger group of family this year, but now it will be next year or later. Gives me more time to practice the language, I guess!
posted by medeine at 1:12 PM on June 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Last year my sister and I discovered one of our long lost Lithuanian relatives and subsequently met up with him in NYC when he came to visit. My sister and I had been planning to go overseas for a reunion with a larger group of family this year, but now it will be next year or later. Gives me more time to practice the language, I guess!
posted by medeine at 1:12 PM on June 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Men. Lots of them.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:20 PM on June 19, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:20 PM on June 19, 2020 [5 favorites]
Flying places to see family. Having family fly here to see me. Meeting family at a fabulous destination.
I want to be able to sit around a table under the trees with my friends, drinking beer and chatting about anything. Chatting over the computer is in no way a substitute.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:17 PM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
I want to be able to sit around a table under the trees with my friends, drinking beer and chatting about anything. Chatting over the computer is in no way a substitute.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:17 PM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Lordy, just flying anywhere. Or doing anything more than a day trip to an outdoor location for a getaway. The circle of possible choices for things to do feels so small right now. I know things are "opening up" but I'm feeling less secure with the reopening than I did during lockdown, when I was still working every day.
This whole situation is stupid and I wish it wasn't going on.
posted by hippybear at 7:58 PM on June 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
This whole situation is stupid and I wish it wasn't going on.
posted by hippybear at 7:58 PM on June 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
I HUGGED A HUMAN (and stuff)!!
This is allowed to a certain extent in Ontario now. I probably won't have another hug or touch of any kind for a while again (had to rent a car to get to this person, other people have exposure I'm not excited about, etc.), but the clock is reset and I feel so good. Hang in there, friends.
posted by wellred at 11:48 AM on June 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
This is allowed to a certain extent in Ontario now. I probably won't have another hug or touch of any kind for a while again (had to rent a car to get to this person, other people have exposure I'm not excited about, etc.), but the clock is reset and I feel so good. Hang in there, friends.
posted by wellred at 11:48 AM on June 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
My area of Ontario just started allowing haircuts (with precautions), so I feel human again after getting this mop of hair taken care of. That was a big one on my list of things to do post-pandemic.
I was also just set up with a very charming woman and I'm looking forward to meeting her, although being six feet apart does make dating in the usual sense a little limited. Still, human interaction!
posted by The Hyacinth Girl at 4:15 PM on June 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I was also just set up with a very charming woman and I'm looking forward to meeting her, although being six feet apart does make dating in the usual sense a little limited. Still, human interaction!
posted by The Hyacinth Girl at 4:15 PM on June 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by Going To Maine at 8:55 PM on June 12, 2020 [7 favorites]