What personal carryovers do you still have from the early days of the pandemic?

Three things come to mind:
I am not as “huggy” as I used to be. In my circle we all used to hug when we greeted each other: men and women. Now we fist bump or say ‘hi” from a short distance.

I do not wear a mask unless I have to go to a crowded place. I try to avoid crowds. You won’t see me at a rave concert.

I can’t forget the stupid, politically motivated comments and disinformation some people believed and spread. I now avoid socializing with them. It just isn’t fun now.

Wear mask when shopping. (Doctors orders)

I have not returned to public events include several organizations meetings that I’m a member.

I am going to an outdoor car & truck tomorrow, second one since March 2020. I used to go to six a year or more.

I still use sanitizer after touching anything in public.

@Blackwater_Park Interestingly I did that before the pandemic; I used to do it after grocery shopping and always washed my hands after returning home from being out. I was surprised that not everyone does that!

But I know you’re asking more about mindset and feelings: I don’t know that much has remained. I admit I was sometimes pessimistic that the pandemic would never recede and “normal” would never be back in full (and in some places it’s been replaced by something else, as far as working from home is concerned), but now that things have calmed down I do think more about when (not if) this will happen again. It’s naïve to think this won’t be happening with more frequency as the population increases and the environment suffers. I can just hope we’re better prepared next time (though judging by the response to monkeypox, which thankfully turned out not be a pandemic, I’m not all that optimistic).

I still wear masks out in public when I’m indoors, and sanitize my hands. It still feels weird to be close to the family at gatherings. So I’m often away from them indoors and only close outdoors. I still won’t eat indoors in restaurants but I do order meals to go.
And like @Luckyguy I am not the same way with science deniers. Especially since some of them actually ended up spreading covid because covid was inconvenient to their social lives.

I am less anxious about some things, having learned a lot about virus particles and how long they can stay alive. I feel calmer about other people’s decisions and I’m slightly better at knowing where my responsibility ends.

On the other hand, I still feel drained. I haven’t felt truly alert or energetic in forever. I’ve had to realize that people in my family interpret science quite creatively, when it’s convenient. I see friends less than I used to and don’t go to choir anymore. I feel like I haven’t been carefree for a long time, and that society has lost some of its stability.

Growing up in Germany, life used to feel extremely safe. I know that’s a very privileged perspective, and that my life is still amazingly comfortable compared to most times in history/places on Earth. But it feels much more fraught and fragile, especially as it doesn’t seem like it’s “over” to me. The war is not helping.

I’m much less anxious, still love working from home which decreased my stress.
Now that mom passed, I am less worried about safety precautions but still wash my hands about 40 times a day.
And I’m 10lbs from goal weight due to less social eating, which thrills me.

I also tend to hug less and check people for symptoms, too.

I have an unopened 36-pack of toilet paper that I bought at the beginning of the pandemic. I have a 10-pack of the blue-green masks (unopened) that I bought for far more $$ than they were worth. I also have an assortment of cloth masks – maybe 6–7 of them, that I used pretty regularly.

Otherwise, I can’t say that I have vestigial actions left over from the early days.

But to be fair, the South had far less effect than the north in terms of illness and demands on health care and hospitals – probably due to climate – and we were some of the first ones to get back to ‘normal’.

Thank goodness that fist-bumping is still more popular than shaking hands. I have arthritis in the basal joint of my right thumb. I’ve about dropped to my knees from shaking hands with firm handshakes. So painful.

@janbb You asked a difficult question. It’s hard to think about feelings. It’s easy, as is evident in all but one answer, to think about behaviors.

I can say that I have hardened in my thoughts about idiots who deny facts. I do not engage with them. There was so much misinformation in the early pandemic that was straight from the President. I’m remembering him saying to drink bleach or take some drug that he personally had invested in but was worthless.

I’m gay, and I’m of the age that I lived through the AIDS epidemic. I remember the Republicans laughing as we were dying. I hate them passionately. I will never forget. Government inaction cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of my brothers. 330,000 gay men died horrific deaths the US alone. I will never forgive them. Republicans are worthless for taking care of people. Trump was no different. He personally cost lives. People died of COVID because of his ineptitude.

I think you can tell I’m hardened. That’s left over from the early pandemic.

Other than a week on and off the coast of Java I pretty much hide in the house and waste time here.

The amusing surprise is that a life of indolence is quite agreeable.

I’m back to normal. I have a few lingering physical symptoms, that may or may not be related to Covid, but nothing emotially.

I’m not much of a hugger, but I’m even less so now. My stomach actually clinches if people I don’t know get too close to me. I have unfriended people on Facebook that I felt were spreading untrue information. The one that bothers me the most is a woman that runs the Boxer Rescue in my state. Two of my boxers came from her, but I’m so angry at her, I will never talk to her again. I don’t care that she believes differently than I do about the vaccines, but she didn’t have to put it on her facebook page and state that she had done extensive research and found that the vaccine does not work. Really? Did you do double blind tests from your home starting with rats and then going on to humans? No? You googled and read what you wanted to read. I’m still angry about that if you couldn’t tell.
Not a single day goes by that I haven’t thought of covid in one way or another. I don’t like that it is on my mind so often.
I don’t know that I will ever be the same person after this. I don’t think as a nation we will be the same.

I cancelled cable. I also haven’t had a hug in 3 years.

^{{{virtual hug}}}

I am still afraid. I am still tired from losing four of my ten daily allotted energy coupons every day just existing in a place where having a compromised immune system means I could be rendered seriously (or mortally) ill by casual contact with someone who is convinced that it doesn’t matter, that I am overreacting, that I am being hysterical. We have a few of those on this site, I am grateful to live far away from them.
I am willing to do a few more things, but not many.

I used to be brave and interesting and fun. I miss me.

@RedDeerGuy1 Here’s another (HUG.) Humans need touch so try not to isolate too long, my friend.

I miss me too @canidmajor.

I miss touching. The only touch I get is from my hair stylist. Well, that’s not quite true – I go to physical therapy for my shoulder 3x/week for 45 mins and I get some contact there. But I miss hugging and shaking hands, the occasional hand on the shoulder. It makes me lonely if I let myself think of it.

I’m also disappointed in humankind in the US, the literal and figurative attacks on the government; the belief systems that have been revealed thanks to someone who was supposed to lead us to be better people; the bigotry that’s been revealed is much greater than I had thought; the mistrust and distrust that was/is pervasive.

I’m just somewhat sadder in general.

Oh, and @janbb, what novel?

Jodi Piccoult Wosh You Were Here. I don’t always like her books but this was quite good.

Thanks, I have liked some of her work.

^^^ Early morning post. Of course, it’s “Wish You Were Here.” I think you’d like it.

@janbb already downloaded. ;-)