When all of this first started and we were locked down everyone was gung ho with virtual meetups. We had a large Zoom call at Easter with tons of aunts and uncles and cousins on it. We also had virtual "5 à 7" (after dinner dinner drinks) meetups with several of our friends and groups of friends. Then things opened up a bit and were allowed to go to restaurants with small groups. We went out with another couple a few times with a few couples. Had a few people over for lunch or dinner, and went over to a few people's places too. We had some online social activities at work as well.

But now everything seems to be slowly fizzling out both in-person (which has been tightened up again) and virtual. We only very sporadically share news with friends we'd normally see every couple of weeks.

I am not saying we will end up completely friendless, but I can see a significant number of my friendships not surviving this. I mean, you always lose touch with friends during the course of your life (temporarily or permanently) but this is going to accentuate that phenom exponentially istm.

I also have a "club" I am part of, if I can call it that, with very enthusiastic motivated members (or we were). Initially we congregated virtually a couple of times a week (more than usual), and then we resumed in person once a week when we were allowed to this summer. We had lost some members though already then. Now we're back in lockdown and we've been trying to start things up virtually again and no one really seems into it.

I haven't done a big friends or family zoom thing in months. That shit got old.

Humans require actual social interaction. At least I do anyway.

The virtual zoom stuff tided over a lot of folks for a time, but the novelty eventually wore off and then the realization of its half-assed-ness set in and only made it that much more depressing.

my brother flew to Mexico today. he said he bought the tickets back in April. he's the second person in my family to fly. an in-law of mine had to see his ailing dad in the hospital, not related to covid

I see we are not the only ones.

The "deconfinement" we went through in the summer, followed by a "reconfinement" this fall as the 2nd wave hit, has had a devastating impact. No one seems to want to bother themselves much any more.

We're down to work colleagues (virtually) and the immediate family circle in terms of our regular social interactions. The occasional message or text to friends but even that seems to be drying up.

We failed to get it down low enough in the summer, which is a big factor in the current spike, which now requires some things to close again. There's a good chance of no federal aid until January. This is going to be bad.

And then we'll get a period where a vaccine exists but is still ramping up, but people get "light at the end of the tunnel" syndrome and stop being vigilant.

I still text alot. :shrug::haha:

Yep

Do people not hang out outdoors anymore? You can still see your friends at the park, or in your backyard, at the golf course or tennis club. You can still have plenty of social interaction 6 feet apart, and if you're outdoors you can probably get even closer if you wanted to. I see people playing soccer and basketball all the time now.

I have some friends who won't even hike. I tell them it's safe, but their girlfriends don't trust it.

I've done some backyard stuff 5-7 people. its doable, but it feels risky.

i mean who needs smell anyway its a useless sense:


https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/20...s/coronavirus/

I imagine you would have had to be a pretty big hypochondriac to begin with if you're a young person afraid to hike outside because of Covid. If you were a regular active person before and now you're actually harming yourself by avoiding perfectly safe exercise, than I think the media has done you a great disservice by highlighting every freak case of a young person dying. I wear a mask literally everywhere and social distance, and will continue to do so indefinitely to slow down spread and protect others, but I'm not going to lock myself away and physiologically damage myself like it's the zombie apocalypse.

January

Upper Midwest

There is no such thing as “outdoors” unless you are either sledding, skiing, walking from your car to the store, or ice fishing

Sports are one thing but typically my activities with my friends don't involve just standing around in a park with six feet separating all of the participants.

I guess it's better than nothing, and I've done it (in backyards) over the summer, but there is something that feels psychologically stifling about no longer having the natural, spontaneous human interactions we've lived with our entire lives.

Plus much of U.S. and all of Canada is now entering the part of the year where backyard and park socializing becomes way less common.

i wonder how the 'rona is going to take to all these restaurant streeteries now that the heat lamps are coming out and they are getting all enclosed? :shrug:



https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e7/5f...1ed42d703a.jpg

I imagine outdoor fire pits should sell well this year then.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CXy5Cs1FG...26_preview.png

Yeah, we'll have to give that a try!

And how can anyone beyond social recluses think this is healthy?

My mom was a therapist until retirement last year but recently went back to work because the fuck ton of job offers and the impact Covid has had on mental health.

oh yeah, we still do some outdoor socializing, i was specifically talking about how lame all of the zoom shit eventually came to be for me.

but now that november is knocking on the door in chicago, outdoor socializing is going to get few and far between as people hole up for the winter.

we're supposed to go to a friend's small backyard gathering for a b-day party this saturday night, but temps are forecast to be in the low 40s.

my guess is that the gathering will be fairly short-lived. most people in chicago (everywhere) are absolute wimps when it comes to chilly weather.

This is why I'll be interested in how the disease goes in Arizona. It would seem like the pattern in most of the country should be reversed since the weather in summer is hotter than H*ll and everybody hides indoors in their A/C but just about now it's getting really nice and will pretty much stay that way through next spring--great for outdoor dining and other activities. Time to get out and wave at the neighbors.

I'm still going to patios with a select group of friends in our bubble (7 of us total, no family at all in the city) - it can get quite cold but most have heat lamps now and bundling up helps. Wonder how long we can keep it up... We're comfortable hanging out inside but it's nice to be able to go to a bar instead of someone's living room.

Tried to get a heat lamp but they are sold out pretty much everywhere. Our backyard is more or less entirely a wooden deck so not sure how well one of the propane fire pits would work.