With the pandemic over, the lessons learned from Covid-created circumstances will stay with us for a very long time. These lessons came with a harsh price tag — time, money, and life-wise. The hard lessons learned during the pandemic helped change lives and structures. But how much different are these lessons from the everyday stuff we learn? Are the life lessons from pandemic times more important and visible?
Since pandemics are more of a global problem, the lessons learned during them come from every corner of Earth. So, the life lessons we learn during these times will be harder to forget due to their popularity. For example, the pandemic showed how fragile free time is and how to use it correctly, but it's just the lessons learned in life. Luckily, we did come to value our free time more.
Since the pandemic restrictions are starting to loosen up, it’s time to look at the lessons we learned. User Affectionate-Ad1060 asked an interesting question on AskReddit, which we could all answer — “What is the most important lesson learned from Covid-19?” Upvote the lessons you learned yourself too. On the other hand, if you have a teaching of your own to share, do so in the comments below.
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"That 50% of jobs can be done from home while the other 50% deserve more than they're being paid."
"Most of the world does not care about disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, vulnerable people AT ALL. And they don’t understand how easily they themselves may become disabled & need the very compassion they refuse to show others."
"Don't overestimate the intelligence of the average person."
smudgetimeusa said:
"If there was ever a zombie attack. People would definitely lie about being bit."
ibArazakii replied:
"The entire reaction to zombie attacks in movies and stories is entirely realistic to me now.
I remember watching 28 days later and doubting how everything got that bad that quick, post COVID I’d say it’s realistic."
"The Earth becomes more safe if the people living on the planet leave it alone..."
TomsCasuaCorner said:
"What your mother told you when you were 6 years old: 1. If sick stay home. 2. Cover your mouth and nose when coughing. 3. Wash your hands!"
KredPandak replied:
"Why did I have to scroll this far just to see, “wash your hands”.
If people haven’t learned this than we really are doomed."
"You can have all the free time in the world and still manage to do nothing with it."
tarkuspig said:
"Regardless of the nature of the crisis, the rich get richer and we get f**ked."
Taucoon23 replied:
"To piggyback off this:
In the face of a common enemy, our world will never unite. We will be taken advantage of by those in power and left to die."
Wonder why so many UFOs are doing fly-bys without landing? They get close enough to see the truth of this one and realize we ain't worth the hassle.
GhostalMedia said:
"People will listen to politicians over their doctors."
VolrathTheBallin replied:
"And yet they’ll still come begging to the doctors to save them, while simultaneously berating them with their dying breaths."
What has happened ,when political advice,is taken more serious than a Dr. with a lifetime of work, smh ..
"The internet has allowed a lot of people with no background or expertise in something to influence an enormous part of the population, which can be dangerous."
Not just about Covid. It's becoming worse in general. It's not just actual people influencing any more. There are companies selling "influence". They have software which can create fake accounts with profiles, then tweet and post to forums to give the impression a lot of people oppose a certain politics and are in favor of other policies. Apparently it costs about 1 million to tip an election in Africa (which was the example I saw). Software can create photos of a person that never existed. On the internet nobody knows if you exist in real life. It's similarly a natural progression from tracking people habits, opinions, and behavior for the purpose of advertising and selling products, to use the very same info to manipulate people politically. I don't know where this will lead us.
bugaboo2013 said:
"Alcohol doesn’t improve my life- it just feels good for a moment. 9 months sober!"
FilteredAccount123 replied:
"I found myself drinking alone every day early in the pandemic. I considered myself a social drinker. Nope. Just drinking to get drunk. Decided to "cut back" for a while. That cutback turned to quit cold turkey. It's been over 2 years since my last drink."
hardsoft said:
"We need to teach statistics and critical thinking better."
V1per41 replied:
"I knew the average person was pretty dumb but the man did the pandemic shine a giant spotlight on how bad things truly are and how much of a negative effect that can have on the population as a whole."
Better call it independent or free thinking. Otherwise the legislature in Florida will pass a law against it.
shantyirish13 said:
"Most grown adults are nasty and have to be reminded to wash their hands."
Lorenipsumtqbfjotld replied:
"And DON'T COUGH IN YOUR HAND!! My god do grown adults not know this."
I still see folks (women) who just either pass their hands under the water to 'wash' them or dont wash at all. Disgusting. Then they are touching everything, especially the door handles.
xraycuddy said:
"We rely too much on China."
Chromattix replied:
"And this dependence is what's given them so much wealth and power. One day the Chinese will own everything and we just let it happen because we wanted slightly cheaper s**t."
equidistant_life said:
"How comfortable I seriously am with just myself."
RedHerringxx replied:
"My wife died in late November 2019. The whole world shutting down and my being forced to keep myself company for months from March 2020 was the best thing that ever happened to me. Gave me the space I needed to get my head right, and took away all the social pressure surrounding grief. Covid saved me."
Call_me_WABB said:
"There are “me” people and there are “we” people."
Plug_5 replied:
"This was especially frustrating because everyone seems to think that they were a "we" person. But it was astonishing how many people, even at the height of things in April 2020, couldn't put on a simple mask to help their community."
Toxic_Politician said:
"Healthcare needs an overhaul."
QuietNewApplication replied:
"This. Health care was underfunded before, how did all of this not result in better funding?"
Back2Bach said:
"The "supply chain" is far leaner and vulnerable to the vagaries of pandemic conditions than most had thought."
almighty_smiley replied:
"I work in the supply chain. Everyone from my chain of command to truckers to terminal management was all saying the same thing; last year was the single worst they had ever, ever seen it.
Can only hope there are big changes in the pipe."
idontworktomorrow said:
"You should take the time to spend with those you love."
chefdano3 replied:
"And it showed me my list of people who I love should've been a lot shorter than I let it be."
"That I can be in the best shape of my life, what's essentially my prime at 31, taking vitamins every day, working out all the time, and still some virus can come along and take it all away, leave me bedridden for most of two years and almost 3 years on still dealing with nerve damage effects from it."
MurkyResolve6341 said:
"Non essential jobs pay a lot more than essential ones."
ACalcifiedHeart replied:
"So f**king true. I work in food retail. I was called essential. Certainly did not feel essential and still don't. But at least they said stuff like thanks and a good job."
Orsinius said:
"Apparently, toilet paper is more valuable than anything."
danielstover replied:
"I will never forgive the hordes of people who reacted that way."
In Italy, which, let’s face it got pretty hard hit by Covid, there was never a shortage. I remain grateful to the people who delivered food parcels door to door during the worst times.
CrieDeCoeur said:
"What’s that old saying? We’re all just three meals away from total chaos? I’ve been thinking about that adage a lot the past few years."
thewebspinner replied:
"As a chef, I can actually confirm some people are only a 10-minute wait away from total chaos."
Too busy arguing if it's lead or mercury to notice that the water's been poisoned
Reddit user said:
"People are s**ttier than I expected."
J_nunya replied:
"20+ years in retail, they were exactly what I expected."
Working in the medical field... people are exactly they’very always been. Just look at the shifty rates of organ donors in countries where you have to actively allow it. They rather take their organs to the grave to rot rather than saving multiple lives at once.
NastyLittleBagginses said:
"That we need to permanently retire the expression "avoid it like the plague"."
kellyblah replied:
"Yup. As discovered, not many people actively avoided the plague."
My dads ex-coworker is semi-famous for leading an anti-masking anti-vaxxer protest and being part of a cult ANDDD LITERALLY *RECORDING* HIS COURT CASE AND SHARING IT ONLINE BRUHHH
Give_Help_Please said:
"If your plan relies on everyone working together, it is doomed to fail."
NaughtyProwler replied:
"Pandemic was just the proverbial group project in school all over again. A couple of intelligent and hard-working people trying to keep everything from falling apart while the rest sit on their a** or choose to straight-up sabotage everything. Yet somehow everyone gets the exact same grade."
Primerallen said:
"During covid, I was laid off for months and spent that whole time keeping up to date on everything going on in the world. I mean everything I possibly could, every single day. I reached the point of obsession and the massive amount of negativity crushed me. There was so much bad going on so much suffering that eventually, one day I just set it all down and said I'll check in in a month. Best decision I made that year, the only thing that kept my sanity. Just taking time away and not bathing in it every day."
User No 2 replied:
"This is a very underrated comment. My wife and I had to do the same... for our own sanity. It was all we could think and talk about, it was literally freeing when we agreed to not check the news at all."
Checking in on news on a superficial level every few days or so is best for mental health is my opinion. Really big stuff will reach you anyway
Tensleepwyo said:
"Just because they’re voted officials, it’s clear they aren’t the smartest, nor do they have your best interest in mind."
Grisward replied:
"The extent to which politicians will sell out public health for their political advantage is much higher than I thought. Usually, life-or-death situations are good for all politicians, just be a voice of stability and hope and you’re good. We all pull together and get through it. This time, dividing us intentionally to cause chaos? I still can’t believe real people did that."
Democracy how it's done in most Western countries nowadays isn't a very good way. Once you elect the politicians you have literally no say in what they do anymore until the next elections.
Dr-Luemmler said:
"How corrupt and/or uneducated our politicians are and how bad and inefficient our system is.
I am from Germany, and the crisis couldn't have been managed worse. Complete chaos, it was terrible.
(No I am no Querdenker, rather the opposite)."
daweedhh replied:
"It was bad, but it could have definitely been worse. Most European countries had more deaths per 1m inhabitants, some even twice or thrice as much."
"Misinformation is a huge issue that isn't really being addressed and Social Media is a cesspool where it festers. Also, how most people do not know how to research are the ones that say "do your own research"."
shaunoffshotgun said:
"I like people not being near me."
AdRepresentative245t replied:
"Yup. People standing 6 feet apart in lines is nice, for instance."
thingsthatgomoo replied:
"Not long ago I had a woman walk behind me in a line, got about 3 feet from me, and said "AHEM, 6 feet". I looked at her and pointed behind her, and said "yes that way". I love people giving me space but God damn some people have turned into monsters through this whole ordeal."
TheChris87 said:
"Tomorrow isn't promised. The rules can change at any given moment. Cherish today."
Smil3yAngel replied:
"Exactly. The rules changed so much during Covid. You never knew if you were going into lockdown or if masks were off, everyone is safe.
Not only that, but you could take all precautions, and still get sick. You never know what is going to happen."
User no 1 said:
"I work in childcare. We learned that children really need socialization. You would think with time off parents would work on things. Kids came back to daycare, not potty trained, still using a pacifier, speech behind, and refusing to share.
It’s better now but it was really interesting seeing a child pre-Covid who you potty trained… Come back months later acting pretty helpless.
I don’t know if it’s parents, the lack of social pressure, or just some other thing. But it was an interesting experience."
Whiasco replied:
"I work in childcare. We didn't shut down. Still open to kids of "essential workers" or parents who needed a break."
"Being isolated does more damage than I realized. Barely any human contact was all that I wanted due to my anxiety but once I got that, I ended up doing absolutely nothing. Despite having all the time in the world. It was distressing and I wanted to go out and see people again. If anything, avoiding human interaction made my anxiety worse."
Axiled said:
"People do not have the skills to evaluate (or read) studies and draw appropriate conclusions from them.
IE: a study states it's a preliminary study and people use it to draw conclusions."
DarkAlman replied:
"And then try to argue with the experts in the field that do have those skills.
The Dunning Kruger effect is real."
hindmaja said:
"That it wouldn’t take much for civilized people to turn on each other."
Strength-InThe-Loins replied:
"A wise man once said something like "Humanity is perpetually 9 meals away from utter barbarism"."
zipcodekidd said:
"That living healthy matters. An unhealthy individual has a much higher percentage of being hospitalized and/or die from the same pathogen as a healthy person. Best doctors may not be able to save the patients that work against them. Also, be safe and proceed with caution."
No_Breadfruit_7305 replied:
"I couldn't agree with you more. In 2020 that virus put me in the hospital on a ventilator at the age of 40. I didn't have any underlying health issues besides a lot of hard living. Holy s**t did my world come crashing down. Trying to crawl back from three heart attacks being on dialysis, etc etc. Talk about lessons learned..."
However, you could be as healthy as possible and still have Covid kick your butt. This was, and still is, one of the weirdest bleeping viruses I've ever read about.
Inhumanfacepwn said:
"Don't take life for granted.
I'm a type 1 diabetic and thus catching Covid was a way more severe situation. I suffered a pontine stroke due to extreme fluctuations in blood pressure. I went into DKA then because of the stress THAT had on my body. I was 25 at the time, way young to have strokes."
40percentdailysodium replied:
"I'm type one too. I lost so many loved ones because they said I was overreacting to Covid. I lived with someone in their late 80s. We both avoided it because we locked ourselves inside for over a year. I didn't go out until I had both vaccines and a booster. I'm still f**king hurt from the s**t I heard from relatives I thought would be there for us.
My poor grandmother was reminded of her childhood when classmates would stop showing up to school because of f**king polio.
Covid shattered our family due to selfishness and ableism."
medicff said:
"The biggest takeaway I can come up with is how under-serviced rural areas are. The local grocery store can’t offer curbside pick up, door dash doesn’t exist here, all the answers for what we should do in a pandemic aren’t feasible where there are only 500 people."
mcdonaldsfrenchfri replied:
"I actually moved to a big city during the pandemic for this reason. does it sound kinda crazy? maybe. but I got along way better here."
spanglesandbambi said:
"The government will protect themselves not do what is right."
User No 2 replied:
"I mean if you look at US protocol vs Soviet protocol for nuclear war the soviets built bomb and fallout shelters for hundreds of millions, the US only made a contingency plan for top military officials, politicians, and the elite."
User No 1 said:
"Any nefarious actor could wipe out the entire world’s population with the right virus if they wanted to and there’s nothing we can or would do to stop it."
ArkWaltz replied:
"I've read Q&As from biologist types and apparently, it's quite hard to make an artificial disease that's more effective than the ones already in the wild. Random viruses/bacteria and our bodies are constantly trying to kill each other, in this evolving arms race that's surprisingly difficult for artificial diseases to compete with.
Of course, any actual biologists are free to jump in and correct me on that one if needed."
"Don't sleep through seventh-grade science."
"Your job is your life. Get what you're owed from your job and don't give more than necessary. Ever."
"Big pharma, the media and big food work together. Big pharma is way more powerful than I ever imagined, and they fund our news networks and politicians. I feel like I just woke up one day and realized I've lied to my whole life."
"Survival is only for the rich."
Repair_Jolly said:
"Working from home doesn't make me feel as motivated to work as compared to an actual workplace."
Give_Help_Please replied:
"I feel this. It must be some subconscious thing where being in a place where I go to do work puts me in a working mindset, and being in a place where I usually relax takes me out of that mindset."
"Freedom is a myth."
