It's been a while since some of my yearning posts from way back in 2020 about all the things that I was looking forward to doing again when the pandemic ended. For various reasons I've continued to be pretty careful about masking in public and avoiding places where I couldn't easily wear masks, but also, in the last year or so I've started venturing out to do some of the things I used to do before the pandemic.
Seeing friends in person was one of the first things I started doing again, but always with some strictures about avoiding eating at restaurants where possible. It took me some time to get comfortable with even eating outdoors, but as time has passed, and as the case numbers here and in Italy have gone down, I've considered the relative risks and rewards of eating at restaurants. For instance, when I met someone for a date last December, I agreed that it was better to sit inside (without masks), because it was too cold and rainy and miserable to sit outside.
Now I've started eating indoors at restaurants more often, including a few times this week and even today. I still think it's worth being careful in crowded places, and I'm also still trying to be careful of where I eat (I'd rather get Covid or some other airborne virus from a good restaurant than from Taco Bell or KFC), but it's nice to be eating food on-site again. It helps that it's still warm when it gets to my table, rather than cold from being picked up by me or by a delivery person.
Part of what changed my mind about eating at restaurants was flying to Italy twice since last summer. Going to Europe was a big thing I missed from my pre-pandemic life, and I'm happy to have managed it, even if it's always been to go to my family house rather than on my solo adventures from years past. When I went last summer I also decided that I'd be willing to eat at certain, particularly good restaurants in Rome and Turin, because they were special occasion-type places. When I went this past February, I found myself eating at restaurants and cafes even more often, and though I picked up a pretty bad cold I didn't get Covid.
I've been to pubs, but generally sitting outside. I still think that the interier of a crowded bar isn't necessarily the best place, but at least until cases spike again in the fall and winter, it'll probably be more okay than the last couple of years.
One thing I haven't done since before the pandemic, but that I could do just fine, is watch movies at the theater. I'm not particularly bothered by wearing a mask for a few hours, so going to see the latest Marvel flick or whatever doesn't feel like a burden. But... well, everything seems to come to streaming sooner or later, and even if my TV screen isn't big, it's just more convenient to watch things at home (and with access to my own bathroom). That said, while I've had to decline the last couple invitations to go to the movies, it's been because of scheduling issues, not because I was afraid of catching Covid.
Attending work conferences wasn't on that list from three years ago, but I've changed that as of this past week. It was a big tech show, with a huge and crowded expo floor, but I just wore my mask whenever I was walking around or talking in close proximity to people. It was nice to get back into that element and being able to strike up conversations. I should note that I was prepared to do it last year, but the show I wanted to go to had moved from Santa Clara to Austin, and my company wasn't prepared to pay for me to gad about out of state, so that fell by the wayside (also, I was still reluctant to go to states that were less Covid-conscious).
The thing I'm still not doing is working out at the gym. I'm continuing to look at how cases are developing, and am actually hoping to get back to the gym, but that's the dirtiest place of all the spots I used to frequent, with loads of exhalations and droplets splashing all over the place, to say nothing of the sweat and grossness. I also don't miss a lot of the people who went to my gym, like those who reracked weights badly or otherwise violated gym etiquette. The pandemic has made me more conscious of how nice it'd be to have my own place with room for a home gym, so I don't have to share workout space with jerks.
Overall, I'm glad to be getting back to something close to normal, even if it's a bit slower than most other people I know. I don't claim any specialist knowledge about Covid, virology or epidemiology in general, but I haven't bought into the narrative that Covid is over or that it's fine now that we've all been vaccinated. Rather, everything I've read about catching it multiple times makes me think that I'd prefer to avoid catching it even once, for as long as I can.
Still, life is out there, outside my house, and it feels good to be going out and doing a bit more stuff now. Hopefully soon it really will all be back to normal.
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