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2020 was a wild year. When January began, the vast majority of us never anticipated that only a few short months later, the world would be a completely different place. Toilet paper shortages, lockdowns, mask mandates, and a devastating pandemic swept across the globe at a rapid pace. And while COVID certainly hasn’t been eradicated yet, the world has gone “back to normal” more or less.

However, the lasting impacts of the pandemic aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Redditors have recently been discussing things that have never been the same since 2020, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts down below. Enjoy reading through these replies that might make you miss pre-pandemic life, and be sure to upvote the ones you agree with! 

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#1

30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably My faith in the general intelligence and common sense of people.

Bods666 , Luis Quintero / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Alison M.
Alison M.
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The decline of general intelligence because of social media, especially with kids and young adults. TikTok plays a HUGE part in this - posting meaningless, stupid challenges, youth dying from said challanges, and doing dangerous stunts for fame.

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    #2

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably It ruined the phrase "avoid it like the plague" because it's obvious alot folks did not like to avoid plagues.

    NoDarkVision , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    #3

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably Everything, cost-wise. All companies use "supply chain" issues to drive up their prices and lower the quality of their items.

    horn_ok_pleasee , Michael Burrows / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    Carl Roberts
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Don't forget shrinkflation. Smaller product, same, or higher, price.

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    #4

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably People. People are so outwardly mean, antagonistic, and proudly uninformed now. We’ve lost all sense of a social contract.

    polkpanther , joeypistachio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    #5

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably Masks. It used to be we could respectfully wear a mask while we were sick, making sure we didn't get anyone else sick. Now, here in Texas, we have idiots who will scream at you for wearing a mask. Dude...I'm trying to not get YOU sick. I'm trying to be considerate, but somehow we've made that into something political.

    GamingTrend , Mohamed Serag / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    Jan Hyde
    Jan Hyde
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That does seem to be a USA thing. Other countries were doing it before the pandemic. Here in the UK some people still wear masks when they go to the doctors and hospital, I've never seen so much as a raised eyebrow.

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    #6

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably Covid ruined the tipping culture. Now I'm expected to tip everyone, everywhere. I'm so sick of having a tablet shoved in my face with tip choices at fast food places.

    anonymousanomoly83 , Kelly / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    #7

    Conspiracy theories. They used to be about fun s**t like aliens and lizardmen. Now they’re just self esteem props for the dumbest f***s you went to school with.

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    chrisdomres avatar
    keyboardtek
    keyboardtek
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And many of those rude, hate fill, dumb jerks we went to school with got jobs where they are bosses.

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    #8

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably My trust in the United States government.

    RafintheWraith , Aaron Kittredge / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    data1001 avatar
    Data1001
    Data1001
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My trust in the US government took a huge nosedive for quite a few other reasons.

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    #9

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably The medical industry. So many got burnt out and left and the shortages are still a huge issue so healthcare is suffering. They deserve the break or need to leave but their absence is causing a huge void.



    Edit: the replies to my comment make me want to write thank you notes to all of my doctors. I have a disability that requires a lot of them and while I’m thankful in person to them and their staff, maybe writing thank you in the portals would help - and cards for when I go in person. I appreciate all of you in healthcare for ALL that you do. We need to continue to bang our pots and pans and speak up for better conditions for you all - in every tier of the field in every country because this is universal. You are STILL the heroes.

    I-Am-Yew , Cedric Fauntleroy / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    Samuel Pelatan
    Samuel Pelatan
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah, got mistreated by doctors (the paternalistic kind of treatment that reduces you to data). But it's crystal clear it's not because they are evil but because they lack means, time, and a proper context to see and treat their patients like human being.

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    #10

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably People's trust in healthcare professionals thanks to rapid proliferation of misinformation and an explosion in the number of anti-vaxxers after the release of the vaccine.

    mhwnc , Klaus Nielsen / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    Caroline Nagel
    Caroline Nagel
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The disdain for education and knowledge shown by so many is utterly sad. Ignorance is a disease that needs to be eradicated like smallpox and polio. Ignorance is dangerous and leads to a society full of suspicion and suffering.

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    #11

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably Social skills. I strongly feel those have plummeted over the pandemic and everybody is okay with acting like a complete maniac sometimes.

    TurboLover427 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    #12

    Product quality is suddenly gone to s**t and companies don't care for it.

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    #13

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably Virtual learning did a huge disservice to the youth. We're going to see the results of that very soon.

    anonmonagomy , August de Richelieu / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    Mariele Scherzinger
    Mariele Scherzinger
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    4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I had to teach online through the pandemic. Absolutely pointless. Surprisingly, some children were not even properly equipped to participate (or said so as an excuse). Most importantly: so many distractions at home. And general lack of concentration made worse by having to stare at a screen for a long time. Understandably so, even I was bored out of my mind by the online conferences with my colleagues.

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    #14

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably Everyone’s mental health.

    workingclasslady , Sofia Alejandra / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    data1001 avatar
    Data1001
    Data1001
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Except for introverts. It was like a vacation for many of us.

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    #15

    Journalism.
    _Iknoweh_:

    I think the decline in trustworthy news started before the pandemic, but boy did it aggravate it.

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    chrisdomres avatar
    keyboardtek
    keyboardtek
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    4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Laws should be amended to make it easier to sue the news media for lies. FOX News was sued and claimed they were not a news channel but they were an entertainment channel. And that anyone who could not recognize that was a fool. FOX executives essentially called all their viewers idiots.

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    #16

    Everything, seemingly. I think the world actually ended in 2020 and we’re all in hell now but we haven’t figured it out yet.

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    #17

    Manners. No one seems to have any manners- restaurants have feral children running around, movie theaters have people talking through the entire movie.

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    #18

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably 24-hour stores and supply chains. Even today, more than four years later there's still things out of stock and hard to find.
    m1kz93:
    Not only was it 24/7 stores, but also stores that opened at 7am, and closed at 11pm. Now it's 9am-9pm.

    llcucf80 , Людмила Александровна / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    jonconstant avatar
    ConstantlyJon
    ConstantlyJon
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Or stores that were once 24/7 now close every night. I work a very late 2nd shift half the time and get off around 1-2am. Nothing is open anymore if I need some groceries or whatever. Walmart was the go-to and I don't think they'll ever go back to 24/7.

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    #19

    Streaming services. The pandemic saw an influx of subscribers and thus and influx of profits. They are still chasing after those profits even though they no longer have the same number of subscribers. Also, the pandemic made every media organization think they should have their own service and as such you now pay more for less content or pay cable like prices across multiple services thereby negating the benefits of chord cutting.

    soccerdevil22 Report

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    iseefractals
    iseefractals
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The pandemic may have accelerated this a bit, but that's the inevitable direction things were headed in for years prior. It's the same story with every "disruptive" tech/service that's attempting to replace an existing service that does essentially the same thing....the only difference is the new thing gets to enjoy a lack of regulation for some period of time.

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    #20

    A chance for a fair and reasonable life if you have a regular job.

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    C. S.
    C. S.
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This has been decades in the making, not exclusively fallout from Coronageddon.

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    #21

    My sense of age.
    I don't even know how old I am anymore.
    Like ofc I know but it doesn't feel correct.

    mJef Report

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    clairebear
    clairebear
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I know how this feels, it's like everyone jumped ahead two years but didn't live the time.

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    #22

    About a million lives.

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    keyboardtek
    keyboardtek
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yes. Whenever I encounter someone who says masks and vaccinations were unnecessary, I tell them that those millions of people who died from COVID before the vaccine was available would 100% disagree.

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    #23

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably Genuine human interaction. Feels weird and technological now.
    chronicallyillbrain:
    It feels like we all transitioned to being chronically online during quarantine and never fully transitioned back

    carrovinc , fauxels / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    clairebear
    clairebear
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I am autistic and all of my social skills were learned by rote and kept fresh with practice. I lost a lot of them during lockdown and I don't have the energy to do it anymore.

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    #24

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably IRL Shopping. I went to four different stores (Rite aid, CVS, Safeway, and friggin Walmart) just to get some Neutrogena body wash and the only place that had it was charging like $14 for it. Found it on Amazon for $8, goddamnit.

    FroggiJoy87 , Tuur Tisseghem / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    chrisdomres avatar
    keyboardtek
    keyboardtek
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yes. I was shocked to find the half filled deodorant container I buy is over $9 now.

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    #25

    I think the pandemic ruined a lot of things, but one of the worst effects was it made many more people addicted to social media. Imo, social media is this constant whisper in your ear telling you you’re not good enough, you’ll never be successful, and nobody cares about you. I think this constant nagging reminder day after day, year after year makes you less empathetic and more okay with being a total a*****e to others. If nobody cares about you, why should you care about them? It also makes it very easy to view people less as individuals and more as part of a group you don’t like.

    Shackmann Report

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    winterwidow87
    winterwidow87
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Got rid of all social media except Youtube and the occasional visit on Bored Panda (is BP considered social media?) and i never regretted it.

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    #26

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably I feel like people are angrier drivers now, but that is just a gut feeling.
    Leeser:
    I’ve definitely seen this too. Didn’t think it was possible for people to drive like they cared even less about other people but here we are.

    rubix_redux , voronaman111 / envato (not the actual photo) Report

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    Krd
    Krd
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is a big one. I ride a bike a major US city, and since the pandemic, instances of dangerous drivers and close-calls have dramatically increased.

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    #27

    My happiness,I lost my brother ( sepsis) I truly thought we gonna grow old together, The world is such a sad place now,It's like a heavy wet blanket suffocating whatever reality we had before this pandemic started.

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    #28

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably My bank balance and chance of buying a house. Was making 6 figures in my own business which completely stopped for 15 months making getting a mortgage all but impossible because even though for 8 years I made $10-20k+ more year over year, I didn’t have any income for over a year…

    Edit: wanna know the ironic kicker? I work IN real estate, and still can’t get a house.

    The7footr , Mikhail Nilov / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    oldmanfl01 avatar
    Steve Hall
    Steve Hall
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you were making six figures, why didn't you save some money?

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    #29

    30 Things That Were Screwed Up By The Covid Pandemic Quite Severely And Possibly Irreparably 2020 ruined my hot girl summer plans and my relationship with jeans.

    ShoulderIll2318 , Andres Ayrton / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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    data1001 avatar
    Data1001
    Data1001
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    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There are just as many men whose 'hot boy summer plans' were also ruined. What do you say we all plan to meet up again at the beach next year when we've finally managed to drop our pandemic weight? ;-)

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    #30

    Ensh**ification is running rampant everywhere. Everything is a subscription model and gig work that got you hooked with quality service and good price. And every 6 months the service gets worse and costs more…extends to everything: food and service is worse for higher prices. Rideshares are harder to find with worse drivers and were back at nearly cab fares. I ordered a 6/10 burger in flipping reno, nevada that was 28 dollars before tax! Grocery stores are pathetic now. 1 check stand open with a line to the back of the store even when you go in at night. It takes 6 months to get into see a specialist doctor even when you have something fairly debilitating going on. Concert tickets are priced insanely even if you can get them before the bots snatch them up minutes after going on sale. Your purchasing power for a house dropped even from 4 years ago the same house that cost 300k now costs 400k. Journalism was dead and buried and is now husking around as a decrepit clickbait ghoul.

    Rapscagamuffin Report

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