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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2605 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 25, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Like TheDag said, I'm happy for you but I find myself still resentful about the whole pandemic situation. I was considered an essential worker at the time and saw an overall drop in my lifestyle quality. Wages were stagnant with no bonuses, even though supposedly I was too fucking valuable to stay home. No one was hiring in my specific field so I couldn't jump to another employer until right about the time partial re-openings were happening. My commute got a little shorter but all the amenities/services at and near my worksite were shuttered.

I didn't get the benefits of WFH. No binging Netflix, no experimenting with kombucha/sourdough/mead-making. No working on classes during my downtime. (If anything my workload went up.) Vacations I had planned for months got scrapped, including some not-easy-to-get backcountry backpacking permits in a few national parks. All of my social outlets were closed "out of abundance of caution" (which went right out the window when the media decided protestors somehow can't spread covid). I just got dry-railed for 18 months.

And like TheDag said, people definitely got hit worse than I did, some I know personally. Hell, whole nations got wrecked by this. Maybe I should just grin and bear it. But goddamn I am tempted to backhand anyone talking about how cozy and great the pandemic was into next Tuesday.

The pandemic measures very significantly and permanently reduced my quality of life. I won't bore anyone with the telling of the tale, but it's very lop-sidedly net negative for me.

Still, I can't fault anyone for profiting from the whole affair. I'd have done the same in their shoes.

Sure, make hay while the sun shines, but expecting me to give anything more than a token thumbs up to someone profiting off of a situation that reamed me is a long wait for a train that ain't coming.

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