Covid prep and lock down.

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Thumper1k92@reddit

I stayed inside like I was told to. Wore masks in public. And didn’t get COVID for 5 years.

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I was essential. None of the cops I worked with took it seriously; everyone got it, most didn't know, and just came to work, they'd find out they had antibodies much later, so we just kept working. Getting 10 days off while you had it was the only break you'd get as a first responder, but I only got it once. I am not a COVID denier at all, but I've had colds that were much worse for me.

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wellbalancedlibra@reddit

My husband worked an essential job so his life continued normally. My daughter and I quarantined. No effect on our life. We have a well stocked pantry at all times.

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Darkwaxellence@reddit (OP)

Where did he stay?

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T3hBau5@reddit

I didn't. I worked full time. And not remotely, either. Pretty impossible to do that when you work in a Pharmacy.

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Darkwaxellence@reddit (OP)

An actually essential worker! I worked at a factory that makes auto lifts for cars. They said we were essential because it's a part of 'transportation'. I would love everyone that got called essential to remember that and vote for universal Healthcare for all.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

A lot of folks here don't understand what "quarantine" means. That could be important if/when we get a bio event more serious than the flu.

Here's a hint- It doesn't mean your still getting "amazon", grocery deliveries, UPS shipments, etc.

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Darkwaxellence@reddit (OP)

Yes definitely a spectrum of answers about this. I stayed at my house, no visitors, no trips away from the house. But I also have a decent yard to hang out in. No personal contact outside of our household.

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RikkiLostMyNumber@reddit

Had all four kids at home and my wife and I really enjoyed it. By coincidence, I got a dog on 12/21/19 and that guy really lucked out, he had a huge amount of attention for many months.
I had a pretty good time during the pandemic, although I feel guilty saying that. My career was one of the weird ones where I made more money that ever. I own a boat, so that summer we had something to do. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

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Darkwaxellence@reddit (OP)

I bought my first sailboat the year before. Had it at a marina we could walk to and go out on the river. Different boat now but I'm living aboard and loving it.

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academiccatastrophe@reddit

What do you guys mean by two weeks? Our "lockdown" lasted like 2.5 years..

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iambecomesoil@reddit

Yeah? There was some shutdown of non essential public businesses like restaurants for sit down who converted to carry out but there was not a single day where you couldn’t just be about your business at the grocery store or home depot.

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academiccatastrophe@reddit

I mean same it was "generally recommended" to stay home but most people didn't, the only thing you couldn't do was go camping, use crown land or go to protests. School was remote for awhile, large gatherings weren't allowed but that's about it

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Jolopy4099@reddit

In the beginning they had a 2 week "lockdown" where they had everyone stay inside in an attempt to curb the spike.

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academiccatastrophe@reddit

Ah I don't think anyone stayed home where I live, like still shopping and doing errands and stuff as usual. Maybe schools were closed for a bit I think? Idk I worked outside so there was zero break from work

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lemonprincess23@reddit

Yeah I don’t remember ever quarantining for any period. I think some schools did switch to remote learning, but not all of them

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Jolopy4099@reddit

I remember they announced everyone to get food and supplies then stay inside for 2 weeks in an attempt to curb the starting spike.

It was a ghost town in my city for that 2 weeks. I spent covid fishing and it awesome.

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academiccatastrophe@reddit

That would have been smart. Instead here they banned us from camping, hiking and being outdoors, but had no problem with shopping or indoor activities lol.

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Jolopy4099@reddit

Some of the rules and thinking didn't make sense.

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Old_Dragonfruit6952@reddit

We had an infant in tne house
My school k--5 went remote . So I worked We had 3 days to distribute tech to almost 1000 students . Prepare home packets and distribute them personally to families . We had busses that distributed internet to neighborhoods . We were not deterred by the virus and went outside all as much as the weather allowed

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Darkwaxellence@reddit (OP)

With regards to education, do you think we could have done better with the response?

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

Got the flu at Shot show the start of that year, it sucks but it's survivable, not the death knell for most folks like the media portrayed. Some dunskie at our gym got the clot shot and I worked with him on the mats that night- didn't know he just got it. Had that issue that they say isn't an issue with vaccine shedding. Told the guy the next time I saw him, he got sick after the clot shot also and described his symptoms, the times and order they appeared, etc. It matched perfectly- the symptoms, the times, what I had after rolling with him. Yes vaccine shedding is real. Year or so later got a slightly stronger version of the flu which seemed a little stronger. Never went to doc, stayed hydrated and rested for a few days.

We were pretty much normal down here in the rural south, no "lockdowns". Thankfully it wasn't a real serious bio issue cause people were stupid AF. While covid was definitely overblown, the problem is that the NEXT thing may not be, but unfortunately the media hype made a lot of people say "eff it, I ain't doing this crap!" So I expect if/when their is a serious bio emergency you will see a lot of folks saying to hell with it and not taking it seriously based on the how the 4th Estate (media) and gubmint hyped up stuff so much during covid.

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Miss_L_Worldwide@reddit

It is 100% impossible to catch an illness from someone just because they got a vaccine. 100% impossible. Just to put your mind at ease.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

Thanks for putting my mind to ease 😄

So the facts- especially during that time I came in contact with just my wife outside of this class, no outside work, no "running into people", etc. Literally interacting with 1 person normally (wife),

I interacted with one person extensively during that class. He mentioned just getting the experimental shot while we were in close contact. It's a combatives class so a LOT of close contact, you sweat on each other, etc. I got started feeling ill later that night, noted the symptoms, times, etc and notified a friendly doc (best friend) and when I say doc I mean yes an actual doctor, not a medic, etc.

Next time I'm in class I ask the guy who got the clot shot if he had any adverse reactions. He says the day he got the shot he got sick and he lists the symptoms. I asked him roughly when things started, how they progressed, when they ended, etc. It corresponded perfectly with what I experienced.

So, no close contact with anyone else but this party, certainly no one else that got the clot shot. Then I get the same symptoms he got, in the same progression and lasting the same amount of time. Yep, helluva coincidence right? Actual doc confirmed they have seen similar responses, but yeah you won't find that on msnbc and rachael madcow or the witches on the view won't be talking about stuff like that.

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feralcomms@reddit

My kid was in the middle of cancer treatment so we were already a bit locked down

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Top_Independent_3548@reddit

I had recently opened a cafe and closed for about a month. I will never forget the joy of waking up whenever I wanted and going to bed when I was tired.

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Darkwaxellence@reddit (OP)

Did your buisness get a ppe loan, and have you been required to pay any of it back?

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Utter_cockwomble@reddit

I'm essential so I worked after the first two weeks of shutdowns. My partner was WFH for two years.

We were fine. The writing was on the wall, so we did a big-box store run for fresh meats the weekend before. Everything else was from pantry stock. We were house-bound other than walking the dog and dropping off meals for my elderly mom.

I still haven't gotten covid.

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Darkwaxellence@reddit (OP)

I can't wait for all the 'essential' workers to go on strike and have unity in our collective power. They needed us to keep making them money, but I still don't have universal Healthcare.

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AppropriateFlan1611@reddit

Pretty sure I got Covid in February of 2020 when I went to Vegas. That same weekend was the DNC debate. Long story short, we ended up sharing our hotel with Trump and an army of Secret Service agents. Now I'm not saying Trump gave me Covid, but I do like to sarcastically tell people that he did.

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TheWalkindude_-@reddit

Yeah we did.
We lived in California at the time and were provided paid time off if we or a family member caught Covid.

As such, I kept a decent supply of food around the house and was pretty fortunate compared to others.

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Proof_Junket_5516@reddit

A bicycle and music were my biggest allies. I had a bit of an advantage because, due to my job, I was never restricted from travelling. I could legally move around the entire country, so I used that freedom to ride my bike through what felt like an empty urban world. And you know what? It was actually kind of beautiful. Streets that were normally packed were almost silent. Just me, my bike, my headphones and a city that seemed to have hit the pause button for a while.

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OMGLOL1986@reddit

My kid was born like a week before everything full got quiet. Couldn’t have been a better time lol.

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New_Internet_3350@reddit

I had a baby in April 2020 (at home) great timing.

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kaekiro@reddit

Obviously not the same lol, but we adopted rescued kittens in January 2020, got sent home before the big shutdown by risk management seeing the writing on the wall (I'm immuno-compromised).

There's a whole lotta crazy that aligned during covid time for me, but the cats were still young and they become velcro babies lol. One of them sleeps on me nearly every night. I'm her preferred bed. They're both incredibly affectionate.

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AdManNick@reddit

The transition from not being exposed to anything to the kid going to preschool is fucking wild.

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Ryan_e3p@reddit

As an prepper introvert, that shit was the best.

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Raddish3030@reddit

Went to work. Same as usual.

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iheartrms@reddit

Yes and yes and it was awesome. Got some real quality time with my son that we will never forget.

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Kermit-de-frog1@reddit

Anyone remember when it was “ Two weeks to slow the curve” ? We knew then it was going to be global, and wanted to prepare things. Then it was vaccines stop you from getting it….. period. Then it was vaccines make it less dangerous, then it was boosters. Changing the colors on old Joe Rogan and “horse paste”. That masks wouldn’t do anything (mostly true) to masks mandatory .

Of the folks I saw using masks, in a 10-15 minute period, approx .00001 percent knew how to use a mask correctly AND didn’t touch eyes mucosal tissue, mouth , etc when in public space, and they became a moral symbol instead of a mildly useful tool.

On the information side it was a total goat rope, if you wanted to get real scientific data , depending on the source or journal, you had to use a vpn and select another country ( in the USA ). Finally got a look and general “flu” numbers vs covid numbers for that period , somehow a virus that spread in the same manner as the “common” flu spiked while the common flu (responsible for about 200k deaths annually in the us ) dropped to almost zero.

Interesting times. I was an essential worker , so it had no change in my day to day, other than people were scared , reactionary idiot during the period.

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xmo113@reddit

I worked in health care with seniors. Never got to stay home for a day.

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Hobobo2024@reddit

were they dying left and right on you? seems like one of the worst jobs during covid

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Hobobo2024@reddit

I've never had covid but back before the vacinne came out, I very much social isolated to the extent I could. and as a retiree who's only reason I have to go out is take care of my dementia dad who was also easy to isolate, I really didn't get out too much during g the almost 2 years before the vaccine.

2 weeks is absolutely nothing to me.. As an introvert who likes to play video games and virtual reality, it was an excuse to just play and not socialize. Almost 2 years got to feeling somewhat boring and had somewhat a feeling of isolation though it was still ok for my extreme introvert self..

I used to consistently go on vacations every year and I really just stopped that routine after covid. Still not back to where I was before. That part I missed.

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beached89@reddit

I wasnt even prepping for a pandemic, and we were able to stay in the house for over 30 days without leaving. Luckily for us, we lived on 3+ acres, so we had outdoor space, a nice back patio, a walking path, and it was SUPER easy.

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karl4319@reddit

I didn't. Was a pharmacy tech until I was laid off then did delivery driving until rideshare was available again. Was considered an essential worker the entire time.

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Miss_L_Worldwide@reddit

The only effect it had on my life is that there were a hell of a lot of people out and about at times that they were usually at work and I could be out doing my thing, and just the general inconveniences of the silly rules and ever-changing information. Other than that, I did nothing different.

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Overall-Contest5706@reddit

I just kept working. Covid had literally 0 effect on my day to day life

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Historical_Run5461@reddit

Nothing really changed. Had to drive farther to find a gym that stayed open. Would go back to my hometown on the weekends where no one really cared.

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Thisguyrightheer@reddit

The highways became my race track. I tickled 178 mph. It was awesome.

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chiefsgirl913@reddit

This might sound shitty but I kinda enjoyed the idea of the pandemic, not the idea of people suffering or dying but the idea of isolating and a quieter world for once.

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iwannaddr2afi@reddit

I think a lot of us have that same mixed emotion. For some people the isolation was hell, and I don't celebrate that aspect either of course. But for me it was a much needed season of downtime.

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Ancient-Bat8274@reddit

Lmao I didn’t do shit. I carried about my life like normal. West Oregon

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KeithJamesB@reddit

I am essential so worked through it. Called my doctor and she said I’d be fine. The rest of the family stayed in but then carried on as usual.

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ProfDoomDoom@reddit

I did not leave my property for 2 years. I still have not been inside anywhere except a doctors office once and a dentist once. Two weeks at home was already common for me before COVID.

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BallsOutKrunked@reddit

You've only been to a dentist once in 6 years?

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North-Neat-7977@reddit

I did the full lockdown. And I've worked from home since. I still don't eat in restaurants. I still do curbside pickup for groceries. Built a really nice gym in my basement and still use that instead of driving half hour to the gym. It's nice. More relaxed. Saves money.

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KTeacherWhat@reddit

My husband already worked from home and I got sent to work from home. It was about a month after that started that we first 'needed' to grocery shop (my husband and I have different ideas about want vs need). Our food stocks kept us out of the grocery store long enough for stores that didn't have it to set up grocery pickup. I also had masks in my emergency bin so we didn't have to go buy any. We continued to walk our dogs daily so I didn't stay in my home for any huge amount of time, and also we never got COVID.

Honestly we never felt a shortage during COVID. We never ran out of anything critical. We joked around that I had the last cleaning products in the state. I even donated several bottles of all purpose cleaner to two different homeless shelters at the time.

The only thing that was a bit annoying was surge pricing on puzzles. We completed the one 1,000 piece puzzle we had and then they were insane prices everywhere. Now we keep a bit more of a stock of those. I also keep a bigger stock of books from thrift stores. I used to read up my whole TBR before buying more. Now I've found a thrift store that does bag sales for books, fill a bag for $1.00 and I buy a bunch even if I don't have an immediate need.

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nanneryeeter@reddit

No. I still worked.

For whatever reason people still wanted fuel to be pumped and produced.

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AmosTali@reddit

we were retired, living out in the country and basically kept to ourselves anyway. the Covid mess was no different for us than the way we normally lived. enjoyed the entertainment of watching people go stir crazy over all the BS. but deep pantry and ability to entertain ourselves kept us quite happy. did load the dogs and food in the Rv and took a 3 week roadtrip during the height of the panic - great that there weren’t crowds…

neither of us have ever had covid (that we know of…).

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Comfortable-Race-547@reddit

I was a nyc essential worker so nothing changed for me except there was zero traffic and nobody on the streets.

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dirrtyr6@reddit

Kind of rural Ohio here. Covid was possibly the best time of my life. Roads were all but empty, 1000cc R1. I can remember getting on 75N and doing 180+ for MILES and never seeing another car. I never locked myself inside, but I didn't put myself around other people. A little bit of common sense figured out that it wasn't a lingering airborne thing, being outside was fine and peaceful.

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astilba120@reddit

I did great. I remained employed, as my work then (retired now), was as a home provider, I had a man with severe disabilities living with me, 15 years, and his care went uninterrupted, as did my salary. I am a recluse by nature, so, there was no issue for me, I spent that summer and spring and fall gardening, as usual. Masking was no issue for me, I have chronic Lyme, even a small cold can cause a crazy immune response on my end, so using N95's when I did go to stores and stuff was no biggie. no vaccines due to this, but, I never got Covid, no one in my house did.

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Gadgetman_1@reddit

I went to work as normal, even rode the bus as I usually did. Shopped at the local grocery store, even.

Of course, I was one of maybe 5 or 6 at the office at any time(normally over 100), so I got a bit of maintenance done on the network...

Never saw more than half a dozen on the bus in the morning, and only a few more in the afternoon. The changes they did there was to demand everyone entered at the back(no one checked tickets, but most paid them anyway), and every other bench was off limits. They may have done it differently in the big cities, but I wouldn't know. (Living on the NW coast of Norway)

Walking from the office and to the bus station in the afternoon was... erie...

There's a lot of ferries in my area, and that used to mean someone had to walk around and sell tickets.

They made the trip free for pasengers, and only required payment from the driver. And they pushed automatic ticket systems. (AutoPass, the same system we use on Toll roads.) it was planned implemented when the routes were next up for a bidding round, so it was just pushed out a bit sooner.

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Useful_Calendar_6274@reddit

yeah. We went out only for groceries and my dad for work. so not really but that was as much as we could have quarantined

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drAsparagus@reddit

Why don't you just go back and read the posts and comments from that time, OP?

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RobertCalifornia2683@reddit

We lost our home to hurricane Michael and had family that allowed us to stay with them in Colorado Springs. Then Covid hits. That was a rough period for our little family.

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whaticism@reddit

I was living in Brooklyn in a 100 unit apartment building when it started. I didn’t leave my apartment for several weeks (at least 3) and then when I couldn’t stand it anymore, I went out on the fire escape. My neighbor who was a generally sweet person had a husband recovering from surgery at home with her. She had this habit, I learned, of coughing out of her window that faced the fire escape because it was a hacking spitting cough and she didn’t want to wake him up or do that inside or whatever. Anyway she didn’t know I was on the fire escape and she coughed all over me and now I live on 50 acres upstate.

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Pando5280@reddit

Had been living 80% off grid when it hit. Watched in conenover from Europe knowing the official government playbook was not being followed so knew it would get bad. Was remodeling a house in an area with very limited logistics. Supply chain got messed up and it threw off my project timeline for two years. Ended up doing fire mitigation for most of that time. Craziest part was going to the grocery store right before lockdown (I was already stocked up but was curious what the vibe was) and having a stranger say "I guess this is real huh?" after I had been tracking it as it crept across Europe for more than a month. Realized how ignorant and easily-led most US citizens and voters really were. Also watched a woman empty out the frozen fruit section of our local grocery store with a feral look in her eyes and resolved right then to never not have at least 6 weeks worth of food on hand. Also watched my local gun store sell nearly their entire inventory due to covid panic buying and people nervous over Janurary 6 and the transfer of power insanity. Was glad to not be in the city but there were folks in my rural area who thought it was end times and the tension and stress and divisions over toxic politics was very noticeable.

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6ix7evnn@reddit

I’ve read every comment. This shit is wild

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EffinBob@reddit

No, I didn't. Being an essential worker, I was at work the entire time, and I continued traveling for work during that time. Those of you who got paid for staying home from the taxes I'm still paying for that, you're welcome.

In any case, we were fine. I never got sick. My wife rarely left the house, but that was the case before the pandemic. After the first couple of weeks of picking up groceries from online ordering, I had to go into the store for something I forgot to order. I found the shelves full of items the online app said they were out of. I never ordered groceries online after that, and never had a problem getting what I wanted.

We have 2.5 acres near a lake where we could walk around, several outbuildings (mancave, she shack, shop) we could isolate if we had found it necessary (we didn't), and plenty of supplies in stock that we rotated out but never really needed to touch without being able to replenish. We had a well and a whole house generator installed shortly after snowmegeddon. The well has come in handy. The generator has been used once for a scheduled 4 hour power shutdown.

We took groceries to my wife's parents and relatives when they were too afraid to venture out, but didn't need to for very long once they saw we weren't getting sick. Only a couple of them got sick during that time period and none of them had a hard time with it.

Like I said, we were fine and had no problems whatsoever providing for ourselves and others. Many of our neighbors were worse off living on far smaller properties, bored at home and not being able to work, scared to go to the store and/or believing an app that claimed shortages that didn't appear to exist, and getting sick with some hit pretty hard by the disease (mostly elderly or with pre-existing health issues).

The government response at all levels was a smorgasbord of overreach and heavy handedness with laughable proclamations, though wasn't as bad in Texas as other places I traveled to for work. Hopefully people got so tired of that it won't be happening again. We'll have to wait and see on that one.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

+1

The government response at all levels was a smorgasbord of overreach and heavy handedness with laughable proclamations, though wasn't as bad in Texas as other places I traveled to for work. Hopefully people got so tired of that it won't be happening again. We'll have to wait and see on that one.

Quoting that again cause THAT is the bigger issue. If the next bio issue is real, many will likely not take it serious because of the overblown BS the 4th Estate (media) and gubmint put out.

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Which-Meat-3388@reddit

Wife and I already worked remotely and had a farm box service set up that brought fresh veg, eggs, milk, bread. That all continued and we dipped into canned and freezer for everything else. Already had our garden planned for the year which was a huge success. We’d talk to neighbors from across the street and got close with one household (a big blind spot for introverts like us.) We weren’t prepped for unrest but luckily that didn’t happen. I made our tiny urban yard into a really nice place to hang out year round.

She was far more concerned than me so when we decided to venture out it was just me for a solid year. “Outside” clothes that were washed immediately. Every item sanitized. Her instincts were right because when she did finally get it, it changed her significantly health wise and still deals with it today. Masked in public until 2025, still treat any illness with more respect than we did before 2020.

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GemmaMorissey@reddit

I was due with my first baby on April 1 so I stayed home. My husband continued life as normal since he was an essential worker.

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lemonprincess23@reddit

I’ll be honest, besides wearing a mask to my grocery story I don’t think me nor those around me really did anything. Especially not quarantining

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Mainegurl143@reddit

Both my husband and I were in jobs that didn’t allow us to stay home he is municipal employee I was in utilities and my second job was maintenance for a big company ( cleaning at night) they had mandatory reporters as well so I worked … it was weird being out in the world we wore masks and followed the rules but we found ourselves being delivery for our families so they could stay put ( felt like we were doing the right thing at the time)

We did learn how to alternate and map where to go and when to maintain basics, we cooked and prepped and paid close attention to what was working what wasn’t for people . I live in the northeast so fear for us was heating alternatives if power truly went out we installed a pellet stove and have decided to go with a true wood stove once we can swing it … more canning less reliance on refrigerator I think we learned a lot but during lockdown our area ended up with a huge influx of people moving into our state so we are debating moving north and grabbing a house with some more land

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Plumbercanuck@reddit

Worked 5 days a week right through the 'pandemic'. If 100 plus people using around 4 or 5 porta potties on a job site dosent make you question things nothing will.

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Myspys_35@reddit

I made the decision to move from the US to Sweden in 2019 just before the pandemic. Salaries are higher in the US but during covid it was very much worth it.

So basically I never experienced a "lock down", there was no 2 week thing. Instead everything was quickly moved to work from home if at all possible, work sent everyone packages with extra screens and ergonomic chairs, and we tried to migrate to online work in this new era... We watched the world go nuts over toilet paper, some tried the whole stock up thing and others got annoyed that this forced them to switch their favorite TP brand. By Swedish standards people were quite upset about this for a week or two (like seriously today we only can choose between Serla and ICA toilet paper?! Its a disgrace!) but thankfully normal sense prevailed quickly. Global supply chains soon suffered hickups and yeah that wasnt fun, but nothing like the craziness I personally experienced in Australia in March 2020

A critical point though - Sweden is the odd country that dont let politicians to be involved in stuff like pandemics. Instead during a crisis its the appropriate experts who make decisions based on facts - and most importantly, people actually follow recommendations. Aka dumb shenanigans were socially frowned upon, people accepted that "oh maybe a 300 people club is not a good place to be during a pandemic, instead lets have a small house party", max number of people in a public space were respected, and if you could avoid public transport you did

Note though that Sweden did get a bit socially bullied by other countries, e.g., for the first time since Hitler Norway didnt want us visiting.

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TheStephinator@reddit

My spouse and I both worked in a hospital at the time. We were required to show up, even when the PPE was questionable. At least he ended up with a respirator. I had to reuse masks until they were visibly soiled. Fun times.

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Educational_Seat3201@reddit

Hell no. I was labeled a essential worker and had to go to work even if I was bleeding from my eye sockets

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Chaos_Goblin_7007@reddit

Right there with you! Hospitals don’t close-especially the ER.

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Capstonelock@reddit

I live in Western Australia. We personally were well prepared to lock down and it was no problem.

Our Government closed our borders and we had the pleasure of coming out of lockdown quickly. Our borders stayed closed and we were blissfully nearly covid free, watching in horror as other parts of the world suffered while we went about our lives more or less as normal.

No system is perfect, so there were mini outbreaks and 2-week quarantines. They mandated the vaccine when it arrived and finally opened our borders back up when Omicron rendered quarantine ineffective. Very few West Australians died (0.068 per 100 people, 11 people in 2020 and none in 2021; more in 2022 after we reopened) and our economy stayed strong.

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Ordinary-Hunt-3659@reddit

I got COVID a few days before lockdown started. I still remember the customer that gave it to me. It really sucked cause I was living with my girlfriend at the time and she was so scared she kicked me out. My whole family didn't want me near them. I spent the winter sleeping in my car in the parking lot behind work(which I wasn't working, boss knew the situation, paid me for the time I was off and let me use the back parking lot. Great guy). I shouldn't say the whole winter, I think it was like a month. But it still sucked.

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notthesethings@reddit

What a shitty girlfriend/person. Dodged a bullet there, brother.

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Ordinary-Hunt-3659@reddit

Sure did. I say that Everytime I think of her.

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RichardBonham@reddit

I was an essential medical worker, so no pause for the lockdown.

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mediocre_remnants@reddit

I didn't lock myself in my house, but I did go a few weeks without visiting any stores/businesses/friends/etc. When COVID hit I'd already been working remotely for 5 years so there was no change there. And I had enough food on hand that I didn't need to go to the store. My wife had an office job but she was able to stay home during the lockdown.

We would go for walks around town and it was so eerie. The streets were empty, no cars, no people anywhere.

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millenialsnowbird@reddit

We were in Orlando and would drive around Disney World. It was crazy to see the roads completely empty.

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Wulfkat@reddit

Other than one trip to Home Depot for emergency repairs (wearing my 3M gas mask) and once a month trip to the grocery store for fresh veggies, I didn’t leave my house for 3 months.

Once I got the vaccine, I went out more but always masked.

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KayKeeGirl@reddit

I had just finished cancer treatments and was told by my oncology team to treat myself as if I was immune compromised as they had no idea how Covid would affect me- so yes I quarantined for significantly longer than 2 weeks.

While scary when I turned on the news- it was peaceful and helped me to heal.

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Jolopy4099@reddit

In the beginning when they issued the 2 week lock down to curb the rising spike i had plenty of food and stayed inside alone or in my back yard.

After the 2 weeks and all the rules came out I would wear a mask if I was going inside stores.

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Gene-reader@reddit

I did not have the ability to stay home for two weeks but I learned. Before lockdowns, I only prepped for hurricanes and quick evacuation for fire. Now I prep for supply chain disruption. I have a few trusted you tubers that I watch to learn about trends in supply chain so that I keep ahead of problems. I could now stay in my house for a year without leaving. I consider the lockdown an amazing learning experience.

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dontdoxxmebrosef@reddit

Me too. I grew up prepping for hurricane floods General Power Outage, and supply disruptions living on the east in Gulf Coast. I doubled my inventory in my rotating pantry and added a few extra things. But I didn’t get a chance to quarantine because I was working at healthcare I guess if I quarantine you mean slept at the hospital for four weeks to figure out whether he’s going to kill my entire family with a virus we didn’t know anything about I quarantined.

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TheMrsH1124@reddit

No we did not. My husband got furloughed and my teaching job ended quickly and we traveled all over the country and it was the best summer. Went to see my grandma who was close to dying, went to see my uncle, went to the beach, went to Colonial Williamsburg. Good times.

I got a public school teaching job in the fall and it was back to business as usual.

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United_Pie_5484@reddit

I read a couple books on the porch while my husband and kid had work school meetings online inside (terrible timing for reading The Stand by SK,) we rode ATVs all over our property, took lots of walks with the dog. Best time ever for living in the woods. We were starting to run a little low on some supplies when I finally got a curbside pickup spot, it was really hard to get them scheduled for a couple weeks.

Ironically, my grandparents also left a city to live in the country when Mom was little because of a series of quarantines from polio in their neighborhood. The little boy next door died from it and they decided they’d get out while the getting was good.

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ayeyoualreadyknow@reddit

I'm a homebody who avoids people (thanks trauma!). Nothing changed for us. My entire life is a lock down lol. I prefer it that way.

But the food shortages is what initially got me started on prepping. 6 years later and I'm still learning, although I now live in an apartment so I'm limited on what I can do. I don't have many of the options that others who live in houses on their own land have.

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hsh1976@reddit

Four of us were in quarantine for two weeks in August 2020. I'd got a call that someone I was around tested positive and the health department had us all get tested. All four of us tested positive but weren't sick, thankfully

We could go out as we pleased, we just needed to stay 6' away from people. We did grocery pickup. We went walking at the parks and otherwise lived our lives, just not in contact with anybody else.

Thankfully my and the wife's employers were pretty understanding and behind the protocols so we weren't stressed about our jobs.

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TinyEmergencyCake@reddit

All four of us tested positive but weren't sick, thankfully

The acute phase immune response is not the disease. That comes later and shows itself by way of heart disease, strokes, autoimmune diseases, blood clots, diabetes, cancer etc.

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stephenph@reddit

I moved into VA from ID the very day it was declared a pandemic. Spent the next 2 weeks in a hotel as I tried to find an apartment. There were no lockdowns but no one would let us see apartments either. Finally decided to head back to ID (luckily we had not sold the house yet ). My new job allowed me to work from home. In ID there were no lock downs but nothing was open either so spent the next month mostly staying home, looking for apartments online, getting ready to move. My work finally told me I needed to show up for work (it was a classified contract so work from home opportunities were very limited.

Found an apartment sight unseen and rolled back into Manassas, VA. Two days later I had a stroke and heart attack probably related to COVID (I had "that strange flu" in dec before it had a name) spent the next couple months recovering and working from home. Finally went back to the office with masking distance, etc. they finally cut our office hours to three days a week and I was let go shortly after.

Some boys on the three cross country drives. The first drive from ID to VA was just prior to being declared a pandemic, but it was still causing issues. Hotels were full of travelers mostly heading home, some restaurants were closed but most fast food was open. In some states they had already closed self service soda fountains but for the most part the trip was not too bad and normal.

The drive back to ID was surreal (pandemic was already declared) some hotels were closed or not accepting new guests, most traffic on the roads were truckers, finding gas was tricky, lots of gas stations were closed or had limited services. Small towns look abandoned with no traffic or visible people even during the day. The original trip we took nine days, stopping at monuments, etc, the trip back took 3 days, nothing to see, couldn't hang out in towns, just driving, finding a hotel that was open and keeping in our room.

The trip back to VA was just as bad, some towns had closed completely, roadblocks at the interstate off ramps, no service signs, etc. the freeways were even more desolate, we would go while stretches not seeing any traffic but truckers,.

We never were in any official lockdown, I was still able to go into town, go to the park, go to work (mostly), got yelled at frequently by Karen's who thought my mask was not secure, or because I was walking too close to my wife. I remember one time I got into the elevator at work, one person was in it, triple masked, she hit the door open button as it was closing, told me I was inconsiderate or words to that effect and literally ran out of the elevator.

Fun times, fun times

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No_Albatross7213@reddit

I locked down for around 3 months. We did have a family member who went to the grocery store after the first month, but yeah.

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yarnhooksbooks@reddit

Quarantined for like a year. I had stocked up on essentials back in January or February when the CDC first started sounding the alarm. One of my kids was high risk so we took it pretty seriously until we could all get vaccinated. Groceries got delivered. Work/school was remote. No visitors and we didn’t go inside anywhere unless absolutely necessary and always wore masks. Kept wearing masks for a few years actually. We didn’t stay home though. Did a lot of camping, hiking, outside stuff.

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KJHagen@reddit

No, I took a new job just as COVID hit. We had to sell our house and move cross country. I did some remote work, but had to get a computer and other things from my new employer.

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Extra-Snow-2491@reddit

I fished night and day in every river ,lake in my area.i could never have done that without covid time off

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Many-Health-1673@reddit

No.

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Inner-Confidence99@reddit

I was out of town on a 2 month trip when I got Covid. This was before it was called Covid. It was just hitting in Jan 2020 out west. Was sicker than I had ever been. Luckily I was in an area I could go outside my rv. I had plenty of food and medicine due to making a long trip.

Cut trip short drove home. Went 2 days later to Sam’s to stock up on extra just had a bad feeling about things. 2 days later my state went into lockdown. So we stayed home luckily enough we lived on 3 acres alone so I could go into yard and garden.

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egg_static5@reddit

My kid and I are already homebodies so not a lot changed for us. Husband is an essential worker but his life did change as he was transporting covid patients to and from facilities. It was stressful because of that, but the being home part was fine. I like my house and my family.

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RiffRaff028@reddit

Also Indiana here. I was not specifically prepping for a global pandemic, but our preps did absolutely pay off during quarantine. One lesson I learned was that I had not stored any disinfectant like Lysol. That has been remedied since then. (We also doubled our emergency supply of toilet paper!)

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legosgrrl@reddit

Had a small break. Then back to work!

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MegC18@reddit

In the UK at the beginning, we had the great toilet paper shortage, when people went crazy with stockpiling! Fortunately, I saw the way things were going and got in before the rush. Life lesson.

Later on, there were huge shortages of alcohol based hand sanitizer (when COVID was thought to be spread primarily by touch) and later, face masks.

We had little old ladies on sewing machines making huge quantities of home made fabric masks for hospital and service industries staff, because the community wanted to help and there was nothing else. The care homes in Durham had heartbreaking numbers of dying old people. Personal area of pain for me.

No f-ing antivaxxers in our community. They would have quite rightly been lynched! B*stards!

Later, when we were all stuck at home, cooking and baking were great time occupiers. Then of course, baking yeast supplies were hard to get. We learned the art of sourdough! And the garden was at its best ever.

Note to self: what items to stockpile: facemasks, sanitiser, rubber gloves, toilet paper, flour and yeast. Vegetable seeds for the garden.

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PaulTR88@reddit

Work went remote and I haven't gone in since. For the first three years I could go weeks without leaving past garden. Avoided covid for a few years, then caught it right from the tap on my first work trip to China. Even with as much of a cluster fuck as covid was for the economy and people passing (I lost a few family members during, unfortunately), my general life really did change in a more positive direction, I've been home with my toddler her whole life, and it kicked off my whole prepper setup.

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Ashby238@reddit

The restaurant where I was the chef closed down for three months, the owners wife worked at a hospital so she didn’t want anyone to take any chances until more info was available. The first two weeks we quarantined completely. We bought groceries on our way home from work the day the restaurant closed and then we hung out.

The first week was nerve wracking, the second week online school started. And that just sucked.

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Bobby5Spice@reddit

As a person who does prep and an introvert I feel totally fine being alone and prefer it often. It was pretty much just another week.

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Bamalouie@reddit

We quarantined for over a year in our house during the actual time frame and yes, definitely quarantined 2 weeks whenever we got ill. 2 weeks is easy compared to the 2020-2021 quarantine

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AdManNick@reddit

I didn’t go in public for 2 years. It was amazing. I’ve worked remote since 2015 and already had a house. Whenever we saw family it was outside. Didn’t have kids then.

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JadeChipmunk@reddit

My husband was laid off and I was going through medical stuff at the time so my job dropped me, so we lived off unemployment and stimulus checks for a while, while living with 2 other people, only one was able to keep working. It was the first time my husband (boyfriend at the time) got to have more than a couple days off in a row ever since working. He got to actually rest, we got to spend more time together. Did small projects here and there. Saw our family like normal and even moved to our own place. When he started working at a new place, if either of us got sick we would live in the living room for a bit while the other stayed in the bedroom so he wouldnt have to miss work. He said when he was laid off and not working he was making more money (or atleast able to actually save more money) than he ever has at a time. We would limit grocery trips as much as we could but had zero issues going out when needed.

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justtinyquestions@reddit

My job transitioned to remote, so I didn’t have a break. My second job was eliminated though, so I lost half my income but couldn’t get unemployment because I still had a full time job (paying $13 an hour), so that was shitty.

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gtinmia@reddit

We pretty much locked down until the vaccine was ready. I was the sacrificial lamb in the family and the only one who went to the grocery store and gas station to refill. Kids were e learning and wife and I were lick to be able to work from home.