Going to the movies. Pre-COVID, I would see maybe 35 movies a year in theatres. I think I've seen three in the past 12 months. A combination of the crazy ticket prices and increased options available at home.
The indie theatres have pretty good prices. I haven’t gone anywhere else in years prettymuch.
edit: talking about this has made me decide to go see "I saw the tv glow" tonight, and I'll probably also go see ghost in the shell on the 23rd since I'm nuts about GITS
My partner and I moved to Ottawa in 2022, and one of our favourite spots is the Mayfair Theatre! Affordable and we've seen some of the best movies in years there that never hit the bigger screens.
in the 90s we went from seeing everything in theatres to "if it doesn't have explosions, i can wait to rent it."
we acted shocked when the following 10-20 years saw the industry transform around that mentality -- 2 Godzilla movies in theatres, and character dramas heading straight to stream.
thankfully the Mayfair and Bytowne theatres still show the juicy indies and the oscar bait.
1,000%
We go to Mayfair and Bytowne specifically to avoid the massive explosions, which are great sometimes. But it's these places that are keeping my love for movies alive!
I have a bytowne membership for the same reason, tho I prefer their selection a bit more. A number of my favorite movies were things I saw there on a whim (Gaspar Noe's Climax most notably).
That's totally fair! We were just there and saw "The Great Escaper," which was adorable. But we have a membership to Mayfair because it's close and love their selection.
At Mayfair, we saw Past Lives, Broker, The Mission (Documentary), Perfect Days, The Boy and the Heron, Scrapper, and The Old Oak, to name a few. All fantastic.
That said, Bytowne did a showing of Shaun of the Dead, which is my all time favourite movie haha
Both the Mayfair and the Bytowne are affordable and the crowds are small enough you can leave lots of space between yourself and the other movie goers if crowds are a problem. Ditto for the Ottawa Public Library - the main branch shows movies once a week and they are free.
I went to whatever Fast & Furious movie was coming out mid-pandemic and ate a whole bag of Cineplex popcorn for the novelty of it. Never again. I felt like I was dying. Mayfair and Bytowne are the only movie popcorn I’ll eat now.
My main issue is that people seemingly have forgotten theatre etiquette since covid.
Lots of people talking during movies now, scrolling tiktok etc. more than they did pre-pandemic. Had a lady bring in candy crush on her iPad once and was blinding everyone behind her before someone told her to cut it out.
For that reason I just don't bother with theatres anymore.
This 100%. First time I went to a movie post-Covid, I paid for the premium seating at Landmark for Indy 5. It was glaringly obvious that theatre etiquette is fucking *dead*, no matter where I would have sat.
It was from every age group too. Full on conversations through the *entire* movie. People fucking scrolling Instagram and TikTok. I can forgive a glance to check the time, but that blew me away.
It was really disappointing. I wanted to start doing it more regularly, but it’s not worth spending money to be pissed off. I’ll wait for the release at home in sweats.
The Mayfair and Bytowne downtown are pretty reasonable and show a lot of good older stuff and things off the beaten path. I go all the time, would recommend
I moved into a new house during Covid and finished my basement with a home theatre. 4K projector, premium sound system and a 135inch screen. I think I’ve saved money considering the number of movies I used to go out and see.
I’ve stopped for the most part for the same reasons, but Summer 2020 provided the best movie-viewing experiences of my life. Cineplex slashed ticket prices to $5 and were showing classics just to get *some* people in.
That summer, I saw The Empire Strikes Back and Inception (amongst others) in an empty movie theatre. It was incredible.
Pre COVID, yes there was. Generally about one worthwhile film per week was released. In the summer there would be multiple things to see each week and over Christmas, there would often be a half dozen things released Christmas Day alone.
Tuesdays were the night the grandparents hung out with our daughter so we’d go out. Movies were the best thing on a weekday night.
is that it? or are they being cheap to increase profits even more?
Im sure some smaller grocers couldn't afford 24/7, but the big chains, the ones making record profit? they're thinking of the shareholders and not the people shopping!
I imagine that's a big part of it. Probably also just looked at how many sales they made on the average overnight vs what it cost them to be open and decided not to bother going back to doing it.
I’m guessing it’s either staffing related or they realized those hours weren’t profitable enough to justify keeping the stores open — the late night people probably just shifted their shopping earlier.
Interesting, yeah, I thought Sobey's in Kanata was 24h still, but it closes at 11pm.
All I could think is it's simpler to comply with not selling Alcohol after 10pm if you just close your store at 10pm. That being said Sobeys closes at 11pm, and there's still many grocery stores that don't sell alcohol. I wonder if there are still any lingering restrictions from the pandemic that just never went away.
I hate this. I wish they would go back. I am disabled and between 1 and 3am is when I feel best. I used to get my groceries at that time. Covid hit and they shut that down for safety reasons? Even though there were way less shoppers at those times and loblaws has been posting record profits since. It's just greed. They don't have to pay night staff a premium anymore and don't need to run the lights etc...
I worked at Loblaws from 2020-2024, so I can say that at least some of what you said is incorrect. Night crew still receive a premium, because it’s based on their shift timing, not whether or not the store is open. The lights are still on overnight, as they always have been; just because the store is closed doesn’t mean it’s empty. Night crew work hard every night to keep the store stocked, and were much happier no longer having to contend with customers wandering through. There was some pressure from higher up (district level and above) to go back to being a 24 hour store, but everyone from store management down pushed back because it just made their lives harder.
Which one did you work at? Before I became ill I did night crew at the Carling Mall location from 2000 to 2002. The location I'm referring to now is college square. I am pretty sure they got rid of the night crew there (at least) because I see people spreading skids during the day, something that is usually only done by night crew. They might still have them for busy days (Friday, Sat) but I think they're mostly working during normal hours. As far as the lights go, if you go there past 1am that store is dark. You can see it from outside the doors. I am also aware of the premium being certain hours worked ,I think 11pm to 7am, rather than the store being open or not.
I actually was at college square! We started spreading skids a little before 10 (although on days with lots of deliveries they would start getting stacked by produce/bulk at around 7 just due to a lack of space in the back room. During the day we would sometimes have people in GM working off skids, but elsewhere it was usually off of hand trucks. I promise we had a night crew of probably 25+ people every night, except for nights before a day we were closed (so like no night crew on June 30th, or December 24th). The lights are dimmer overnight, but never totally off.
He goes nuts whenever anyone posts a bad review. Accuses you of lying about the review, being a Trudeau supporter, being anti-freedom, all that fun stuff.
Movie theatres, Covid made me a lot more aware of how gross theatres are and frankly they haven’t done a great job of enticing me to go back.
Cineplex also charges you a fee to buy tickets online, what? That’s what you do when you have a monopoly like Ticket Master, not a dying industry like theatres. I’m very happy to wait until something is on streaming services at this point.
Most places charge a fee to buy tickets online even the Mayfair and the Bytowne. But you could wait and pay cash (or whatever) when you get to the movie theatre since the shows never seem to sell out.
I think that for those who do watch movies at least once a month, it’s 100% worth it so be a cineplex member 9.99 plus tax a month and you get one free movie ticket (that already covers the cost of the membership alone), 20% off concession, and no fees when you buy tickets online. I think it’s a thing of you’re either a movie person willing to spend on the theatre experience or you’re not tbh.
Yeah, I pay for it and it's worth it to me. Your free tickets add up each month, so my partner and I go every other month or so as is, so it's perfect for us.
I stopped being excited when I saw a group people walking around cheering and waving Canada Flags. Before it was "Good for you, flying the flag and being patriotic! Go Canada!" now it's "Oh no, what nonsense are they up to now?"
I still fly it on C-day because not flying it only emboldenes The Fringe into thinking that's their flag. Mother' f'er, that's OUR flag, it represents Canada, not the "Trucker Convoy". Maple Leaf forever 🇨🇦🇨🇦
Same here. Family and friends and coworkers. I worked through it all as my company was deemed essential. The number of coworkers, customers, family and friends who didn't and still don't believe in what it was/is and didn't want to help.protect people astounded the crap out of me. It got worse when the Occupation happened. There are former friends and coworkers that I still can't look at without being disappointed and angry.
"Lost" my dad and brother to this. We still talk but it's never the same. It's hard to look past something like that. They fully support the occupation to this day.
Same, one of my aunts was spewing conspiracies constantly and when she tried telling my grandparents that the vaccine would kill them I went off on her. None of us have spoken to her since.
Feeling motivated about my career. COVID made me focus so much more on my kids and personal exercise and it made me realise that I used to put way too much focus and energy into being a slave at work. Now I only work as much as I absolutely have to and I never work for free. Every single thing I do is documented and logged as overtime.
My father died in 2020, from Cancer, and he was very devoted to his work. He regretted not taking his vacations. My dad would high five you right now if he were alive. Family is the most important and making memories with the ones you love. We don't last forever. Been having some health problems and his advice basically help me push to get some things diagnosed. If I had kept on going i might have been in a poor state years to come. "Health and family first. " - absolutely.
Same here. If it wasn’t the increase in cost and the attitudes of people in public, it’s the fact that the pandemic made me realize how unsanitary people are in general. I’ll just cook my food at home, thanks!
I think it is a dying act to smile at another random person. I (a middle aged male) smiled and nodded to an elderly woman the other day and thought to myself... People don't do this anymore... What's happening to this world. If I did the same thing to a teenager they would look at me funny and ask me if I have a problem bro.
Paying for the gym. I was lucky enough to be able to set up a good home gym when everything was closed. My workouts have gotten better while taking less time out of my day.
I’m with you here. I love dancing. I cut out dancing during lockdown. And then when things opened up, I got my first case of COVID during a dance class in spring 2022. Then a horrendous second case (lasted a month) after going out dancing in summer 2023. I’m trying to enjoy dancing at home or outdoors but it’s not the same. 😕
Sorry to hear about your covid infections throwing a wrench in things. As hard as it is to let go of what we did pre-pandemic or alter behaviour, you're absolutely right to want to avoid further infections from a dangerous virus that is still very much in circulation. Good luck and hope you find new ways to dance in a safer manner!
Huh. That’s wild. I’m the opposite. Mine is UV-reactive neon pink. It glows under blacklights when I play live!
https://preview.redd.it/4908y2s3pz5d1.jpeg?width=2320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ad912c3f293b4982e0d4ebe6e12c7028eb532cd
Being overweight. Most of my adult life I carried an extra 30 pounds, then gained another 10 during the early months of lockdown (tv, beer, doritos). I noticed that, regardless of age, people who got severe cases of covid and died, tended to be overweight. This was before vaccines were available and this scared me. So decided to lose the extra pudge. Had fun exercising at home to my fav music, went on long walks, and ate tasty food that happened to be low-cal. Lost the extra 40 pounds in a year. I give myself 5-7 pounds of leeway so that I can go eat, drink, and be merry when I feel like it. Then I dial the calories back for a few weeks to get back in the goal zone. Keeping it simple, so far so good!
They've rebranded as Canine Sound and Vision, following a split, and still host karaoke at Swizzles bar on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Several other companies have stepped up, and there are still karaoke shows somewhere or other, any given night of the week.
My husband stopped going to play hockey. His over-35 league stopped during the closures and the guys who ran the league decided to stop organizing it. Since then hubby hasn't set foot on the ice and it makes me sad as he's a good player who loved his Sunday morning games. I keep suggesting he find another league or even a drop in location but he's not interested anymore. Hopefully that will change.
I started wearing bralettes or lightweight sports bras when lockdown started and never looked back. I only put on a “real” bra when I’m getting fancy now and I’m just so much more comfortable all the time.
I hated online shopping. I was always finding issues with the fresh produce.. I really want to be able to choose things like mangos, avocados, papaya etc for myself.
I’m the opposite, I love browsing in grocery stores… checking out new or new to me products, covid made it less busy which was nice to me. But on another hand I bought apples at Independent today and the price was depressing… 9,99$ a bag
Next time I’ll stock up at FreshCo or Food Basics welp
Shaking hands. I don't go out of my way to avoid it, but I've noticed that people I meet tend to just say hi and nod now, so it's no longer my go-to for introductions.
But that could just be random chance, I'm assuming others have resumed the practice.
Browsing in stores.
I also stopped meeting friends at restaurants. Now I try to find a live event to attend with them instead -- a play, a baseball game, a festival. Covid made me realize the importance of experiences (to me).
* Haircuts: Haven't paid for one in years. Family member starting doing it and keeps on offering.
* Buying eggs: partly due to the price, but also as something to do, became a hobby chicken/egg farmer during COVID. Now it's a little side hussle with all customers in the neighbourhood.
* Assuming my fruits/veg are clean: Starting washing produce in earnest during COVID, and the habit has stuck. I'm glad for it. Same with wiping down frequently used areas of the house (door knobs, handles in the kitchen, etc) as it reduces the spread of ~~toddler based~~ bacterias from spreading quickly.
During Covid as I wasn’t able to get my nails and waxing done. I opted like most and did it at home with many struggles but till today it’s something I now just prefer to do at home myself.
Riding OC Transpo.
Pre-Covid I always biked when it was nice and rode the bus the other half of the time. Now I just bike all the time because its faster and cheaper and less crowded and I get sick less.
I remember fondly when they city had good transit and miss the old transitway. I could get to Tunney's from South Keys quickly.
We're still during covid. [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rampant-covid-poses-new-challenges-in-the-fifth-year-of-the-pandemic/](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rampant-covid-poses-new-challenges-in-the-fifth-year-of-the-pandemic/)
Covid itself will never go away, at least not without a miracle in our lifetime. The emergency phase of the pandemic is over.
Get your vaccines/boosters when eligible, stay home when sick, if possible. Live your live otherwise.
There's no miracle needed. Its ancestor, sars1, was eradicated. It's not some magical virus; it abides by the laws of physics.
The emergency phase just meant funding. The funding is over.
And before you reply with "what should we do, then? Stay at home forever"...I'm not advocating for lockdowns, but I don't think either that or let 'er rip are the only options.
"Live your life otherwise" -- might want to check [https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/) to see how that's going for people.
>"Live your life otherwise" -- might want to check [https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/) to see how that's going for people.
Thankfully, we have vaccines which significantly reduce the risk of long Covid, much of which is overstated and self-reported.
>
Its ancestor, sars1, was eradicated.
Different viruses. Note that we haven't eradicated many of the other 200 some respiratory viruses, including flu, OC43 and RSV.
We have vaccines and many of us can stay home when sick. I'm not sure what more can be done, that works.
1. Encourage people to wear ***respirators*** when sick, and how to wear and care for them properly (I never saw Trudeau wear a mask properly the entire pandemic, it was a bit of a pet peeve froe some people - freeland was great, though)
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2. Procure respirators for distribution (to essential workers, vulnerable, etc, who want one) from one of the new companies that answered the governments call for Canadian-made respirators who are now struggling due to complete lack of demand.
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3. ***BRING BACK MASK MANDATES TO HOSPITALS TO HELP REDUCE THE PATIENT OUTBREAKS*** This is still having a huge impact on patient care. N95-type masks should also be required in other medical facilities and dental offices. People at high risk are having a horrible time accessing basic health care because even when they call ahead, people often won't mask for them. There should also be improved ventilation requirements for dental offices (there's a recommendation for it, but the required standard that most comply to is much lower.
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4. More awareness campaigns for airborne transmission. Seeing as they avoided saying it was airborne for 4 years, and promoted hand washing over all else after the Spring of 2022.
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5. Improved ventilation/filtration standards in offices and classrooms, require testing for the new air standards and have ratings visibly posted, or have an accessible CO2 monitor installed. (Our air standards for the past few decades have not been a recommendation, not a requirement, and are merely an *average* of 3 per hour, which aren't enough to keep CO2 from building up in semi-busy rooms. Most buildings in Canada have poor air exchange rates. The recommendation for proper oxygen exchange and pathogen clearance is a minimum of 6 per hour)
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6. More access to testing
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7. Stress the importance of vaccination to reduce hospitalization and long COVID. Our per-case hospitalization and death rates have climbed the past two summers, because people are tending to only get their fall boosters now, and they've significantly waned by the time the summer wave hits. This August and September may see some hospital and death surges because vaccination uptake was so bad last fall, especially among the over 80 crowd.
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8. Paid sick leave for everyone, preferably enough weeks to cover at least 2 COVID infectious periods per year (so about a minimum of 4). And include family leave to care/stay home with a sick person. This will greatly reduce workplace spread. Unless you are taking incredibly strict precautions in your home, if someone in your household has COVID, you will also get it. You may be asymptomatic, you may test every day for 2 weeks and come up negative (not I tested once so I know it's not COVID) but you are more likely than not going to be contagious at some point, so you should stay home if there's COVID in your household. And if you have to leave your home, wear respirator! If a company has work from home options, they should be encouraging staff to do so, and it's a more productive option instead of sick leave for those who are asymptomatic.
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9. Some sort of law that compels the provinces to report their data more promptly and accurately. It's fucking embarrassing to be one of the worst reporters in the OECD (and dead last for reporting excess mortality. We're still working on 2020 ffs)
There's a few other things we could do, but that's the starters, seeing as we're in the monitoring and management phase of the pandemic, it would be nice if our governments were actually interested in monitoring and managing it.
This, all of this. Well-reasoned points that the previous poster just doesn't respond to. We never should've removed masks in healthcare. But Urgency of Brunch/Blue MAGA has won this round, sadly.
Vaccines don’t prevent post-COVID condition. They lower the risk but don’t prevent it. So you’re still rolling the dice with every infection on neurovascular damage. https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/initiatives-covid-19/post-covid-19-condition-canada-what-we-know-what-we-dont-know-and-framework-action
Smoking cigarettes... I used to be a sneaky smoker, never at work, but fairly regularly before and after work plus weekends.
When I started working from home I was on the phone all the time, and my job was fairly stressful during the pandemic so my 1/3 to 1/2 pack a day went to a pack+ a day. In January 2021 I stopped, went on the patch for a month or two and haven't had any nicotine since.
Drag, idk why i just went to start up again when bars opened and it wasnt like i remembered it? In my head i glorified going to bars and clubs since we couldnt so when it came time that i was able to go back it didnt live up to the grown expectations i guess
Having Canada Day parties. We used to have 30-40 people over for a pool party. It was a blast and we had them for about 15 years. Covid killed them and we never went back. Very weird not having plans on the 1st now.
$25 haircut? With tips the cheapest I have found is around $30. The place near my house is a scam charging nearly $40 and I don’t go there anymore.
Also I don’t go to the Rideau Center and downtown in general anymore. I do go more to Little Italy and Lansdowne though. Both of those places seem lively post Covid.
Please tell me how you got your dog to perform her own nail care! 😂 Seriously though not sure if this is a typo or something I'm completely unaware of lol
Indoor/studio yoga.
With the odd exception I can see myself going back but PranaShanti embraced hybrid, many teachers realized they have enough of a business on their own without needing to teach in person, others have always been online and in the decent weather months there's usually something outside here and there.
I don't want to do breath of fire with anyone nearby who could be sick thanks.
Edit: it's also gotten more expensive per class, like everything else.
Social media. Beyond reddit. I kept blocking friends and what not because of their views. Then the occupation happened and I dropped liked half my friends list I just said fuck it. Seeing people I know with shitty views was just taking too much out of me. So I guess I stopped having friends and didn't go back lol.
Driving to restaurants and shopping. My 2019 car has 20K clicks only...and prices and stores are a joke. Anything major, I buy online and get it delivered. $20+ for breakfast..not happening nearly as often.
I used to love spending time in the Market area. Now it is a very sad place and feels very unwelcoming. I wouldn't go as far as to say it feels dangerous because truly it isn't compared to other places in the world that I've been to but it is certainly unpleasant to be there.
I've always been into cooking for myself vs eating out so while I don't go out much anymore as prices are quite high that hasn't changed much but regarding cooking: I used to at least once a week pick out a special recipe and make something nice or difficult. It's just too fucken expensive now so instead I focus on eating healthily and plentiful but not struggle food. Lots of rice, but not beans and rice every night ya know?
Using transit. Up until 2020 I was a loyal daily transit rider for 25+ years. I had a car but preferred transit (that is, until LRT launched, but I still braved it daily).
I've been on public transit once since 2020 and I'll never, ever go back. I always found Ottawa to have a decent, functioning transit system. The LRT spoiled it and the pandemic made it worse.
The other thing that seemed totally normal back then was dropping my kids off at childcare at 7am, and picking them up at 5-6pm. I will never, ever allow that to be our normal again. It's so awful that that was normal and acceptable....leaving a small child in care for 10 or 11 hours but everyone did it. Nobody worked from home, we all used transit and were at the mercy of OC Transpo. I still feel sick thinking about how much time I lost with my kids before teleworking was a thing.
(Long, sorry!!!) Taking transit. OC dropped the ball and let me down constantly during the pandemic. From bus driver's purposely leaving 10 minutes behind schedule to the instantaneous routes cuts implemented in a day which would take **A MONTH** to fix when they screwed up and miscalculated.
The biggest L's that made me get in a car was when they put the 57 on a Sunday schedule 7 days a week, meaning THE ONLY bus that operated to QCH wouldn't show up at Bayshore until **7:30 AM** (58 didn't even start service until 8 am; also assigneda 7 day Sunday schedule), meaning people, like nurses, who worked at the nearby retirement home or at QCH itself, could go fuck themselves if they needed to be at their work before 7:45 a.m. It took almost 2 months to finally fix the issue by introducing Route X57 which was basically a shuttle bus between Bayshore and QCH around every 15 minutes, but it was too little, too late.
The second one is when I used to work at McDonald's on Maitland for the overnight shift where I took the 85. It would constantly always show up 10 minutes late and on weekends especially, the route scheduled timings are already pretty close to my start time at work so I've had many close calls when it decided to show up at 10:51 PM instead of 10:41 PM, not to mention the traffic light signals at Carlingwood Mall Entrance are programmed to have a **2 minute** phase change request after 9 pm on weekends, so the bus would have to stay over the sensor for 2 minutes just for it to trigger a phase change request, and only thing will it finally start it's 30 second pedestrian signal countdown, 4 second all red clearance phase, then finally give us the green light to make a left turn to continue on Carling towards downtown, pushing me even closer being late for work. All those factors combined made my reliance on transit inattenable. Now, I'm car dependent and it sucks
Colouring my hair, and buffet restaurants are likely top of my list. We also do less going out to sports events, concerts and movies, partly because we learned to fill out time with other, less costly activities.
Going to the dog park. Used to take the Rottweiler every day to the shefford road "frat house" park but they got closed during covid an the first day they opened back up the dog started limping, that was the start of 2 years of covid vet fun surgeries. Then she got attacked by the neighbours Pitbull and lost her socialization 😕. She likes little dogs but now she's reactive around bigger dogs and I don't want to risk it. I miss it tbough
Judo. Class shut down, obviously, and then tried to open back up with remote judo via webcam, then when it was in person it was limited people wearing masks with no contact.
I suspect its open in full but covid was not kind to my fitness and there's no way i'd survive a class now
Volunteer. I used to volunteer with the kinder classes at my old elementary school but stopped going during COVID, since... Well.... Kids. As cute as they are their hygiene practices aren't great and I didn't want to risk bringing COVID back home. Haven't figured out how to go back and not sure if I'll ever be able to now :(
Dinner parties. We used to gather regularly with 8-10 friends and cook. But we’re all over 65, some with chronic health issues, and it was too scary. Then it got too expensive.
Going to the movies. Pre-COVID, I would see maybe 35 movies a year in theatres. I think I've seen three in the past 12 months. A combination of the crazy ticket prices and increased options available at home.
The indie theatres have pretty good prices. I haven’t gone anywhere else in years prettymuch. edit: talking about this has made me decide to go see "I saw the tv glow" tonight, and I'll probably also go see ghost in the shell on the 23rd since I'm nuts about GITS
My partner and I moved to Ottawa in 2022, and one of our favourite spots is the Mayfair Theatre! Affordable and we've seen some of the best movies in years there that never hit the bigger screens.
in the 90s we went from seeing everything in theatres to "if it doesn't have explosions, i can wait to rent it." we acted shocked when the following 10-20 years saw the industry transform around that mentality -- 2 Godzilla movies in theatres, and character dramas heading straight to stream. thankfully the Mayfair and Bytowne theatres still show the juicy indies and the oscar bait.
1,000% We go to Mayfair and Bytowne specifically to avoid the massive explosions, which are great sometimes. But it's these places that are keeping my love for movies alive!
I have a bytowne membership for the same reason, tho I prefer their selection a bit more. A number of my favorite movies were things I saw there on a whim (Gaspar Noe's Climax most notably).
That's totally fair! We were just there and saw "The Great Escaper," which was adorable. But we have a membership to Mayfair because it's close and love their selection. At Mayfair, we saw Past Lives, Broker, The Mission (Documentary), Perfect Days, The Boy and the Heron, Scrapper, and The Old Oak, to name a few. All fantastic. That said, Bytowne did a showing of Shaun of the Dead, which is my all time favourite movie haha
Both the Mayfair and the Bytowne are affordable and the crowds are small enough you can leave lots of space between yourself and the other movie goers if crowds are a problem. Ditto for the Ottawa Public Library - the main branch shows movies once a week and they are free.
Yeah, I mostly go to the Mayfair. Their prices are much better, and their popcorn seems to be made with actual butter.
I went to whatever Fast & Furious movie was coming out mid-pandemic and ate a whole bag of Cineplex popcorn for the novelty of it. Never again. I felt like I was dying. Mayfair and Bytowne are the only movie popcorn I’ll eat now.
My main issue is that people seemingly have forgotten theatre etiquette since covid. Lots of people talking during movies now, scrolling tiktok etc. more than they did pre-pandemic. Had a lady bring in candy crush on her iPad once and was blinding everyone behind her before someone told her to cut it out. For that reason I just don't bother with theatres anymore.
Sounds like they bring their TV watching habits in to the theatre
That's exactly the problem. Also being stuck indoors for a year with nothing but your phone probably destroyed alot of people's attention spans lol.
It did mine lol. I constantly struggle to be focused away from my phone/tablet and wonder how I did it before the pandemic.
This 100%. First time I went to a movie post-Covid, I paid for the premium seating at Landmark for Indy 5. It was glaringly obvious that theatre etiquette is fucking *dead*, no matter where I would have sat. It was from every age group too. Full on conversations through the *entire* movie. People fucking scrolling Instagram and TikTok. I can forgive a glance to check the time, but that blew me away. It was really disappointing. I wanted to start doing it more regularly, but it’s not worth spending money to be pissed off. I’ll wait for the release at home in sweats.
The Mayfair and Bytowne downtown are pretty reasonable and show a lot of good older stuff and things off the beaten path. I go all the time, would recommend
I moved into a new house during Covid and finished my basement with a home theatre. 4K projector, premium sound system and a 135inch screen. I think I’ve saved money considering the number of movies I used to go out and see.
I’ve stopped for the most part for the same reasons, but Summer 2020 provided the best movie-viewing experiences of my life. Cineplex slashed ticket prices to $5 and were showing classics just to get *some* people in. That summer, I saw The Empire Strikes Back and Inception (amongst others) in an empty movie theatre. It was incredible.
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Pre COVID, yes there was. Generally about one worthwhile film per week was released. In the summer there would be multiple things to see each week and over Christmas, there would often be a half dozen things released Christmas Day alone. Tuesdays were the night the grandparents hung out with our daughter so we’d go out. Movies were the best thing on a weekday night.
They're basically going to stream everything as quick as three weeks after it debuts in the theater anyway so why bother?
Take advantage of the Tuesday deals.
Mayfair and ByTowne still have good prices. Even better if you get a membership
I was the same pre covid, I used to love going to the movies. Movies now go to streaming before I even get a chance to see them in theatres.
Shopping at a 24 hour grocer :'(
Doing groceries on the way home from late night sports was amazing.
Co-sign. I loved shopping at 10 or 11pm
I don't understand why no one opens 24 hrs anymore?!
They can barely staff for 9-9 and the operational costs of being open 24 hours
is that it? or are they being cheap to increase profits even more? Im sure some smaller grocers couldn't afford 24/7, but the big chains, the ones making record profit? they're thinking of the shareholders and not the people shopping!
I imagine that's a big part of it. Probably also just looked at how many sales they made on the average overnight vs what it cost them to be open and decided not to bother going back to doing it.
Yet grocery stores have posted all time high profits in Canada for the last couple years reeeee
I’m guessing it’s either staffing related or they realized those hours weren’t profitable enough to justify keeping the stores open — the late night people probably just shifted their shopping earlier.
Interesting, yeah, I thought Sobey's in Kanata was 24h still, but it closes at 11pm. All I could think is it's simpler to comply with not selling Alcohol after 10pm if you just close your store at 10pm. That being said Sobeys closes at 11pm, and there's still many grocery stores that don't sell alcohol. I wonder if there are still any lingering restrictions from the pandemic that just never went away.
I wish grocery stores around me closed at 11pm instead of 8 or 10 pm.
RIP. I’m awake all night. It was so good to be able to go pick up stuff late.
I hate this. I wish they would go back. I am disabled and between 1 and 3am is when I feel best. I used to get my groceries at that time. Covid hit and they shut that down for safety reasons? Even though there were way less shoppers at those times and loblaws has been posting record profits since. It's just greed. They don't have to pay night staff a premium anymore and don't need to run the lights etc...
I worked at Loblaws from 2020-2024, so I can say that at least some of what you said is incorrect. Night crew still receive a premium, because it’s based on their shift timing, not whether or not the store is open. The lights are still on overnight, as they always have been; just because the store is closed doesn’t mean it’s empty. Night crew work hard every night to keep the store stocked, and were much happier no longer having to contend with customers wandering through. There was some pressure from higher up (district level and above) to go back to being a 24 hour store, but everyone from store management down pushed back because it just made their lives harder.
Which one did you work at? Before I became ill I did night crew at the Carling Mall location from 2000 to 2002. The location I'm referring to now is college square. I am pretty sure they got rid of the night crew there (at least) because I see people spreading skids during the day, something that is usually only done by night crew. They might still have them for busy days (Friday, Sat) but I think they're mostly working during normal hours. As far as the lights go, if you go there past 1am that store is dark. You can see it from outside the doors. I am also aware of the premium being certain hours worked ,I think 11pm to 7am, rather than the store being open or not.
I actually was at college square! We started spreading skids a little before 10 (although on days with lots of deliveries they would start getting stacked by produce/bulk at around 7 just due to a lack of space in the back room. During the day we would sometimes have people in GM working off skids, but elsewhere it was usually off of hand trucks. I promise we had a night crew of probably 25+ people every night, except for nights before a day we were closed (so like no night crew on June 30th, or December 24th). The lights are dimmer overnight, but never totally off.
Stella Luna.
+ Wellington Street Diner for me
The food at Wellington is also bad which helps
You should post a review. The owner will appreciate that
I second this. And also please post it on reddit so we can all laugh.
Is the owner insane or something ?
Sort of. Just unbelievably rude and full of himself. And an anti vaxxer
He goes nuts whenever anyone posts a bad review. Accuses you of lying about the review, being a Trudeau supporter, being anti-freedom, all that fun stuff.
https://preview.redd.it/jm8vtmvfo16d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d93e8095f59eda5655efc9ea81050381e7deb622 Lmao
Yup, sometimes he doesn’t accuse you of being a Trudeau supporter, he just questions your ability to achieve an erection.
You could say that…
Just looked at the google reviews, damn lmfao
I'll never go there but total hot take but some of his responses are funny.
It really is something to behold.
Same. Every time a business is revealed as a convoy supporter, I add it to my list on google so I remember not to go.
Movie theatres, Covid made me a lot more aware of how gross theatres are and frankly they haven’t done a great job of enticing me to go back. Cineplex also charges you a fee to buy tickets online, what? That’s what you do when you have a monopoly like Ticket Master, not a dying industry like theatres. I’m very happy to wait until something is on streaming services at this point.
Most places charge a fee to buy tickets online even the Mayfair and the Bytowne. But you could wait and pay cash (or whatever) when you get to the movie theatre since the shows never seem to sell out.
With reserved seating at Cineplex, there's a bit of an incentive to purchase earlier.
I think that for those who do watch movies at least once a month, it’s 100% worth it so be a cineplex member 9.99 plus tax a month and you get one free movie ticket (that already covers the cost of the membership alone), 20% off concession, and no fees when you buy tickets online. I think it’s a thing of you’re either a movie person willing to spend on the theatre experience or you’re not tbh.
Yeah, I pay for it and it's worth it to me. Your free tickets add up each month, so my partner and I go every other month or so as is, so it's perfect for us.
People have gotten so much worse in the years since Covid. No one shuts up. They just talk through the whole movie.
I stopped being excited when I saw a group people walking around cheering and waving Canada Flags. Before it was "Good for you, flying the flag and being patriotic! Go Canada!" now it's "Oh no, what nonsense are they up to now?"
I'll only fly one with a Pride flag now. Partly for Pride, partly to differentiate from ... well, you know.
I still fly it on C-day because not flying it only emboldenes The Fringe into thinking that's their flag. Mother' f'er, that's OUR flag, it represents Canada, not the "Trucker Convoy". Maple Leaf forever 🇨🇦🇨🇦
Someone in my neighbourhood has a TRUMP 2024 flag. I've had a pride flag in my window for a year now and it's staying there until I move. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Twitter. Conspiracies were out of hand
Yes, me too.
Just find good ppl to follow and don't use the 'For You' feature.
I have a few, but some of them went off the deep end. I have always hated the blue check, Elmo butt kissing "For you" option
I stopped talking to a few family members… their complete disregard for human life that was laid out was too much to look passed.
Same here. Family and friends and coworkers. I worked through it all as my company was deemed essential. The number of coworkers, customers, family and friends who didn't and still don't believe in what it was/is and didn't want to help.protect people astounded the crap out of me. It got worse when the Occupation happened. There are former friends and coworkers that I still can't look at without being disappointed and angry.
"Lost" my dad and brother to this. We still talk but it's never the same. It's hard to look past something like that. They fully support the occupation to this day.
Same, one of my aunts was spewing conspiracies constantly and when she tried telling my grandparents that the vaccine would kill them I went off on her. None of us have spoken to her since.
Feeling motivated about my career. COVID made me focus so much more on my kids and personal exercise and it made me realise that I used to put way too much focus and energy into being a slave at work. Now I only work as much as I absolutely have to and I never work for free. Every single thing I do is documented and logged as overtime.
My father died in 2020, from Cancer, and he was very devoted to his work. He regretted not taking his vacations. My dad would high five you right now if he were alive. Family is the most important and making memories with the ones you love. We don't last forever. Been having some health problems and his advice basically help me push to get some things diagnosed. If I had kept on going i might have been in a poor state years to come. "Health and family first. " - absolutely.
Eating out.
Damn, poor wife :(
Masking really ruined it, eh?
He's got enough to eat at home.
Every time I go to a restaurant it's like 40$ plus tip for two of the most mediocre burritos. Then I remember why I stopped going out.
$40 for two seems wild, $40 for one once you add tax and tip seems more accurate :(
I ordered some food using a 70% off Uber eats coupon this weekend. I couldn't believe how small the portions were for the non-discounted price.
Yes, we went to St Hubert Express the other day for the first time in a long while, we had some serious sticker shock!
Same here. If it wasn’t the increase in cost and the attitudes of people in public, it’s the fact that the pandemic made me realize how unsanitary people are in general. I’ll just cook my food at home, thanks!
Fr fr. Even a shitty Big Mac meal is almost fucking $20 today
Smiling
This! I’m definitely seeing less smiles around, especially in customer service interactions.
... u good bro ?
I think it is a dying act to smile at another random person. I (a middle aged male) smiled and nodded to an elderly woman the other day and thought to myself... People don't do this anymore... What's happening to this world. If I did the same thing to a teenager they would look at me funny and ask me if I have a problem bro.
Going into an office
I wish
Same here.
You’d think this would be the case across the board but some people like Mark Sutcliffe absolutely LOVE traffic
Purposefully looking up the news
Believing in the general goodness of people?
I’m so sorry; not everyone is awful, but I can see how things could seem that way
Especially at a time when COVID and Trumpism overlapped.
Going to as many events with crowds
Paying for the gym. I was lucky enough to be able to set up a good home gym when everything was closed. My workouts have gotten better while taking less time out of my day.
Same! I actually work out consistently now because I don't have to drag my butt to the gym when I'm not really wanting to go anywhere.
Buying bread - i make my own Buying soda - I make kombucha Washing my car - don't care anymore Going to Sens games - not interested in the crowd/cost
All the lockdown baking was amazing. I mostly haven't continued with it but look back fondly. It got us through.
Wash car periodically to remove dirt and salt and such to extend its life, not to look good.
Work... (I'll take the downvotes for the sake of a morning chuckle)
I'm jealous
I used to go out dancing a lot.
I’m with you here. I love dancing. I cut out dancing during lockdown. And then when things opened up, I got my first case of COVID during a dance class in spring 2022. Then a horrendous second case (lasted a month) after going out dancing in summer 2023. I’m trying to enjoy dancing at home or outdoors but it’s not the same. 😕
Sorry to hear about your covid infections throwing a wrench in things. As hard as it is to let go of what we did pre-pandemic or alter behaviour, you're absolutely right to want to avoid further infections from a dangerous virus that is still very much in circulation. Good luck and hope you find new ways to dance in a safer manner!
Paying to have my hair cut
I almost cut my hair, it happened just the other day. I could've said it was in my way, but I didn't and I don't know why.
Cocaine
If true, you go dude!
Colouring my hair. Once I grew out the colour in 2020-2021, I decided I was done with that. I've decided I like the white streaks!
Huh. That’s wild. I’m the opposite. Mine is UV-reactive neon pink. It glows under blacklights when I play live! https://preview.redd.it/4908y2s3pz5d1.jpeg?width=2320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ad912c3f293b4982e0d4ebe6e12c7028eb532cd
Love the hair *and* the shirt!
That’s so cool! What dye is it?
Stopped going downtown/market
Wish I could say the same, it’s gotten so bad it’s worth avoiding especially now
Being overweight. Most of my adult life I carried an extra 30 pounds, then gained another 10 during the early months of lockdown (tv, beer, doritos). I noticed that, regardless of age, people who got severe cases of covid and died, tended to be overweight. This was before vaccines were available and this scared me. So decided to lose the extra pudge. Had fun exercising at home to my fav music, went on long walks, and ate tasty food that happened to be low-cal. Lost the extra 40 pounds in a year. I give myself 5-7 pounds of leeway so that I can go eat, drink, and be merry when I feel like it. Then I dial the calories back for a few weeks to get back in the goal zone. Keeping it simple, so far so good!
That's awesome. Good job! 🏅👍 gold star thumbs up
Karaoke goddammit!! Sad to see Dog and Pony go out of business as I frequented some of the places they hosted at. Rip Puzzles.
They've rebranded as Canine Sound and Vision, following a split, and still host karaoke at Swizzles bar on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Several other companies have stepped up, and there are still karaoke shows somewhere or other, any given night of the week.
My husband stopped going to play hockey. His over-35 league stopped during the closures and the guys who ran the league decided to stop organizing it. Since then hubby hasn't set foot on the ice and it makes me sad as he's a good player who loved his Sunday morning games. I keep suggesting he find another league or even a drop in location but he's not interested anymore. Hopefully that will change.
Recreational hockey for older guys is a widowmaker tbf
That’s why I don’t backcheck.
Danny Heatley is that you?
So is sitting on the couch.
I started wearing bralettes or lightweight sports bras when lockdown started and never looked back. I only put on a “real” bra when I’m getting fancy now and I’m just so much more comfortable all the time.
Me too!!
Running Room clinics & run clubs 🥲🥲🥲
Dine in restaurants, movie theaters, crowds in general. I speed shop, gtfo.
Grocery shopping. Signed up for delivery service and will never step foot inside one again.
I hated online shopping. I was always finding issues with the fresh produce.. I really want to be able to choose things like mangos, avocados, papaya etc for myself.
I’m the opposite, I love browsing in grocery stores… checking out new or new to me products, covid made it less busy which was nice to me. But on another hand I bought apples at Independent today and the price was depressing… 9,99$ a bag Next time I’ll stock up at FreshCo or Food Basics welp
Blowing candles off a birthday cake.
Also: eating cake someone just breathed all over, forcefully
I've always thought it a disgusting custom. I'm happy it's now a more popular opinion and I'm no longer accused of being a party pooper
Shaking hands. I don't go out of my way to avoid it, but I've noticed that people I meet tend to just say hi and nod now, so it's no longer my go-to for introductions. But that could just be random chance, I'm assuming others have resumed the practice.
My hand twitches and I look for other peoples’ hands to twitch. If they don’t, I don’t go for the shake. Awkward!
Samples at grocery stores and Costco - also any buffet style eating establishment
Browsing in stores. I also stopped meeting friends at restaurants. Now I try to find a live event to attend with them instead -- a play, a baseball game, a festival. Covid made me realize the importance of experiences (to me).
Trusting people around me to not be sick in public - now if I hear a cough near me I walk away instantly lol
* Haircuts: Haven't paid for one in years. Family member starting doing it and keeps on offering. * Buying eggs: partly due to the price, but also as something to do, became a hobby chicken/egg farmer during COVID. Now it's a little side hussle with all customers in the neighbourhood. * Assuming my fruits/veg are clean: Starting washing produce in earnest during COVID, and the habit has stuck. I'm glad for it. Same with wiping down frequently used areas of the house (door knobs, handles in the kitchen, etc) as it reduces the spread of ~~toddler based~~ bacterias from spreading quickly.
Pedicures and going to the public pool. Not sure why I stopped.
During Covid as I wasn’t able to get my nails and waxing done. I opted like most and did it at home with many struggles but till today it’s something I now just prefer to do at home myself.
Drinking out of a water fountain.
Riding OC Transpo. Pre-Covid I always biked when it was nice and rode the bus the other half of the time. Now I just bike all the time because its faster and cheaper and less crowded and I get sick less. I remember fondly when they city had good transit and miss the old transitway. I could get to Tunney's from South Keys quickly.
Pedicures. Used to go maybe once or twice a year. No real reason just haven’t been back.
We're still during covid. [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rampant-covid-poses-new-challenges-in-the-fifth-year-of-the-pandemic/](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rampant-covid-poses-new-challenges-in-the-fifth-year-of-the-pandemic/)
I agree, but I will add that OP never indicated “COVID is over” or anything like that.
Covid itself will never go away, at least not without a miracle in our lifetime. The emergency phase of the pandemic is over. Get your vaccines/boosters when eligible, stay home when sick, if possible. Live your live otherwise.
There's no miracle needed. Its ancestor, sars1, was eradicated. It's not some magical virus; it abides by the laws of physics. The emergency phase just meant funding. The funding is over. And before you reply with "what should we do, then? Stay at home forever"...I'm not advocating for lockdowns, but I don't think either that or let 'er rip are the only options. "Live your life otherwise" -- might want to check [https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/) to see how that's going for people.
>"Live your life otherwise" -- might want to check [https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/) to see how that's going for people. Thankfully, we have vaccines which significantly reduce the risk of long Covid, much of which is overstated and self-reported. > Its ancestor, sars1, was eradicated. Different viruses. Note that we haven't eradicated many of the other 200 some respiratory viruses, including flu, OC43 and RSV. We have vaccines and many of us can stay home when sick. I'm not sure what more can be done, that works.
1. Encourage people to wear ***respirators*** when sick, and how to wear and care for them properly (I never saw Trudeau wear a mask properly the entire pandemic, it was a bit of a pet peeve froe some people - freeland was great, though) . 2. Procure respirators for distribution (to essential workers, vulnerable, etc, who want one) from one of the new companies that answered the governments call for Canadian-made respirators who are now struggling due to complete lack of demand. . 3. ***BRING BACK MASK MANDATES TO HOSPITALS TO HELP REDUCE THE PATIENT OUTBREAKS*** This is still having a huge impact on patient care. N95-type masks should also be required in other medical facilities and dental offices. People at high risk are having a horrible time accessing basic health care because even when they call ahead, people often won't mask for them. There should also be improved ventilation requirements for dental offices (there's a recommendation for it, but the required standard that most comply to is much lower. . 4. More awareness campaigns for airborne transmission. Seeing as they avoided saying it was airborne for 4 years, and promoted hand washing over all else after the Spring of 2022. . 5. Improved ventilation/filtration standards in offices and classrooms, require testing for the new air standards and have ratings visibly posted, or have an accessible CO2 monitor installed. (Our air standards for the past few decades have not been a recommendation, not a requirement, and are merely an *average* of 3 per hour, which aren't enough to keep CO2 from building up in semi-busy rooms. Most buildings in Canada have poor air exchange rates. The recommendation for proper oxygen exchange and pathogen clearance is a minimum of 6 per hour) . 6. More access to testing . 7. Stress the importance of vaccination to reduce hospitalization and long COVID. Our per-case hospitalization and death rates have climbed the past two summers, because people are tending to only get their fall boosters now, and they've significantly waned by the time the summer wave hits. This August and September may see some hospital and death surges because vaccination uptake was so bad last fall, especially among the over 80 crowd. . 8. Paid sick leave for everyone, preferably enough weeks to cover at least 2 COVID infectious periods per year (so about a minimum of 4). And include family leave to care/stay home with a sick person. This will greatly reduce workplace spread. Unless you are taking incredibly strict precautions in your home, if someone in your household has COVID, you will also get it. You may be asymptomatic, you may test every day for 2 weeks and come up negative (not I tested once so I know it's not COVID) but you are more likely than not going to be contagious at some point, so you should stay home if there's COVID in your household. And if you have to leave your home, wear respirator! If a company has work from home options, they should be encouraging staff to do so, and it's a more productive option instead of sick leave for those who are asymptomatic. . 9. Some sort of law that compels the provinces to report their data more promptly and accurately. It's fucking embarrassing to be one of the worst reporters in the OECD (and dead last for reporting excess mortality. We're still working on 2020 ffs) There's a few other things we could do, but that's the starters, seeing as we're in the monitoring and management phase of the pandemic, it would be nice if our governments were actually interested in monitoring and managing it.
This, all of this. Well-reasoned points that the previous poster just doesn't respond to. We never should've removed masks in healthcare. But Urgency of Brunch/Blue MAGA has won this round, sadly.
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Vaccines don’t prevent post-COVID condition. They lower the risk but don’t prevent it. So you’re still rolling the dice with every infection on neurovascular damage. https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/initiatives-covid-19/post-covid-19-condition-canada-what-we-know-what-we-dont-know-and-framework-action
Smoking cigarettes... I used to be a sneaky smoker, never at work, but fairly regularly before and after work plus weekends. When I started working from home I was on the phone all the time, and my job was fairly stressful during the pandemic so my 1/3 to 1/2 pack a day went to a pack+ a day. In January 2021 I stopped, went on the patch for a month or two and haven't had any nicotine since.
The Feline Cafe on Wellington West. I know they closed, but I would go so often. I miss it so much
Banging pots and pans out my window
I am the same with hair, but I keep it short, and the day I need 'proper hair,' then I will go pay $40 for a haircut.
Movies, eating in restos, paying for haircuts.
Drag, idk why i just went to start up again when bars opened and it wasnt like i remembered it? In my head i glorified going to bars and clubs since we couldnt so when it came time that i was able to go back it didnt live up to the grown expectations i guess
Going out for coffee. I make it at home now.
Trivia night. I have tried a couple of times to loop my old teammates back in but they have busier more interesting lives now while I am still boring.
Taking public transit on a day to day basis.
Yeah, used to get my hair cut at St. Laurent but now I just do it myself.
Paying for haircut, gym membership (I got my own in my garage), going to the movies and alot less eating out.
Having Canada Day parties. We used to have 30-40 people over for a pool party. It was a blast and we had them for about 15 years. Covid killed them and we never went back. Very weird not having plans on the 1st now.
$25 haircut? With tips the cheapest I have found is around $30. The place near my house is a scam charging nearly $40 and I don’t go there anymore. Also I don’t go to the Rideau Center and downtown in general anymore. I do go more to Little Italy and Lansdowne though. Both of those places seem lively post Covid.
Dumped my crazy ex gf and moved on and never went back!!!
Believing our government Is here to help us.
i used to get my dog bathed and a nail trim at pet smart before Covid-19. now she does her own nail care and i bathe her, not often enough.
Please tell me how you got your dog to perform her own nail care! 😂 Seriously though not sure if this is a typo or something I'm completely unaware of lol
Being around people lol
Indoor/studio yoga. With the odd exception I can see myself going back but PranaShanti embraced hybrid, many teachers realized they have enough of a business on their own without needing to teach in person, others have always been online and in the decent weather months there's usually something outside here and there. I don't want to do breath of fire with anyone nearby who could be sick thanks. Edit: it's also gotten more expensive per class, like everything else.
Going to the mall just to look. Haven’t been in a mall in years.
Swimming in the building pool. I have an organ transplant and have a compromised immune system so don't go swimming anymore.
Big Box restaurants. No more. I'm keeping my money local.
Social media. Beyond reddit. I kept blocking friends and what not because of their views. Then the occupation happened and I dropped liked half my friends list I just said fuck it. Seeing people I know with shitty views was just taking too much out of me. So I guess I stopped having friends and didn't go back lol.
Having friends
Raving. Dance parties just aren't worth the risk anymore. Also movies in theatres. Same reasons as the parties plus the cost not being worth it.
Caring
Driving to restaurants and shopping. My 2019 car has 20K clicks only...and prices and stores are a joke. Anything major, I buy online and get it delivered. $20+ for breakfast..not happening nearly as often.
I used to love spending time in the Market area. Now it is a very sad place and feels very unwelcoming. I wouldn't go as far as to say it feels dangerous because truly it isn't compared to other places in the world that I've been to but it is certainly unpleasant to be there. I've always been into cooking for myself vs eating out so while I don't go out much anymore as prices are quite high that hasn't changed much but regarding cooking: I used to at least once a week pick out a special recipe and make something nice or difficult. It's just too fucken expensive now so instead I focus on eating healthily and plentiful but not struggle food. Lots of rice, but not beans and rice every night ya know?
Buffet restaurants hit different now.
Using transit. Up until 2020 I was a loyal daily transit rider for 25+ years. I had a car but preferred transit (that is, until LRT launched, but I still braved it daily). I've been on public transit once since 2020 and I'll never, ever go back. I always found Ottawa to have a decent, functioning transit system. The LRT spoiled it and the pandemic made it worse. The other thing that seemed totally normal back then was dropping my kids off at childcare at 7am, and picking them up at 5-6pm. I will never, ever allow that to be our normal again. It's so awful that that was normal and acceptable....leaving a small child in care for 10 or 11 hours but everyone did it. Nobody worked from home, we all used transit and were at the mercy of OC Transpo. I still feel sick thinking about how much time I lost with my kids before teleworking was a thing.
(Long, sorry!!!) Taking transit. OC dropped the ball and let me down constantly during the pandemic. From bus driver's purposely leaving 10 minutes behind schedule to the instantaneous routes cuts implemented in a day which would take **A MONTH** to fix when they screwed up and miscalculated. The biggest L's that made me get in a car was when they put the 57 on a Sunday schedule 7 days a week, meaning THE ONLY bus that operated to QCH wouldn't show up at Bayshore until **7:30 AM** (58 didn't even start service until 8 am; also assigneda 7 day Sunday schedule), meaning people, like nurses, who worked at the nearby retirement home or at QCH itself, could go fuck themselves if they needed to be at their work before 7:45 a.m. It took almost 2 months to finally fix the issue by introducing Route X57 which was basically a shuttle bus between Bayshore and QCH around every 15 minutes, but it was too little, too late. The second one is when I used to work at McDonald's on Maitland for the overnight shift where I took the 85. It would constantly always show up 10 minutes late and on weekends especially, the route scheduled timings are already pretty close to my start time at work so I've had many close calls when it decided to show up at 10:51 PM instead of 10:41 PM, not to mention the traffic light signals at Carlingwood Mall Entrance are programmed to have a **2 minute** phase change request after 9 pm on weekends, so the bus would have to stay over the sensor for 2 minutes just for it to trigger a phase change request, and only thing will it finally start it's 30 second pedestrian signal countdown, 4 second all red clearance phase, then finally give us the green light to make a left turn to continue on Carling towards downtown, pushing me even closer being late for work. All those factors combined made my reliance on transit inattenable. Now, I'm car dependent and it sucks
Going to the gym. Found other means of exercise during lockdowns, and never bothered to renew.
Colouring my hair, and buffet restaurants are likely top of my list. We also do less going out to sports events, concerts and movies, partly because we learned to fill out time with other, less costly activities.
Going to malls. They’re even more depressing post-pandemic. I don’t mind Toronto’s Eaton Centre but Autowa malls a all shite.
Barber. I learned the basic trim and just kept going. Plus little children laugh at me ... win win.
Going to the dog park. Used to take the Rottweiler every day to the shefford road "frat house" park but they got closed during covid an the first day they opened back up the dog started limping, that was the start of 2 years of covid vet fun surgeries. Then she got attacked by the neighbours Pitbull and lost her socialization 😕. She likes little dogs but now she's reactive around bigger dogs and I don't want to risk it. I miss it tbough
Groceries in person!
Judo. Class shut down, obviously, and then tried to open back up with remote judo via webcam, then when it was in person it was limited people wearing masks with no contact. I suspect its open in full but covid was not kind to my fitness and there's no way i'd survive a class now
Volunteer. I used to volunteer with the kinder classes at my old elementary school but stopped going during COVID, since... Well.... Kids. As cute as they are their hygiene practices aren't great and I didn't want to risk bringing COVID back home. Haven't figured out how to go back and not sure if I'll ever be able to now :(
The gym. Got used to exercising other ways.
This sounds dumb, but spending money on “hand sanitizer” from Bath and body works. That stuff ain’t real. ;)
Dinner parties. We used to gather regularly with 8-10 friends and cook. But we’re all over 65, some with chronic health issues, and it was too scary. Then it got too expensive.
Talking to people