Covid's Legacy - 25 Things That Have Changed Forever

Now that vaccinations have begun, the end of Covid is finally in sight.  But in at least 25 different ways, the world that Covid leaves behind will never be the same. 

1. Where We Work.  Now that employers have discovered that work from home doesn't impact efficiency, they are likely to expand (or really, continue) offering this flexibility ... especially since it's cheaper than maintaining office space.  Longer term, they may result in Americans becoming less transient; why move to a new location if you can stay where you are literally phone it in? 
2. When We Work. Speaking of flexibility, employers have also learned that business doesn't have to be conducted during business hours.  Imagine a world where you don't have to ask for leave to go to the doctor, because you can just work around your appointments  ... how nice will that be? 
3. How We Work.  Now that we're learning how to use all these technology tools, expect companies to place a premium on making sure they are interoperable. 
4. How We Conduct Business.  Though face to face meetings with clients will never go away, Covid plus climate change may contribute to a reduction in busniess travel - especially those "arrive just in time and leave right after" jaunts. 
5. How We Interact With Our Co-Workers.  Dogs in zoom meetings, anchors broadcasting from their dining rooms ... it seems likely that some of the barriers smashed by Covid - like acknowledging the fact that coworkers have home lives - may never be restored. 
6. How We Socialize.  Thanks to Covid, even Grandmom and Granddad have finally learned how to zoom, which is likely to change the way extended families communicate with remote relatives; possibly also how families celebrate holidays. Could this be the beginning of the end of families travelling long distances to attend holiday celebrations? 
7. How We Get Our Groceries. Now that we've all had a taste of just how convenient grocery delivery can be, it's safe to predict that these services will continue to enjoy increased popularity even after we're able to leave our homes again.
8. How We Shop. Ditto online shopping, especially holiday shopping. Because while Christmas shopping in crowded stores may be a Christmas traditions, it's probably not anyone's favorite Christmas tradition. 
9. How We Buy Our Homes.  Can you imagine anyone buying a new home in the next 5-10 years without considering: "Yes, but could we shelter in place here for a year if we had to?"  Realtors are already reporting that Covid is transforming in the real estate market. 
10. How We Exercise.  Now that so many of us have created new workout regimes outside of the gym, it's likely that some of us aren't going to be all that anxious to shell out hundreds of dollars to return. 
11. How We Spend Our Free Time.  Anyone who didn't have a hobby, has one now!  And while not every new garden is going to get replanted next spring and many of us will never make another loaf of sourdough bread, many of us have discovered new passions that will endure far beyond Covid.
12. How We Access Entertainment. While plenty of us missed going out to movies and restaurants, a certain number of us enjoyed the convenience of having first run movies and restaurant meals delivered to our door. It seems clear that theaters are restaurants are going to need to continue to cater to both 
13. How We Learn. While the verdict is still out on virtual learning, Covid accelerated the process of getting computers into the hands of students and teachers got a crash course in how to use technology as a "force multiplier," increasing forever their toolbox of educational apps and strategies.
14. How We Think About Internet.  It shouldn't have taken a national crises like Covid, which forced humans to rely on internet as their only access to work, friends, and resources, to reinforce the importance of assuring access to high speed internet for all Americans. 
15. How We Think About Health Care.  Doctors and patients report surprising levels of satisfaction with telemedicine roll-outs compelled by quarantine.
16. How We Think About Socio-Emotional Health.  Not that we weren't worried about depression long before Covid, but quarantine definitely promoted such concepts as mindfulness and the importance of social connection to the forefront
17. How We Think About Ourselves. There's nothing like having to adapt to new circumstances to help us internalize that change isn't necessarily as scary or as difficult as we think. At least some of us are going to emerge from this with a more flexible attitude towards change.
18. How We Think About Retirement. Having been given a chance to see what retirement is going to be like - stuck in the same house with the same person day after day after day - it's not preposterous to speculate that couples will be making new, much more specific plans for how they're going to pass those long years together. 
19. How We Think About Nursing Home Care. How many people are going to be willing to confine loved ones to managed care after all those ghastly news stories about elderly victims dying, alone and uncomforted, in hospitals?
20. How We Think About Science. When crisis strikes, Americans have in the past turned to science for - if not comfort - then at least truth. Thanks to the politazation of Covid, however, some people seem not only to have lost their faith in science, but to have decided that all facts are subject to opinion. Remains to be seen how much mischief this causes in the future.
21. How We Handle Future Epidemics. Whichever party happens to be in power for the next 20yrs, you can bet that one of the first things they do is make sure that they've got a viable plan for handling any future epidemics. Because if our government is good at nothing out, it's good at closing barn doors after the horses have bolted.
22. How We Think About Climate Change. Thanks to slowdowns in manufacturing, some countries saw clean air for the first time in generations. It's a lot easier to raise awareness of an environmental issue when people can actually see it for themselves
23. Rethinking the Relationship Between The Stock Market and the Economy. New relationship between stock market & economic health. Rather than focusing on the quantitative aspects like funding rounds and revenue, investors will place a greater emphasis on the qualitative aspects, such as an organization’s structure, team, culture, flexibility, and profitability
24. How we vote.  One of the biggest lessons learned from Covid?  A lot of people reeeeally like the convenience of early voting and/or vote-by-mail. I have a hard time believing we'll ever go back to the way things were.
25. How We Think About Government.  While it may be too soon to do "lessons learned," we can look back in history and make some inferences: one of those being that once we smash through milestones, we tend to leave them in the dust. In other words, get used to huge government bailouts as a response to future crises.