Great Things that have come out of the Pandemic

I know that people around here (and in real life) think that I’m too optimistic and that the world is shit and yadda yadda yadda. Yeah, there’s bad shit everywhere but my point is that there’s good shit everywhere too.

One saying says, “There’s always a silver lining.” Another one says something about doors and opportunities and honestly I can’t remember it.

Whether you like one-sentence sayings or not, the truth is that there have been a lot of good things that have come out of this pandemic. Things that have made this world a better place.

Allow me to elaborate:

1 – REMOTE WORK

There have been industries that introduced remote work years ago. However, those were rarities. It wasn’t until the Pandemic that almost every industry was forced into Remote Work. Guess what? Remote Work is great for employees AND for employers if handled correctly!

Within my own industry, I’ve been fighting for years for processes and procedures to be modernized. The move to Remote Work forced our senior managers to change. Within my team, we actually improved productivity by implementing the ideas I’ve been trying to implement before.

I have had staff with young children that have thanked me for the ability to be at home and watch them grow up. I know they’ll remember these years fondly for the rest of their lives.

2 – BETTER AIR QUALITY

This map will show you air quality everywhere in the world that has monitoring stations. I’ve been involved in this project and I’ve been able to see the results over the course of the Pandemic.

As fewer cars hit the road and fewer planes were in the sky and fewer factories were running, our planet was getting healthier. I have noticed the difference at home as the air smells better. That’s a weird thing to say, but it’s true. The scents of flowers and trees were no longer overcome by toxic fumes.

As we head out of the Pandemic, we are slowly returning to the roads and skies, but I think that we won’t return in the same volume as before. We’ve seen something better and I think we’ll push to get back there.

3 – NO TRAFFIC

OMG. During the early days of the Pandemic, everyone was on lockdown and the only ones allowed on the road were “Essential” workers.

I happened to be one of them. I also drive a sports car. All I can tell you is that driving the nearly empty freeways of LA was a fantasy come true.

What used to take an hour was only 30 minutes. Remember what I mentioned above about productivity? I could get from one work site to another on the other side of town in no time!

Yes, those days are gone, but for a few precious months, the freeways of LA were my playground and I’ll never forget that.

4 – BETTER WORK/LIFE BALANCE

This is mostly tied in with the remote work thing, but there is more to it. Let me tell you a story about a work friend.

Before the pandemic, he was having serious stomach pains. He’d gone to doctors and they didn’t know what was wrong. A couple of times, he had to go home early as he wasn’t feeling well.

Then, the Pandemic hit and we all started working from home. He was able to take a shit whenever he wanted/needed and guess what? The stomach pains went away.

You don’t know how many conference calls I’ve been on where I’m sitting on the can. In fact, here is a list of things I’ve been able to do while working:

• Take a dump
• Take a piss
• Eat
• Work out
• Run errands
• Prepare healthy meals
• Have sports on TV in the background
• Have movies on TV in the background

Does that mean I’m not working when I’m doing those things? Absolutely not!

I’m either on the phone or on my work laptop at the same time I’m doing those things. It’s called multitasking. Remember what I said about productivity?

I’ve found that doing those things helps me focus better on work stuff. Too many times at work, people finish their immediate assignment and either bullshit with people around them (reducing the other person’s productivity) or make it LOOK like they’re busy when they’re not. Which doesn’t help anyone.

I much prefer to use time more effectively. By filing in gaps at work with productive or fun activities, one gets a bigger feeling of accomplishment. To me, that translates into better work and a better life away from work.

5 – MORE TIME FOR IMPORTANT SHIT

I’ll be honest with you guys. I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been in my whole life. I’m back you what I weighed in high school. While my speed from those days is gone, I’ve replaced it with muscles that I’ve never had.

All of that is thanks to the additional time I’ve been spending at home.

It’s insane how much time is wasted going to an office to work. And then, when you’re there, as I mentioned above, you can’t do other things (like errands) you need to do so you end up doing them after work which cuts more into your personal time.

All the time adds up. Now, I don’t spend all my time working out. I also take care of my parents. They’re getting close to 80 and I know I won’t have them around too much longer. I am treasuring the time I have with them much the same way that my co-worker is treasuring the time with his young child.

Which is to say that the Pandemic has helped me to evaluate how I spend my time and what takes priority. I am happier now because I’m spending time on things that make me happy and avoiding things that don’t. That’s a great lesson for everyone that we wouldn’t be learning if not for the Pandemic.

6 – ADVANCES IN MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

I know people around here don’t like Donald Trump but one of the best things he did as President was to speed up the process of getting vaccines tested and approved for distribution.

Free from bullshit red tape, Moderna and Pfizer were able to get extremely effective vaccines mass-produced in a very short amount of time. This has saved millions of lives.

On top of that, the mRNA technology was proven to be effective and its use for dealing with future diseases will be widespread.

I don’t want to turn this into a scientific paper, but medical science has learned a lot from this pandemic that it will be able to use in the future. That can only be good for society as a whole.

7 – GLOBAL COOPERATION

Try to pooh pooh it all you want, but the world DID come together to fight this thing. Information was shared worldwide and scientists worked together in all parts of the world to come up with solutions to the Pandemic.

Countries that had excess supplies of vaccines sent them to countries that needed them. Communities did come together to help each other. I helped create a vaccination site at a major LA stadium and I can attest that it’s a beautiful thing when people work together for the Greater Good.

Yes, there were countries that refused to play along, but that leads me to my last point:

8 – DARWIN’S LAW IN ACTION

Darwin is often misquoted in popular culture and media. However, the gist of the message is that the smarter and more adaptable species survive while the dumber and slower to change die out.

Rikki’s periodic Rod and Todd updates are testament to that.

It wasn’t just individuals, though. Countries whose leaders made bad decisions suffered while countries whose leaders made good decisions flourished. Google New Zealand COVID response for an example.

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To wrap up, yes people lost their lives and many suffered greatly. I’m not denying that. Alls I’m saying is that some good did come out of this. And for that, we should be thankful.