Who would have thought that 2020 would turn out like this? I personally never thought I’d see a pandemic completely turn the world upside down in my lifetime.

Well, at least we can say that many of us have looked inside ourselves to really figure out what we want out of life and what’s important to us.

And that’s one positive thing to come out of a very terrible situation.

Here’s what folks on AskReddit had to say about what they’ve learned during this pandemic.

1. Yikes.

“People are really dumb.

This x 1000… I work in healthcare and I’m used to some, shall we say poor decision making… but the sheer amount of ignorance, arrogance-and lack of empathy is truly astounding and exhausting.”

2. A big fan.

“I LOVE working virtually. I did not realize how exhausting it is to interact with humans, face to face, all day. I just said all my exhaustion was fatigue from my two chronic illnesses. It is and it isn’t.

Without face to face, I see, on average two more clients a day because I have the energy. I stay awake beyond 7pm at night. And my body doesn’t ache head to toe.

For the record, I’m a therapist so I assumed tired was just how my career is going to be. We hot damn, I am mentally so much sharper and clients are hitting goals all over the place. I don’t even like thinking about how much harder work was before pandemic. I feel like such a better therapist!”

3. Fakin’ it.

“That I was spending a lot of my time faking it around people that I really did not enjoy being around.”

4. Very true.

“How much time is wasted by commuting.

Working from home, the “8 hours work, 8 hours sleep, 8 hours play” thing actually works.”

5. Not the case.

“I have a horrible work ethic.

I thought this will be great, no commute! Leisurely making lunch at home! Change over a load of laundry in between meetings!

Meetings that I take in my pajamas! What’s not to love!? Oh. God. It was a dumpster fire of zero work ethic, weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And all around an absolutely terrible decision. And that was pre-pandemic. I was ultimately fired from that job. They made the correct decision.

Despite what I thought about myself I’m absolutely one of those people that needs the human interaction and the enforced communal work ethic of an office environment. Which I loathe everything about that. But clearly without it I just turn into a log of uselessness.”

6. Who knew?!?!

“My wife and I get along very well.

We are now living AND working together which means we hardly ever have an hour apart. Been doing this since March and not even an argument.

We have witnessed many other relationships fall but ours is stronger than ever 15 years later.”

7. BFF.

“This one’s more personal, but that I never want to lose my best friend. They were the ONLY person I really missed during stay at home orders (like where I actually felt really sad not being able to see them).

During this pandemic we’ve probably sent each other hundreds of texts (or more), wrote letters and sent them via snail mail, and had many phone calls lasting for hours.

We’ve only seen each other a few times in person since March, and seeing him has only made me miss him more.”

8. It’s important.

“Parents are right , you need to save funds for a rainy day.

A lot of ordinary people who went into this with savings and a general understanding of investing are coming out of it a whole lot richer.”

9. Interesting.

“Celebrities with all their money and fame are useless during times of distress.

Also we’re not paying our health workers anywhere near what we should really be paying them.”

10. That’s not good.

“That most of my friends, who I thought were educated, smart, and loving people, aren’t.

They’re gullible, selfish, and heartless.

When this all settles down, my inner circle is going to look much different.”

11. All bad news.

“How much critical infrastructure in the United States has declined. After decades of cutting budgets and prioritizing profits we have a system that can not handle a pandemic on any level.

Hospitals are going bankrupt, the CDC is underfunded and ignored, schools are forced to reopen without proper precautions, Universities are on the brink of bankruptcy, the federal government can’t agree with the state government that can’t agree with the local government.

It’s like we’ve been running on this delusion of greatness while everything crumbled around us.”

12. Rural life.

“I grew up in a very rural area and got fed the “when stuff hits the fan, we county folk stand up for each other” line my whole life.

After seeing my 100th “you can’t make me wear a mask even if it does protect people” post on Facebook I’m more than a little skeptical.”

13. Take care of yourself!

“Aside from the political nonsense of people, for myself I have realized that self care is such a huge thing and I am actively putting effort in now to look after my wellbeing mentally and physically.”

14. Don’t take it for granted.

“I really missed out on a lot before the pandemic.

Took too much for granted. I didn’t visit grandma frequently enough. I complained about family outings. Hated going out in general. Now we can’t. I mean, yeah sure we can go eat in a restaurant again but not with out risking our health.

I opted out of living and now life is on pause for an unknown length of time. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.”

15. Not much of a social life.

“How little of a social life I have.

No romantic relationship, only couple friends that asked how I was. Only my family to keep me company. Then again I kinda already knew that, they never showed up when I invited them to anything in the past either.

But now I have some online friends I will probably never meet irl. Better that nothing though.”

Have you learned anything interesting or insightful during this health crisis?

If so, please talk to us in the comments.

We can’t wait to hear from you!