Some things I'm looking forward to in 2021: probable post-pandemic edition
Fewer deaths all around
A giant party at my house
A portion of the research I feel bad about not doing just becoming irrelevant (e.g. what’s the evidence about surfaces now? Are we badly underestimating the harms of long covid?)
Leaving my house in an unprepared fashion and seeing where it takes me
Whatever it was that I used to do in places other than my house, that I actually can’t seem to remember or explicitly pinpoint and plan from a distance, but which I vaguely miss (possibly this is basically just 4)
Seeing friends who live in faraway places such as Berkeley
Going on a cross-country train and embracing the general lack of hygiene and space
Seeing non-household friends without inadvertently spending a fraction of my attention on air dynamics and mask stability
The stakes of everyday personal choices being lowered enough that people being thoughtless or foolish isn’t a critical threat to friendliness, harmony or anyone’s life
Helping the economy of restaurants and cafes recover
Casual minor encounters and non-encounters with strangers in shops, streets and cafes (and these being more of the meeting places of the world, and internet comments being less, for more people)
Meeting new people regularly
More distinct places and place-vibes to conveniently be in
One fewer area to worry that I should be doing something better
Listening to an audiobook on crowded public transit on the way to my downtown office, and then being at my office
Reading and writing in notebooks in cafes
The world feeling so big that you can go to other places and find people thinking about entirely different things
Being dirty
Crowded, dimly lit places with atmosphere and mild uncertainty