13 Common Things That Will Now Always Remind People Of The Pandemic

    "We outside, y'all."

    Jess Goodwin
    by Jess Goodwin

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    Since the pandemic began two years ago(!), there are certain things I just can't look at the same way again.

    MTV / Via giphy.com

    Things that barely registered with me before 2020 just hit different these days, you know?

    BuzzFeed / Via giphy.com

    Here are 13 things that will now remind me of the pandemic:

    1. Sweatpants.

    NBC / Via giphy.com

    I'm pretty sure I've worn sweatpants more in the past two years than I have during my entire 33-year-long prepandemic life (and I know I'm not the only one).

    Quin Lamar @theQuinLamar

    The pandemic has really raised my standards for sweatpants. I be rubbing the fabric and stretching them before i buy now. Swirling them in my mouth and spitting them in a bucket and shit.

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    Twitter: @theQuinLamar

    2. The song "Imagine."

    Grace Segers @Grace_Segers

    in hindsight I'm really glad the celebrities got the "Imagine" video out of their systems early on in the pandemic

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    Twitter: @Grace_Segers

    3. Grown-out hair.

    Amazon Prime / Via giphy.com

    Head hair, facial hair, body hair — during that first year or so of the pandemic, people spent a lot of time not removing their hair. I saw even more beards and heads of long, luscious locks than usual on social media, and as someone who enjoys both of those things, it felt like a tiny bit of consolation for *gestures vaguely*.

    jaya sundaresh @timeforjaya

    pandemic has been exceptionally good for girls with beards. the bearded girlies, if you will

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    Twitter: @timeforjaya

    4. At-home haircuts.

    Phoebe using a bowl to cut Joey's hair on Friends
    NBC

    On the other hand, some people had no interest in letting their hair grow out and decided to cut it themselves. For every new beard I saw on Instagram, I saw just as many sets of DIY bangs.

    Heather Baldock @Heather_Eira

    I've come back to the phase of the pandemic where I want bangs please stop me

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    Twitter: @Heather_Eira

    5. Tiger King.

    Joe Tiger with a tiger
    Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

    This was the first big show to come out after lockdown began, and you have to wonder if it would have been such a hit had we not all been at home. 

    Freakzilla Scott Steiner 😎 @don_dodda123

    The pandemic really had us watching Tiger King

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    Twitter: @don_dodda123

    6. Doing things over Zoom.

    NBC / Via giphy.com

    The amount of time I've spent on Zoom and Google Meet, whether for work or with friends and family, over the past two years is enough to last a lifetime. Still, if it means never having to go into an office again, I'm game.

    meri lemon @filmsexuals

    zoom interviews are one of the greatest things to come out of this pandemic

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    Twitter: @filmsexuals

    7. Working from home.

    NEON / Via giphy.com

    Speaking of staying home, because of COVID, a lot of people with the option started working from home and have no plans to go back to in-person even if and when it's safe.

    💕 @theglowmuva

    Working from home and flexible working is the only good thing that’s come out of the pandemic

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    Twitter: @theglowmuva

    8. Doing things outdoors.

    Janelle James saying "We outside y'all" during a standup set
    Netflix

    From comedy shows to winter dining to movie theaters, a lot of things we spent years doing inside moved outdoors in many areas. Even I, an avid lover of being indoors, went to about a dozen outdoor comedy shows and started eating outside on sidewalks in 40-degree weather in 2021.

    Janelle James, moody clown. @janellejcomedy

    Janelle James The Standups Season 3. Now Streaming on Netflix. @NetflixIsAJoke

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    Netflix Twitter: @janellejcomedy

    9. Random hobbies.

    alexandra edwards, phd @nonmodernist

    im on like my fifth new hobby of the pandemic, not because im motivated but because the hobbies are the only thing keeping me together

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    Twitter: @nonmodernist

    10. Baking bread.

    A loaf of homemade bread in a Dutch oven
    Jess Goodwin

    Remember in the early days of the pandemic when your Instagram feed was suddenly full of homemade bread? I do! I also got in on it, making exactly one (1) loaf of bread that ended up looking like a butt. It was not worth it, and I didn't even bother trying to make a loaf of sourdough.

    LunaThisWorld @alchemist_t

    Ya know, I think the pandemic fucked me up. But damn I’m good at baking bread now. Fair trade

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    Twitter: @alchemist_t

    11. Wordle.

    Someone playing Wordle on their phone
    Stefani Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images

    It's only been a couple of months since Wordle blew up, so who knows if it has staying power, but it'll always be a pandemic game to me.

    Matt J @matt_jakubowski

    Damn, what if my kid writes a pandemic memoir someday and the title of each sad chapter is a Wordle answer?

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    Twitter: @matt_jakubowski

    12. TikTok.

    @fallontonight / Via giphy.com

    Even though TikTok became popular in the late 2010s, there's a reason I didn't use it for the first time until about three weeks into lockdown: I hadn't picked up cross-stitching yet. Over the past two years, I've opened up TikTok more and more often (even though half of what I see on Instagram is stuff that was on TikTok first), so as far as I'm concerned, it's my pandemic app.

    Bridge @bridgecantcook

    lots of discourse about 2 years of the pandemic…anyone else also marking 2 years of a crippling tiktok addiction or just me 🤪

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    Twitter: @bridgecantcook

    13. And finally, masks.

    𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷 @heyitsnf

    Reasons why I love wearing face masks: a) I have acne and b) I get to talk and sing to myself in public

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    Twitter: @heyitsnf

    What common things will always remind you of the pandemic now? Sound off in the comments!