Back in May, when we entered Britney 2007 levels of stir crazy, we asked Americans how they expect activities to change over the coming six months compared to "the before times." Well — we’ve reached that six month milestone and it’s time to test our tea leaf reading skills. Somebody had to pick up reading tea leaves as their pandemic hobby, right?
From May’s projection, the largest expected increase was in wearing a mask or face covering, which 61% of Americans thought would be more frequent compared to pre-pandemic levels. Today, 79% of Americans think masks are worn more frequently than in the beginning of the pandemic. Keep it mind it was in early June that the WHO officially recommended wearing a mask or face covering to prevent contagion.
Our collective tea leaves completely missed the steep drop in demand for pandemic era weddings. In May, 31% of Americans thought getting married would occur less frequently. By October, 49% said getting married occurred less frequently since the pandemic began.
Another unfortunate long-term reality that Americans did not expect to persist this long was spending less time with elderly people. At the pandemic’s onset, 43% expected to spend less time with elderly people. Today, 56% are avoiding IRL quality time with grandparents compared to the beginning of the pandemic. At the very least, make sure to call (the kind done through a good ‘ol phone) a cherished elderly person in your life today. If you’re not sure what to say, just read them this edition of Trendlines.
