Waking up early

Waking up in the crack of dawn to get ready for work? No thanks!  Not when we know what it feels like to wake up (five minutes before official office hours) and simply open our laptops while in bed. We’ve tasted greener pastures and we love it.

Commuting and brushing shoulders with strangers

Can we even begin to describe how much we dread having to commute for work again? Aside from being vulnerable and exposed to a lot of people, we aren’t exactly fond of the horrible traffic. We don’t want to be dragged back to long waiting lines for the UV Express either!

Wearing face masks and face shields everywhere

Although masks are an absolute necessity, they could be uncomfortable. It makes communication hard, warms the face, and causes horrible acne breakouts. We’re not looking forward to wearing it for the rest of our lives but it looks like we have to. But if that’s the price we have to pay for freedom then masks on forever!

Having to use public restrooms

Pre-pandemic public restrooms were dirty but now they’re DIRTY, all caps and italicized. Imagine all the germs swirling in the air and landing on every surface! Imagine all the germs — yikes. When was the last time you used a public restroom?

Dealing with throngs of people rushing everywhere

Once it’s safe to go out you can bet that people are going to crowd everywhere — malls, restaurants, tourist spots, you name it. You can’t exactly blame them for stretching their aching limbs having been cramped in one house for too long.

Physical office meetings (and that one co-worker you secretly can’t stand)

It’s a love-hate relationship we’ve got with physical office meetings. On one hand, back-to-back virtual meetings are so exhausting you’d never want to stare at a screen again. On the other, we’ve experienced too many physical “meetings that could’ve been an email.” At least with virtual gatherings, you can discreetly do other tasks on the side. Working from home also means you don’t bump into that officemate you never liked. Perfect.

Being compelled to dress up in decent clothes

Slacks? Blouses? What are those? We only know pajamas and pambahay T-Shirts with torn sleeves. You’re probably so used to semi-formal wear — literally — that it would be a chore to pick out work outfits in the mornings. Maybe employers could be lenient and let their employees wear loungewear to the office as a tribute to the lockdown period. Just kidding. Unless…

Crazy surge prices in ride-hailing apps

We’ve saved a lot of money without our usual Angkas and Grab bookings but once work settles into normal, you can be sure we will be dependent on these again. We don’t miss forking over P500 for a one-way ride at all!

What are you looking dreading the most once things get back to normal?