NEW YORK — First it was quarantines, then it was masks and video meet and greets. Now, two years into the coronavirus pandemic people are still trying to figure out how to socialize with friends and loved ones safely — if they want to see them at all.
“I think it really has put me in a position where I was rethinking the importance of a lot of relationships in my life. Who’s important, what’s important,” said Andy Hirschfeld, 29, of Brooklyn.
The last 24 months of birthday parties and happy hours over Zoom have left Hirschfeld craving in-person meetups, but the pandemic has made it more complicated to navigate some of those get-togethers.
“I went on a date with this girl who I learned only had one of her two shots. What does that say? Is this the kind of person I want to associate with?”
Lisa Smid, a freelance writer who plans to move back to New York City after the pandemic is “definitely over,” agreed that those values make a big difference in helping her decide where, how, and if to meet up with people.
“If a friend is anti-vax or anti-mask, I don’t want to know that about them if I don’t already, and the subject inevitably comes up at an in-person meetup. I will meet friends who stand where I do on those issues — outside,” she said. “I’m really not meeting anyone but ‘ride or die’ best friends offline right now.”
Whitney Goodman, 31, a licensed psychotherapist who works with people between 25 and 35 years old, says her clients almost seem like they’re on two different tracks.
“I’ve seen a wide spectrum of behaviors. I think on one end there are the people who are very much ready to be back out in the world … they’re ready to jump back into things, engaging in prepandemic behaviors with very little anxiety,” she told the Daily News.
“I also have people who are much more cautious and have also developed social anxiety symptoms from having been inside so long during the pandemic.”
Among the anxious group are the people with health conditions that make COVID-19 especially dangerous, Goodman explained.
“A lot of them want to get back out there, but they’re not sure how to interpret the guidance.”
For those folks, virtual meetups can be a godsend — allowing them to take part in activities while not risking exposure to the virus and its variants.
Even as coronavirus rates wane in New York City, Zoom gatherings are still a popular way to bring together those who would not be able to meet face-to-face, even in prepandemic times.
For Chris Kocher, the executive director of the nonprofit COVID Survivors for Change, video chats have provided a unique opportunity — allowing him to support people dealing with pandemic trauma from all over the U.S.
“I think it’s a great example of some of the silver linings that have come from that social disruption, the fact that people from across the country are able to be together each week.”
Kocher, 43, lives in Sunnyside, Queens, and says nearly all of the organization’s activities have taken place virtually. From weekly meetups with mental health professionals to a few “Survivor Summits,” the technology has allowed people to connect over shared grief, despite geographical boundaries.
“Now two years into the pandemic, I feel that people are hungry for in-person social interaction, but my hope is that even in the future we’ll carry forward the positives of virtual communications. It’s been an important part of people’s healing.”
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