Board 8 > Was 2020 the strangest, most abnormal year you've lived through?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I remember thinking to myself that it would be when the first lockdown hit.
I also remember hoping it would remain the strangest year for the rest of my life as well.

Hardly. Try maybe my senior year in High School (2011-2012) where people were constantly putting on fake personas, and bringing attention to themselves more than ever, than other age he/she was.

No, not even close.

There is an argument for stressful though.

Societally, probably. I'd put 2002 and 2016 up there also but I don't think they really compete.

Personally it wasn't too strange though. Not sure what the actual answer is but likely 2022 I guess.

Societally, I think it's probably it or 2016.

Personally, I don't think so. Probably one of my middle or high school years.

2020 or the shit show of 2007. But 2007 is more of a state of mind that continues on today sadly while 2020 was a tangible event that people have somewhat moved on from.

Most abnormal year was the year I spent in an off-campus apartment and simply never went to class in favor of playing Everquest or brooding on my bed.

2012 I was majorly depressed and anxious all the time, so personally that one takes the cake

2020 is a close runner up though.

2008 and 2009 were my worst/most screwed up years.

I was fortunate in that the pandemic didn't really affect me that much. My biggest inconvenience/shake up was just that some places were closed.

It was strange in a different way. I was living in a desert town in Western Australia, so isolated we were not affected by the pandemic at all.

My ranking of screwed up years:

1. 2021
2. 2018
3. 2020
4. 2022

Seems like 2019 was the only year in my 30s where I didn't suffer any major trauma. Here's hoping I have a stable 2023.

azuarc posted...

Most abnormal year was the year I spent in an off-campus apartment and simply never went to class in favor of playing Everquest or brooding on my bed.

Depression is a helluva drug, huh?

I feel like people in this topic are conflating strange with bad

I don't know how it couldn't be the strangest year for almost anyone. Kids suddenly no longer had in person school, parents suddenly had kids during the day they didn't know what to do with. Everyone who worked in an office suddenly had dramatic changes.

I picked up a new job that was supposed to be temporarily virtual and I was happy it was 20 minutes less of a drive. I stayed there a year and a half and worked in the office exactly one time

I think a lot of people in this topic didn't have to manage two of the biggest changes you mentioned dealing with children.

The complete social isolation in 2020 was very challenging for me. You weren't supposed to leave your house to see other people, and I lived alone at that time. It was hard.

masterplum posted...

I feel like people in this topic are conflating strange with bad

I don't know how it couldn't be the strangest year for almost anyone. Kids suddenly no longer had in person school, parents suddenly had kids during the day they didn't know what to do with. Everyone who worked in an office suddenly had dramatic changes.

I picked up a new job that was supposed to be temporarily virtual and I was happy it was 20 minutes less of a drive. I stayed there a year and a half and worked in the office exactly one time

Well, in 2021 I got a new job where I got a psycho boss who fired me in two weeks. I then moved into a new apartment, only to find my new roommate was a lunatic who got into fights with her boyfriend, where the walls got splattered with blood. I then got a new job where I was laid off after a month.

Those few months of my life were far more insane for me than 2020 was.

2009 was probably the shittest year of my adult life , UK recession, unemployment etc. 2019 comes pretty fucking close (nearly lost job based on some fucked up lies)

2020-22 have been a shitshow but not as bad as the above two.

2020 ended up being the year that sparked a shit ton of changes, but the real transition year for all of that ended up being 2022.

masterplum posted...

I don't know how it couldn't be the strangest year for almost anyone. Kids suddenly no longer had in person school, parents suddenly had kids during the day they didn't know what to do with. Everyone who worked in an office suddenly had dramatic changes.

Okay, but I stand by my assertion. Pretty sure I've got a decent handle on how years in my life went.

2020 was an incredible year for me.

I get to work from home with full pay + little pressure? Take me back.

Not a lot can compete with 2001.

2020 was pretty wild, yeah. I remember watching those reports about a mysterious strain of flu in China, then it slowly spread and became a global pandemic. Pretty wildin'.

But personally 2022 has brought more changes.

Strangest? Yeah. Haven't experienced anything else like an apocalypse.

Worst? That would be 2012 or 2021.

I'd say yes and rate it 2020, then 2001, then 2016 for strangest years.

masterplum posted...

I feel like people in this topic are conflating strange with bad

Did I leave the part out where I spent a couple weeks on a mental ward? You haven't seen strange until you've seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest first-hand.