I saw this Twitter exchange awhile back, on a thread about how the pandemic has affected people’s mental health, family life, etc.

I remember reading something about appliances wearing out back in 2020, when everyone was really stuck at home. It’s interesting; I tend to notice these sorts of things, these little trends, but in our own home this is not something I’ve noticed.

I already worked from home starting in early 2019, but my wife didn’t go remote until March 2020. And we already cooked every night, and brought leftovers or quick dishes (big fans of Trader Joe’s frozen aisle) for lunch. We used dry cleaning for work clothes but otherwise ran laundry at least once a week and the dishwasher every night or at most every two days, because we were cooking and eating dinner at home.

So reading about this phenomenon of stuff wearing out more quickly in people’s homes, I realize we probably spend more time at home—using our furniture and especially our major appliances—than most people.

Or do we? Maybe it was that the people noticing this just spent unusually little time at home. In other words, I’m wondering if this observation is common, or rare but amplified by people who were out of their homes more than average before the pandemic?

There was a whole row on Twitter the other day about whether cooking at home or eating out all the time is more elitist. These types of arguments that get fashioned out of nothing are very silly, but it’s striking to me that so many people spend enough time out of the house to actually notice things wearing out more quickly after COVID. What’s the median American workday look like? Does the average person just not spend much time at home and not use their stuff much?

I know that cooking from scratch—prepping and cooking fresh vegetables, searing and then baking some kind of chicken, sous-viding a steak, etc.—is not something most people do every day. I’m lucky to have the time for it, and in any case I enjoy it. Yet eating out seems so expensive, when you consider how many different dishes you can make with relatively cheap ingredients like boneless skinless chicken breast, or top round steak, or tofu, or ground beef, plus any number of sauces, marinades, etc. Even so, it seems like lots of people just don’t use their stoves (and dishwashers, and other things) all that much.

This is just a quick post, so I’m giving it over to you: is this something you’ve noticed in your household? If so, which items or appliances were affected? I imagine having kids home from school is a major reason for furniture wearing out—another example of a parent/non-parent divide—but less so for appliances. I’m curious!

Related Reading:

Coffee Shop Kind of Day

The Spider Skeleton

Cooking Every Day

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