What we learned about ourselves in lockdown
15 March 2021
Americans learned over the past year that they kind of like working and socializing from home, and might keep these parts of their pandemic lifestyles going even after offices, bars and restaurants become options again, according to new Harris Poll data.
Why it matters: Even after the threat from COVID-19 recedes, we know life won’t simply return to its pre-pandemic shape. This year has altered everything from our media diets to our sense of work-life balance to our ideas of what’s fun.
By the numbers: 75% of Americans said they learned during the pandemic that they prefer socializing in small groups at home over going out to bars.
- 59% said they didn’t miss going out to bars to socialize as much as they thought they would, and 60% said they’ve learned over the past year “how much I love entertaining at home in small pandemic pods.”
- And when asked what their social lives will likely look like when all the options are available, a plurality said they’ll mostly be hanging out at home, compared to just 17% who said they’ll mostly be going out.
Americans have also gotten used to working from home, according to the Harris Poll data, which were pulled from a comprehensive report combining multiple surveys over the past year.
- 67% said their lifestyles have gotten healthier while working from home, and 55% said they’ve discovered that they didn’t miss the office as much as they thought they would.
- 74% of Americans who are working from home said they’d consider taking a “workcation” — going somewhere else for a while, but working while there.
- 40% of Americans said they’d miss having extra time in the mornings if they have to go back into an office full-time, and 39% said they’d miss being at home with their families.
Go deeper: Read the full Harris Poll report on Americans’ changing attitudes over the past year.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.