To be a Melburnian meant sipping on almond lattes with the best coffee grounds in the world while sitting on milk crates in a crowded space to a hipster background. We were the sophisticated society of the country, where the women wore little black dresses and stilettos with red lipstick and the men wore perfectly tailored suits with Salvatore Ferragamo moccasins, unless you were a hipster yourself, then you would probably be out in a onesie and no one would even blink blink. You could be whoever you want in this city but you had to still make an effort. We hung out at the trendiest bars and restaurants, ate tapas from the Michelin chefs in hidden away desolate alleyways filled with trash cans.
We were always sporting, whether it was winter scarves in footy colours or hitting the gym, running a marathon or triathlon, heading to that yoga or pilates class, swimming, soccer or footy or anything in between and under the sun or snow. It didn't matter if we watched it or played it, mostly likely to be doing both. And recall those bird man competitions, they were a real thing and we all knew of at least one person that had tried their luck. We spent our weekends hiking the tallest mountains, diving to the depths of the sea, adventure sports and impromptu adventures in foreign destinations.
Most of all we were social; kissing, hugging, hooking up, breaking up, one night stands, long term relationships finding a new buzz, laughing, crying; but always together. Any night was vibrant but friday nights were a real buzz in the CBD after work. Walking the CBD was magical and the buzz in the city was just contagious. It was something amazing and special and you just had to be there. About saying goodbye to the work week with your colleagues and then catching up with your real friends or that date.
So much could happen between friday and monday that the whole city was buzzing in wonder. You always had a sense of excitement with only a tiny bit of apprehension for the world as it was on a friday night, and how it could change by monday morning for the better or worse. And we didn't talk of Saturday nights but they made all the difference. Sometimes mondays at work were a welcome rest with no one daring to schedule anything important so each and everyone of us could recover from the weekend that was and the changes to our lives it inevitably brought.
And back then we were no stranger to planes and flights to exotic destinations on a whim whether that meant an impromptu catch up for brunch at some secluded cafe in melbourne, on Sydney harbour or wasting away hours of our lives on a flight to Singapore for brunch at Raffles, as long as we could get back to work by monday. Life was one big fun and exciting adventure and the world was our playground unmarked by any global pandemic or illness.
And then the pandemic hit, and unlike the rest of the world that let the pandemic rage, we locked down in what was one of the longest lockdowns in the world. Just over four months.
And it changed us. It really really changed us.
We eventually got used to the long four month lockdown, switched our trendy cloths to PJ's or trackie daks or dare admit turning your camera off to work in your underwear. The women dropped makeup altogether and then men stopped shaving. We became scared of socialising and human contact, bunkered down and worked from home and began our hermit like existence. Some of us went down the freak health food and exercise path while others started an alcohol addiction and some of us chose a mixture of both and made Tik Tok videos about it. We learnt how to communicate with video calls and socially distanced lockdown tinder dates with masks became a thing. We vehemently opposed our government banning Tik Tok despite the security threat as we needed entertainment and a place to procrastinate. We packed away our old lives into boxes like we were moving house, but to a destination we may or may not ever reach.
And then when we came out of it. On the better end of the pandemic with all our freedoms back, we were a different kind of people.
We no longer felt at ease socialising, was happy to keep working from home, threatened to quit at the mere mention of being forced back into the office and had long forgotten how to wear anything but sneakers and gym gear. We had stopped trying too hard to be those trendy Melburnites known for their fashion sense and felt a bit overwhelmed after social interaction. After work friday night drinks which was almost our religion back in the day ceased to exist or take off again. The only boom we created was a mental health crisis.
I miss that old life but struggling to embrace it back as well. Especially after a second, third and now forth lockdown. Only time will tell.
Will we ever go back to who we were? Or have we changed forever? Or are we just not much more than spoiled brats living in a lucky country?
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