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50 Good Things That Happened In 2020

Started by Hydra009, January 01, 2021, 06:34:36 PM

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Hydra009

For a laugh, I'm going to take on this ridiculous listicle of "good" news this year:  https://www.dispatch.com/story/lifestyle/2020/08/03/50-positive-things-that-happened-in-2020-so-far/112792264/

Quote1. A 103-year-old grandma beat COVID-19 and celebrated with a Bud Light.
Surviving a bad thing =/= a good thing.  Falling down a cliff and not dying isn't so much a good thing as it is not the absolute worst thing.  It's not good for a bad thing to happen.

Quote2. Drive-in movie theaters made a comeback.
Because in-person movie theaters were shuttered because of covid.  Finding a silver lining in a bad thing is not itself a good thing.  If my arm was lopped off in a horrible chainsaw accident, I couldn't claim that it was a good thing that I lost weight.

Quote3. Drive-in concerts are a thing now.
Because of covid.  That's bad.

Quote4. “Tiger King” somehow connected us.
And that's shameful because that show is trashy AF.

Quote5. We got to watch football greats Tom Brady and Peyton Manning play golf with golf greats Phil Mickleson and Tiger Woods in "The Match" for COVID-19 relief.
I had no idea that happened, but sure that's good.

Quote6. Restaurants shared their secret recipes so we could make them at home.
Okay, that's good.

Quote7. John Krasinski made good news go viral with the YouTube series “Some Good News.”
And how did that work out?.  Good while it lasted, from what I hear, though.

Quote8. Wearing sweatpants and tees became acceptable fashion choices all day, every day.
Uggh.

Quote9. Restaurants got awesomely creative to enforce social distancing including pool noodle hats, bumper boats and dapper mannequin guests.
That's all fine and good, but the reason they had to do all that was to discourage dumbasses from spreading the goddamn plague at their workplace.  That's NOT good.

Quote10. People around the country brushed up on their sewing skills, making masks for people who need them most.
Which implies that people didn't have access to essential supplies to protect them from the plague.  That's not good.

Quote11. Lady Gaga gave us a new album for sweaty dance-floor fun â€" in our living rooms.
Not to bag on Lady Gaga but that's hardly good news.

Quote12. Dua Lipa single-handedly saved pop music.
Should've let it die.

Quote13. Then Carly Rae Jepsen did it again with her new album.
Very subjective, lol.

Quote14. The Chicks returned after 14 years with "Gaslighter" and reignited our love of twangy empowerment songs.
Uggh.

Quote15. Americans rushed to adopt and foster pets in need amid the pandemic.
Partially good.  Demand for pets was/is higher - that's good - but only because people are cooped up at home because of the pandemic.  That's not good.

Quote16. Sure, we might have gained a little weight, but we rediscovered our love for old hobbies like baking and gardening.
I think I might legitimately hate the author.  Plus, this is just a repeat of the sewing one.

Quote17. We also have time to read again and we're seizing the moment to educate ourselves: books like Robin DiAngelo's "White Fragility" and Ibram X. Kendi's "How to Be an Antiracist" have topped USA TODAY's best-selling books list for weeks.
*shrugs*  Imo, the people who most need these sorts of epiphanies are least likely to read these sorts of books.

Quote18. Puzzles and board games became cool again and offered a much-needed break from our screens.
Board games have been gaining in popularity for years now, so while it's a good thing, it's hardly a 2020 thing.

Quote19. TikTok blew up and our boredom was cured.
Okay, I can now honestly say I hate the author.

Quote20. Netflix’s elaborate “Floor Is Lava” competition brought us back to the imaginary game of our childhoods.
You don't need a (I'm assuming it's a tv show) tv show for that.

Quote21. Distilleries, both small and large, around the country used their resources to produce badly needed hand sanitizer.
Because of hoarding.  Not good.

Quote22. Major companies such as 3M and Apple pooled resources or shifted production to make millions of masks to help keep people safe.
Which points to serious supply chain problems.  Not good.

Quote23. Ford, GM, Tesla and other automakers were able to make ventilators and other medical devices to help with the pandemic.
Same as above.

Quote24. Crayola launched a box of crayons with diverse skin colors for children to "accurately color themselves into the world."
This fits a very small and very trivial notion of good.  Suffice it to say this isn't what people were protesting.

Quote25. Amazon introduced fun new boxes that can be turned into a cat fort or robot costume.
Aren't boxes by definition cat forts?

Quote26. We learned that homeschooling is hard and finally recognized teachers for the heroes that they are.
How's that working out?

Quote27. Health care workers and essential workers. Also heroes.
...for about two weeks and then made their lives a living hell with skyrocketing cases and even managed to spread the plague to them, which killed quite a few of them.  Not good in the slightest.

Quote28. NASA named its Washington, D.C. headquarters after Mary W. Jackson, its first Black female engineer.
I guess.

Quote29. Birdwatching? Yes, please.
I can't believe this was written by a human being.

Quote30. Bike trails became one of the few places in the country that were open.
Not good.

Quote31. We came up with creative ways to celebrate big milestones like drive-by birthdays and Zoom parties.
Because of covid.  Not good.

Quote32. For the first time ever, the Academy Award for best picture went to an international feature film: "Parasite."
I guess that's good.

Quote33. Brad Pitt charmed us with jokes during awards season. He also won his first Oscar and made a hunky Anthony Fauci on “Saturday Night Live.”
Sure, whatever.

Quote34. Billie Eilish swept the Grammys and announced a new single.
I can't for the life of me even begin to care about this.

Quote35. Alicia Keys as Grammys host gave us a much-needed moment of comfort following the death of Kobe Bryant.
Silver lining of a much larger and more negative thing - the sudden and horrifying death of Kobe Bryant along with his daughter.

Quote36. Love is still blossoming amid quarantine thanks to drones, digital dinners and an inflatable plastic bubble.
Not good.

Quote37. After casting 40 seasons of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” ABC finally cast its first Black male lead, Matt James.
That show should've been cancelled 39 seasons ago.

Quote38. Celebrities surprised graduates at virtual commencement ceremonies.
Depending on the speaker, that's either a mildly interesting surprise or the worst thing that happened to them this year.  Overall, not good.

Quote39. Beyoncé dropped some fierce surprises, like her Juneteenth track “Black Parade” and for her visual album, "Black Is King.“
No one cares.

Quote40. Taylor Swift dropped a surprise of her own â€" her eighth and possibly best ever studio album.
Ditto.

Quote41. Ashley Graham, Jenna Dewan, Anderson Cooper and more stars welcomed the most adorable babies.
Ditto.

Quote42. Smaller movies and hidden gems are suddenly at our fingertips (streaming!).
Always have been.

Quote43. Three words: “Hamilton” the movie. It lives up to the hype.
Okay, that was pretty good.

Quote44. We realized how much we love and need sports and its ability to unite us.
Speak for yourself.

Quote45. With toilet paper out of stock, bidets are booming which is good news for our behinds...and less wasteful.
Because of hoarding.  That's bad.

Quote46. Musicians took to social media to give us personal concerts from home.
Okay, that's good.

Quote47. Late night talk show hosts continued to bring the funny from their homes, with adorable special guests â€" their kids.
Is that what they think on the planet you're from?

Quote48. While coronavirus pushed many museums to close, it opened up their collections to audiences virtually.
Silver lining.

Quote49. People brought out their Christmas decorations to bring cheer during quarantine.
People put up Christmas decorations every year.  Typical, normal things don't really qualify as good things.  Might as well say that the Sun is still shining and call it a good thing.

Quote50. Weddings still happened over Zoom, and it was beautiful.
Silver lining.

----

I count exactly 4 unambiguous, legitimately good things out of 50.  How about you?

Baruch

Spent the whole year in the same location as my daughter, supporting each other.

Finished clearing out my two old apartments at my old location, so I am only paying rent on my trailer space here.

Old car held up, though I had to replace the alternator.

Ex completed her hip replacement operation before the hospital was overtaken by Covid cases

No family here caught Covid.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cassia

A 103-year-old grandma beat COVID-19 and celebrated with a Bud Light by drinking piss.

Cassia

It was a good attempt to whistle while walking past the graveyard. I prefer pessimism, hardly ever get disappointed.

Hydra009

Some actually good things that happened last year.  Not silver linings or "coulda been worse" or a direct result of a bad thing.  Not terribly subjective either.

T-Rex embryos (now, just gotta add some frog DNA and open up a theme park.  I feel like it should have lots of torches.  I want at least 8 torches on the main gate.  Or is that too tacky?)

Polio eradicated from Africa

Researchers in Hong Kong create first 3D artificial eye  Or more specifically, "a biomimetic prosthetic eye using a nanowire array that creates a hemispherical artificial retina."  Probably for the best if I just describe it as 3D.

NASA successfully launched its most complex rover yet to Mars

And last but not least, NASA discovers water on the surface of the moon

Unbeliever

2020 went out with a bang, not a whimper.
God Not Found
"There is a sucker born-again every minute." - C. Spellman

Baruch

Quote from: Unbeliever on January 02, 2021, 09:46:53 PM
2020 went out with a bang, not a whimper.

Hardly.  No nuclear war yet.  Would remove unnecessary humans, sterilize against Covid.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Mr.Obvious

#7
I got a promotion in 2020.
One of my cousins had a kid.
We got a lovely cat.
I was gifted a ps4.
Been getting along better with and appreciative of my siblings.
Learned to make cheesecake and it damn well was a true succes.
Trump lost.

You know, honestly, it can be therapeutic to look back and salvage the memory gems from that absolute shit show of a year.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Shiranu

Sir Lewis Hamilton was knighted, as well as Sir Tom Moore, so that was pretty cool.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur