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Comment by pjc50 | Hacker News Reader

This article could have been written at almost any time in the past 50 years. But somehow it lands particularly badly in the middle of a pandemic when some people are far too busy and some are forcibly idled.

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Regardless of the article’s timing, the question remains. Are we too busy in modern society? Do we make ourselves busy to feel better about ourselves as a proxy to productivity? Is being busy (e.g., involving the brain in various scenarios throughout the day) necessary to maintain a prescient mind? Can we potentially be less busy yet generally happier?

I’d argue the answers to these questions are all “yes”, but alas, I have no scientific data to back my claim, purely anecdotes.

If one is not struggling for basic needs, the current global situation truly shines a light on which “time sucks” in your life are/were/will be actually worth the effort and time moving forward (once past this health crisis). From personal experience, I don’t think I’ve ever been more grateful for my relationships with my family, following the passing of several individuals whom I’ve known for 20+ years.

COVID put front and center, "What is really essential?"

And somehow, liquor stores and recreational weed dispensaries are considered "essential" while gyms and many productive small businesses are not.

Are we enjoying life too much to be busy?

(Before this is taken as general anti-drug hate, plz check username -- I'm pointing out what I see as a weird set of seemingly hypocritical priorities in a time of pandemic, not telling you that you can never have your delicious soma.)

That was never a statement of virtue but of getting outod their hair. They would rather have continued normal slow decline from alcoholics than a bunch of DTs in their ER and poison control issues from "subsitutions". And presumably self medication with dispensaries for anxiety attacks or other issues and not wanting to deal with spice or street dealing issues spiking at the worst time.

Essential is a very task focused state in other words - trying to draw generic wisdom from it without reference to the new task or situation is a mistake.

I could see the explanations you presented being valid, but it's fair to note that these were not originally considered essential services in Colorado. When it was announced that they would be shutting down recreational dispensaries and liquor stores, a friend sent me picture of a huge line that had formed outside of one. Pretty soon, Colorado announced that liquor stores and dispensaries would be able to stay open after all. I felt like this decision might have been based on fear of too many people suddenly congregating around those points at the worst possible moment, and the rollback might have been done to spread out the lines over time. Another thought I had was that perhaps after seeing those lines they feared the protests of quarantine would bring more participants out if people were cut off from their favorite drug supplies. All speculation, of course, but whatever their reasons, the decision (at least in Colorado) wasn't made until after it became evident that people were forming long lines in response to the announced shutdown. Perhaps they rethought it for other reasons, I only know the timeline.

Edit: just to clarify, when I say "valid" above I mean "the reason these decisions were made" -- my use of this term was not meant to suggest that the reasons given would be a clever basis for policy. Alcohol withdrawal would be a real problem. While I don't support making either drug discussed illegal, I generally think weed is less of a detriment to society, yet in the context of discussing "essential" services during a pandemic access to weed seems less essential than staving off the life threatening withdrawal symptoms of alcohol.

OP here. People losing their jobs during this pandemic is a tragedy, but the article is about making time for the things that truly matter in life. Seems like I didn't manage to convey that well.

Anecdotal but many people in my family don't have jobs and are still too busy to spend time with their parents, siblings, etc. who would love to support them.

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