[donretag]

"there is a light at the end of this fucking tunnel and we will get through it."

As someone that was lonely before COVID, there is no light at the end. Makind friends when over 30 is incredibly difficult. Being an big extrovert in isolation is tough. I want to work in an office, but I probably never will again in our industry.

[cubano]

Like what in life that's worth a shit don't take some effort?

Being lonely sucks yeah...but take at least a bit of responsibility for it and realize that people make major changes in their lives every-damn-day.

Heroin addicts get clean EVERYDAY...you think being lonely is worse than kicking that shit? Guess what...you're wrong if you do.

Take small steps. Smile more. Be interested in others. You can do it for sure.

[closeparen]

>Smile more

No one should be seeing an uncovered face until the whole world is vaccinated.

[mapme]

You can smile over zoom :)

[throwaway3699]

Oh, cmon...

Most of the world won't be offered the vaccine for at least a year.

[toyg]

Don't be so downbeat. A lot of execs really hate remote working, they are people-persons who thrive on conviviality. They will soon push again to have proper offices. You'll be laughing at all this in 2022.

[dhnajsjdnd]

I recently did the software engineer job search thing and most of the companies said I’d be required to work to the office when the pandemic is over.

[at-fates-hands]

I have a few friends who have taken out of state contracts to do development work under the same premise. They've both said as soon as the pandemic is over, they'll finish their contracts and start working back in their home states again.

[em-bee]

most of my friends i made past 30. it's just like doreen said here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25533168 it's about finding groups with common interest.

contributing to FOSS is a good place to make friends. other forms of volunteering too.

the difficulty is to do that without having 'to make friends' as the primary goal. that just makes you impatient because not every contact will turn into a friend.

to approach the office work problem, try finding people who would like to share a video connection while working. there are websites to facilitate that.

another way is mentoring. find juniors in your field, and guide them with your experience. i made a bunch of friends as a gsoc mentor and elsewhere.

any hobbies that you might have often also have online communities. join them.

post your interests right here. someone might respond.

as someone else here said, the light at the end of the tunnel is you. put up that light and use it to find friends

[wGeF7H8Z59y985y]

I think Aerosmith said it best:

> the light at the end of the tunnel may be you.

https://genius.com/Aerosmith-amazing-lyrics

[karlzt]

You should probably rethink what your industry is :).