Men who saw an opportunity during the pandemic and took it, what’d you do and was it successful?

35 comments

1. Took my family to alaska with the paid time off. It was nice state is beatiful in the summer. Made me realize how much I miss having free time

2. I joined a union and went from $14 an hour to now $37 an hour with benefits, pension, annuity, health, vision,dental, 401k. Pretty cool. Had rona not came around I may have stayed where I was.

3. Developed and nurtured a FFM triad.

   We all bonded together during lockdown and two years later we’re still going strong.

4. In Singapore there were no scalping laws, made a fortune buying up stocks of masks and hand sanitizer there and reselling. Interestingly enough almost all of my stock was bought by Chinese buyers.

5. Not really something I did directly but hybrid working is a game changer and I refuse to ever work for a company that makes me go into the office 5 days a week again.

6. My long distance relationship girlfriend moved in

7. Refinanced all my loans to rock bottom rates.

   Took advantage of the fluctuating job market to double my pay doing work I like more.

8. Quit my job, took advantage of the “free” money the US decided to blow that I was gonna end up paying for whether I took it or not and found a better job on the other side of the state.

9. Good timing on a house purchase when rates were rock bottom but prices hadn’t gone crazy yet and before anything like bidding wars and no condition sales became more common.

10. Heard it was killing fat people and started exercising on my living room floor. Lost 40-50 lbs and random women now grope me (seriously, I never knew this happened to dudes).

11. I hoped remote work would be permanent, so after 6 months of working at the dining room table I built a finished office/mancave in my basement. Appears to be my permanent office now.

12. Having a lot of spare time on my hands I started cycling and later running. Went from 105 down to 83 kg, and now at 40yo I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in my life.

13. i quit my job working corporate ATT retail because i realized how much I didn’t like it after 2 years. It wasn’t worth the money anymore. I got another job in a local company’s fulfillment center which allowed me to complete my degree and led to a related job right out of college.

    I’m trying to figure out my next move though

14. Started playing D&D online regularly with friends and family; switched to a WFH job that pays much better.

15. Changed careers, changed countries, changed partners… I went from working 80 a week and being $50k in debt to now I have a sweet remote gig with tons of free time, living in one of my favorite cities, and making double the pay that I was making

16. Besides being a scalper for a while

    I also sold essential oils to anti-vaxxers to prevent Covid. The cashiers are Target gave me weird looks buying all oils and candles in stock weekly.

17. Started a healthier lifestyle. I lost 30kg, started eating healthier, fell in love with running and working out.

    Nowadays I just can’t imagine what I did back in the days instead of doing some kind of sport. No clue at all, how I filled out my free time. 🤷🏻‍♂️

18. Bought a house during that dip in a much less populated area. It fucking rules

19. Got a home loan at a very low rate. I wasnt sure we’d be able to afford a mortgage along with all the moving costs and maintenance/repair costs that would have otherwise be covered by a landlord. We jumped at it, got a low rate, and are doing well in a new city.

20. Bought my truck brand new before pandemic sold it during pandemic 2 years later for 15k more than what I bought it for new . Ordered a truck I really wanted , got price protection and a 2500 dollar rebate .

21. I passed my last math class in HS with a D (bordering F) because they weren’t counting grades for the rest of the year. Refused to take another math class, despite them trying to get me to.

    Got my diploma with no problems.

22. Moved to the city and bought a place. Nice price, nice rate, and no rental clauses. The best decision I’ve made that I didn’t have to make in my life.

23. Find myself..and learnt flight simming lmao

24. I went to work from home full time. No more commute! I can sleep so much more now.

    My employer tried to get us all to go back to the office but I leveraged certain situations in my department to my favor and my boss reluctantly agreed to it.

25. I was still in school, but I mowed lawns for people n stuff. Yard work

26. A combination of Covid, being a Sr employee, work from home, and company acquisition meant I was at home with really no oversight/accountability (I bill clients hourly, so it wasn’t like I was totally unaccountable). I spent a lot of time restoring a project car. And the company was acquired yet again, by an even bigger mega-corp, so in all the chaos, no one is paying attention to me. Still at home, still building this car, and working as little as possible.

27. Without 2 hrs of commuting, I was able to sleep a little later and hit the gym. Much more content in life

28. Applied for a job at a hedge fund in HK despite being not as qualified as most other candidates (and probably older) but thanks to my two references and a good interview / case study I got it and it will be 12 months in March. The HR woman even said if it wasn’t for the pandemic you wouldn’t have got the interview so 🤷🏻‍♂️

29. Worked an insane amount of overtime.

30. Doubled down on a side business. 2022 sales were 10x 2021. I won’t be quitting my day job anytime soon but I’ve been able hire an employee and make a little change.

31. Bought a house despite the older people in my life telling me it’s a horrible idea and the housing market would crash in ‘21/22. Meanwhile, I’m just chilling with my fixed 2.99% interest rate 😂😂

32. Opened myself to idea of remote work and B2B employment which seemed too scary until quarantine. Turns out that not limiting myself to companies that keep office in my city and offer employment contract under local law led to working for better, more diverse people, less toxic and frustrated people for much more money.

33. Built a race car in my garage.

34. All the retirements let me move from entry to management.

35. Refinanced my mortgage. Bought a rental property. Dipped my toe into options trading.

    Made out like a bandit on all 3.