We found out how you’re passing the time in quarantine. We’re not judging anybody
You might think, judging from your social media accounts, that all of Miami - nay, all of America - is now engaged in one of two pursuits: Making face masks or baking bread from scratch.
This turns out not to be the case, which is a relief if you’re one of those people who can’t sew and had no idea yeast is a thing they apparently sell in the grocery store.
Nerdbear.com has conducted a survey and used Google Trends to find out the most popular hobbies during the coronavirus pandemic. Mysteriously, baking and making masks were not in the top three responses. Neither were abject sobbing or breathing into a bag, and we are relieved about that, too.
What are most people doing? Nerdbear’s answer does not come as a surprise: We’re watching TV. The survey shows 70 percent of respondents say they’re watching movies or TV shows, and search data reveals that interest in Netflix has increased 122 percent. We are pretty sure 120 percent of that is viewers looking for insight into “Tiger King.”
The second most popular hobby? Reading, say 50 percent. Why not? You’ve got time on your hands, so grab a book. Libraries are closed, but you can download ebooks from them or help out your local indie bookstore by ordering books to read in your time of need. And by “local indie bookstore” we mean Books & Books, which is offering free shipping for online orders.
Thirty percent of respondents claim they are working out, and we hate them and their Pelotons. Search results show a whopping 488 percent increase in interest in home workouts. We find this hard to believe. What we are most interested in is which stores still have pepperoni French bread pizzas.
What else are people doing? Playing board games or video games. Yoga and arts and crafts (hmmm, maybe they are making masks). Do it yourself projects (although not at my house).
What aren’t they doing? Playing a musical instrument and learning a new language. Maybe we’ll try that in May. Till then, we’re off to start the new season of “Ozark.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 6:00 AM.