Post-Pandemic Life: Will Remote Work And Outdoors Dining Remain Popular?

BOSTON (CBS) -- Will blowing out birthday candles be a thing of the past? Are shared drinks ever coming back? And how about the traditional handshake?

A lot of questions about how life will be post-pandemic will take some time to answer.

"Oh yeah, we'll shake hands. Hugging, hugging. We're big huggers," said friends Karol and Colleenin unison.

One thing for certain is the workplace may never go back to the way we remember it.

"This huge swing has happened through the course of the pandemic," said Lisa Walker, the VP of Brand & Corporate Marketing and Workforce Futurist at Fuze, a cloud communication services company.

Their company surveys show fewer and fewer people want to fully return to the office post-pandemic.

"I think everyone else is waking up to the fact that remote work is productive and remote work can be engaging if you invest in it, so I think we're going to see a lot more remote working happening as the world opens up," said Walker.

Checking in with your doctor remotely from home is also likely to stick around.

"I think patients have given us really great feedback that they feel really well cared for, that the evaluation was well done, and that they didn't lose anything," said PhysicianOne Doctor Jeannie Kenkare.

Other things we've gotten used to, like eat in what was once a parking spot, are also here to stay.

"This is, as I say, one of the few positives that has come out of the pandemic, is being able to do these parklets and set up the outdoor dining," said Newburyport Mayor Donna Holaday.

For many, doing things a bit differently compared to how it was before than pandemic is showing them another side of life.

"It's has its ups and downs but overall I would say having the family time together has been awesome," said Kristen Jackman.

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