Do we really need pants? And other lessons from a pandemic year We’re one year, or roughly 31,536,000 seconds, into this new, strange pandemic life. We’ve missed loved ones and weddings and funerals, dance recitals and baseball playoffs, more “firsts” and simple pleasures than we can even count at this point. We’ve learned how to laugh with our eyes, through masks, from 6 feet away. We’ve learned how to work and sleep and play and exercise and relax — all in the same room. We’ve learned to value human worth by the size of their toilet paper stockpile.