Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Let's do a short check-in with how you're handling the pandemic lifestyle depending on how much of an introvert or an extrovert you are. 646-435-7280. Is living through the lockdown really an introvert's dream as some people said at the beginning, like a year ago, and an extrovert's nightmare? Give us an introvert to extrovert spectrum check-in on yourself. Between now and when the mayor comes on at 11:30, 646-435-7280, and we'll take those calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. All right, to introvert and extrovert one-year pandemic lifestyle check-in. We're going to start with an introvert and then go to an extrovert. Eli in Astoria, I see you, don't go away. Naomi in Brooklyn is first though. Hi, Naomi you're on WNYC.

Naomi: Hi, Brian. I almost feel guilty saying this and I have all year. I figure I'm an introvert. I love it. I love this whole thing, and I even got a dose of COVID right at the beginning. I'm alone with my teenage daughter, even with her being a hassle, I just love being at home. I'm not at work. I still have a job. I work remotely. I don't have to deal with anyone in the hallways, or anybody I have to suddenly make conversation with. I can talk to them at my leisure. I've just enjoyed this so much.

Brian: True confessions from Naomi, the happy introvert in Brooklyn. Thank you. Eli in Astoria, you're on WNYC. Hi.

Eli: Hey, thanks for taking my call. Also, hi, Mom. She's listening right now.

Brian: Hi, Eli's mom. Go ahead. Sorry.

Eli: [chuckles] No, we're huge fans. Yes, so I'm a huge extrovert. Loved having parties. Obviously can't do that during COVID. Basically, I started this project called Tikkun Bakery on Instagram, where I partner with local bars and restaurants in Astoria. It's essentially like a barbecue pop-up where we donate all the money made from the barbecue to a local charity like Astoria Food Pantry or Astoria Mutual Aid. For me, as an extrovert, what I get out of it is helping my community, but also having regular customers that I get to see every time I do it, and it's been absolutely key to my mental health the past six months, for sure.

Brian: It's such a great way to express your extroversion in the pandemic. It must be satisfying as you're doing good for the world at the same time as you're getting human contact.

Eli: Absolutely. You even see people post on the subreddit for Astoria, like our story is saying like how much they like the barbecue, it feels like a sense of community. I think it's not just me, but it's impacted other extroverts and probably introverts as well, and that definitely makes me feel good at the end of the day, for sure.

Brian: Eli, thank you so much, and hi, Eli's mom. Cliff in-- this says Richmond County, I assume that means Staten Island. Is that right, Cliff?

Cliff: That's right. I'm actually working in Staten Island today. Thanks for taking my call, Brian. Love your show.

Brian: Thank you. Did you say Richmond County to the screener or they just being, playing with me?

Cliff: [laughs] I said Staten Island and then they asked for a county and I said Richmond.

Brian: [laughs] Okay. Go ahead.

Cliff: Yes, I have two daughters, two teenage daughters. One, a classic introvert, and one, a classic extrovert. With the pandemic, they have absolutely flip-flopped. My older daughter who's the introvert, she's more social now than she's ever been in her life, including getting a job and having friends online, but visiting with friends and getting together. My younger daughter really, really struggled in the beginning. She has since adapted but I would absolutely confirm that the introvert-extrovert thing is true. For introverts, my daughter has totally made a change, and my younger daughter, while she's adapted, had really a hard time. She struggled at first but has adapted.

Brian: What have you found has helped your extrovert daughter adapt as well as possible?

Cliff: [sighs] I think she's just such a confident individual, and she's a great student. I think she really has looked up to her older sister, who was a great model. My wife and I have been there for her. It's been a struggle, I can't say any single thing that has helped her, my extrovert, get through it, it just really time and understanding that this is the way it is for now. Yes, just time and realization.

Brian: Hopefully, it'll be over soon. Cliff, thank you very much. By the way, how many of you who don't live on Staten Island know that it is technically Richmond County, New York. Here's Hollis in Kingston, New York. Hollis, you're on WNYC. Hi, there.

Hollis: Hi. Yes, I'd say I'm an extrovert. The pandemic has been very tough for me. I usually call my friends and play. I play Minecraft with them to just help me cope.

Brian: How old are you, Hollis?

Hollis: What?

Brian: How old are you?

Hollis: I'm eight years old.

Brian: Okay, just thought everybody would like to know. Go ahead. One time you were what?

Hollis: I usually play Minecraft to help me cope, and one time, I had to go to just online, over-the-phone therapy to just keep myself okay, and just to check in with myself and make sure I'm fine.

Brian: What does it mean to you to be an extrovert? When you say you're an extrovert, what are you saying about yourself?

Hollis: I'm basically saying that I rely on talking to people. I like to talk to people a lot. When I was in pre-school, I used to talk to strangers on the street, so yes, in my opinion, that's what being an extrovert means.

Brian: You are very well-spoken and very impressive, Hollis. Thank you. Good luck to you.

Hollis: Thank you.

Brian: Ran in the Bronx, you're on WNYC. Hi, Ran.

Ran: Hi, first-time caller, long-time listener.

Brian: Great, you're on.

Ran: I identify myself as an introvert. Between therapy and talking with someone weekly over the phone and living my life online these days, I find myself happier than I've ever been in my entire life.

Brian: Another true confession. How do you feel about that? I said I'm joking with true confession, but how do you relate to having that experience when a lot of other people might raise their eyebrows at it?

Ran: Yes, I feel a sense of guilt over it, that I actually do talk to my therapist about. It's strange because as happy as I am, I know that this watered-down feeling that literally cost-- millions of people have to die for me to be happy. It's strange. There's no way to feel really good about it, but with that in mind, I would feel foolish and not enjoying my happiness, because I know five years from now, when I have to get up at God knows what time in the morning to go to work, and do the awkward things that I find I have to do in the old version of my life, I know I'm not really looking forward to it.

Brian: Your anxiety is about returning to normal?

Ran: Absolutely.

Brian: Ran, thank you very much. I should say that's the second call we've had on the air like that. There are other callers holding on who we're not going to get to like that. Coming out of the closet, there are people who are enjoying this lifestyle, even if they realize that, of course, they wouldn't want this to be forced on everybody else. Olivia in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Olivia.

Olivia: Hi, Brian.

Brian: Extrovert, introvert, somewhere on the spectrum?

Olivia: I'm definitely, naturally an extrovert. I center my work around human interaction, and I just can't stop talking, and I have found that a weird phenomena has occurred, since all my interaction is now virtual, that I have heightened social anxiety and meeting new people, which is something that I've never really experienced before.

Brian: How do you think that relates to lockdown, if it does?

Olivia: I think it's extremely correlated in that before, I wouldn't feel weird about having someone sit next to me on a bus. Now, if I go into the office and someone sits next to me on a bus, I'm going into a panic attack nearly.

Brian: That's not social anxiety, that's COVID anxiety?

Olivia: There's that, and whether just getting-- I don't know whether there's a link with, towards like the physical closeness to people, and the mental proximity, and volunteering, and just small interactions, and that fear of other people and letting your guard down, whether that's physically or emotionally.

Brian: I have no idea the answer to this, but I have wondered along the lines of what you were just saying about little kids, really little kids, who are being imprinted right now with the fear of being too close physically to other people, including other people their age. I know parents are having such a time managing play dates and everything else. For these really little kids, two-year-olds, three-year-olds, who their first social experiences that they're going to remember are ones of trying to keep their distance. How are they going to get over that and how much is that going to last into, not necessarily their whole lives, but into some period of time of relationship forming after this ends?

I don't know. It's just a question that occurs to me, but your experience calls that up.

Olivia: Exactly. No, and I think adults and children alike, it's starting to warp our perception and social psychologists and analysts will have quite the specimen in front of them for the next few years.

Brian: Olivia, thank you very much. Let's see, is the mayor ready to go or should I take one more? I guess one more. Oh no, he is ready to go. All right, then we're going to take a break. Thank you, introverts and extroverts. That was really interesting, wasn't it? Good luck to everybody, no matter where you are on that spectrum, coping through the rest of the pandemic and coming out of it.

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