Samantha Motion: 10 really good things happened in 2020, a very bad year

How little we knew then. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Remember 27 years ago in 2019 when we were all making hilarious 20/20 vision jokes?

Oh, how we laughed, innocent in our ignorance of the horrors 2020 had in store.

With my crystal clear hindsight, however, I can see it hasn't been all bad. So take your mind off the seemingly never-ending stress of the US election for a minute and let's recall some of the nice, heartwarming things to happen this year, at home and abroad.

1. Bread's redemption

For years, bread has been maligned and defamed in the War on Gluten, the Crusade against Carbs.

Sliced white bread - once the thing all other best things were measured against; the foundation of the food pyramid; the heart of Kiwi culinary icons such as fairy bread, sausage sizzles and cheesy rolls - was publicly shamed for its unfortunate deficit of nutritional value.

But when the pandemic hit and it felt like more holes were being punched in our global society than a ciabatta, where did we turn for comfort in our hour of knead??

Bread.

We filled our quarantine hours perfecting the art of the loaf and enjoying the delicious doughs of our labours. It's what bread deserved.

Also, those of you who bought 5kg bags of flour during the shortages - how's that working out?

2. Sweatpants became fashionable

On an unrelated note, what great timing for fashion to fall back in love with loungewear.

Oversized, elastic, loose: Chalk up a win for comfort-lovers.

3. Bambam got a job

"They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but I think that's wrong."

That's what Andy Munroe from AA Rotorua Glass Cleaners told the Rotorua Daily Post after giving a job to a local best known for begging and cleaning car windscreens for coins.

Four months later and Brian "Bam Bam" Mollgaard, 57, is doing just fine and in line for a permanent contract.

Helping people is a two-way street - but someone has to take the first step.

Brian "Bam Bam" Mollgaard, 57, used to wash car windscreens and now he's employed as a window washer. Photo / File

4. Love for local businesses

It's been a rough year to be a small or medium-sized business or even an independent operator, but they have really risen to the challenge, and local customers responded in kind.

NZME's Go Local! series highlighted some awesome, positive stories that came out of that very tough time, like the hair salon that employed garden tools in a light-hearted homemade movie about the challenges of cutting hair while social distancing, or the Rotorua moteliers who made friends with an Austrian couple stuck in New Zealand during lockdown who were their only guests.

5. The work from home revolution

Employers had been a bit slow to embrace the idea of employees working from home, even as the technology to support it improved.

Lockdowns changed all that. In a matter of days, the nation's office workers had to relocate home.

The lucky ones had a home office, but kitchen tables, couches and the occasional bed also sufficed.

And we liked it. An University of Otago study of just under 2600 New Zealanders in May found most thought they were equally or more productive at home, and nearly 90 per cent wanted to keep doing it at least part-time.

Probably not at the same time as homeschooling the kids, though.

Thank goodness for teachers.

Trustpower employee Ben Rice is now permanently working from home in Pāpāmoa. Photo / File

6. Our heroic essential workers

When it was all coming apart at the seams, people in some pretty tough and often low-paid jobs were the ones holding the fabric together.

Truckies, cleaners, health professionals, supermarket workers, port workers, police, bus drivers and farmers were among those putting themselves on the frontline of the fight against Covid.

The sacrifices some of these usually unsung heroes made, including not seeing their own families, were extraordinary and they deserved every ounce of recognition.

Mainfreight Rotorua truck driver Ricky Bishop made personal sacrifices to continue serving his community. Photo / File

7. Dogs were wonderful, of course

Has anyone had a better year than dogs? All our pet pooches' dreams came true when we went into lockdown. Belly scratches on tap and three walks a day!

Plus, all over the world, people seeking quarantine company emptied out rescue shelters.

In yet more evidence of their blessed existence, there were also incredible tales of survival.

This week it was Roxy, who survived 24 days stuck in a log pile as her family mounted a massive search at one point involving a helicopter.

Then there was Shogun, whose thrilling adventure in Te Puke is now the subject of a children's book after firefighters had to rescue all 56kg of him out of a deep gully, where he ended up after innocently following his "troublemaker" golden retriever pal Moon out the gate.

How Shogun's rescue was reported in Te Puke Times in August last year. Photo / File

8. The Gallaghers were together to the end

Kevin and Maureen Gallagher were married for 66 years and, last month, the Tauranga couple died just 20 minutes apart.

"Where you go, I go," she told him near the beginning of their long, loving relationship.

They were together in death as they were in life, and I hope it gave their families comfort.

Kevin and Maureen Gallagher were married in 1954. Photo / Supplied

9. Pidge came home

After 24 years flying free, Pidge the kererū returned, ready for retirement, to the place where he was hand-raised - Rotorua's Rainbow Springs Nature Park.

He wasn't in great shape when he arrived, but I understand he's now doing very well.

10. New Zealand united

In the madness of 2020, New Zealand has been an oasis of civil calm.

Our collective efforts to smash Covid-19 have united us and generally kept us on a common path - a trend even reflected in our election, to historic effect.

Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party romped home to a historic victory on election night. Photo / File

Our reward is not life without challenges, but at least we can live with little fear of infection and a lot of confidence in the system protecting us and in the common sense of other Kiwis.

We get to head into summer looking forward to travelling freely around the country visiting loved ones, going to events - sport, music, weddings - and enjoying our beauty spots.

It's a far cry from the fresh lockdowns and uncertainty people in many parts of the UK and Europe are facing, or the soaring infection rates and civil divisions of life in America, where searches for "how to move to NZ" have seen a massive spike.

The less we have to see of this guy in future, the better. Photo / Getty Images

Bonus: America dumps Trump?

This one is perhaps a little premature - who knows how long it will be before all the votes are counted and the court cases dealt with and the result settled?

But I'm ever-optimistic that the end of his tantrum-ridden reign is nigh.