ADs don't want the greater good, give us our crusty jugglers!

[ISaySteadyOn]

Here you go all, thought it might be my turn again.

Ok so maybe a million times is a slight exaggeration but it must be about every other post.

Place marking!

@countrygirl99 give up - they will never get it - they don't want to get it.

MN now just reminds me of the Pulp song Common People where they put on an affectation of woke-ness but still think that the different circumstances people live in are some form of a choice they could opt out of if they just decided not to.

The arseholes have always been like that and devoid of empathy and the ability to understand circumstances differ.

Yup! My special favourite is the notion that if only they were prepared scrimp and make sacrifices Everyone could afford private school fees. Bless! There was a hilarious post on the controversial driving thread yesterday that said something like “How dare you come on here and judge other people’s actions! You’re so arrogant!” I wondered if they’d ever been on MN before? Otherwise how could they have failed to notice that that’s the exact purpose of the majority of threads...

Absolutely @Mrsfrumble. I am in the fortunate position that we're quite comfortable but, to appropriate a current expression, that makes me 'check my privilege' before I post anything. These people that airily say 'oh just do this, that or the other' really have no comprehension of other people's financial situation. Ironically it is MN that has actually taught me a great deal about that eg threads on food budgets. They've brought me up short, educated me and, hopefully, given me a great deal more empathy.

I just gave them the post about the wealthy WFH ers, loving the new normal, think that may be most of them...or with a wealthy spouse

There are some dodgy posters with doom threads about children dying and then asking for opinions on masks too.

wonder if could be from unions knowing the press cites MN in stuff about schools. which the gov also looks at for opinion

Ibake we are comfortable too. We wouldn't be if I didn't earn a lot more than DH and we both come from much poorer backgrounds so hopefully that gives us a wider perspective. I have a work story that made me realise how valuable diversity of background is to businesses. Years ago just before the PPI mis-selling hit the headlines I was working in the finance department of a bank supporting the insurance business. I was asked to look at a suggestion put forward by one of the big consultancy firms for "an innovative new product". It was like PPI for rent. Question 1 from me was how does this interact with housing benefit and how would we avoid mis-selling? The response was to ask what housing benefit is! I was in a room with nice, bright people with first class Oxbridge degrees and they had no idea that housing benefit even existed. I don't know who was most shocked me or them. They went away and realised it wasn't going to work.

@countrygirl99

Ibake we are comfortable too. We wouldn't be if I didn't earn a lot more than DH and we both come from much poorer backgrounds so hopefully that gives us a wider perspective. I have a work story that made me realise how valuable diversity of background is to businesses. Years ago just before the PPI mis-selling hit the headlines I was working in the finance department of a bank supporting the insurance business. I was asked to look at a suggestion put forward by one of the big consultancy firms for "an innovative new product". It was like PPI for rent. Question 1 from me was how does this interact with housing benefit and how would we avoid mis-selling? The response was to ask what housing benefit is! I was in a room with nice, bright people with first class Oxbridge degrees and they had no idea that housing benefit even existed. I don't know who was most shocked me or them. They went away and realised it wasn't going to work.

Sounds like we had very similar roles!

We may be saved by having the mortgage paid in a few months, it has been years but it is an endowment so fingers crossed..

otherwise things not great self employment etc

Drivingdownthe101 I've escaped finance and work on projects in the branch network now. I much prefer dealing with "real" stuff, there is a bit less corporate bollocks to deal with.

I used to work for the quango which is now DEFRA. Kind of glad not doing that anymore. friend is there now quite bogged down in it all.

www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/out-the-ooze/202006/why-face-masks-give-us-the-creeps

Like this one

@ibake you’re obviously a thinker - hence you’re here anyway. I can’t imagine having twins was a walk in the park anyway... DESPITE your gold-plated Norland nannies. 😁

I’m an invisible self-employed. Theoretically I should be able to work - but all my work involves thinking. With the double-whammy of being a single mum with “boisterous children” and being ASD I’ve barely got the head space to keep the fucking washing machine going. 6 months without respite. I have literally NO idea how the single mums working out of the home daily for the last 6 months have coped.

My dad is taking my kids on holiday next week. I’m going to have to squeeze 6 months of thinking into 6 days to try and cover the next 6
Months because I don’t believe for one second mine will be at school 9-3 until Christmas.

If money was a cushion people like Steve Bing would still be here.

If the government are looking at mumsnet for covid opinions no wonder they're acting like a wind vane

Yes. MN is a good “privilege check” for me too. There are a lot of very wealthy families at the DC’s school; big London houses, second homes, skiing at half term etc, so it’s easy to slip into thinking that we’re “poor” in comparison, but we’re actually very comfortable. If any of you spot me behaving like a clueless arsehole on other threads, please give me a virtual slap!

It's true we had a big swing from keeping the children off forever during the dramatic phase of MN, to getting the schools back full time.... all which I saw reflected in the media and the governments response. Reflecting public opinion, I suppose.

@justasking111

If money was a cushion people like Steve Bing would still be here.

Cushion is an unfortunate word to have used... 😉

Morning. Must've been windy here last night as the plant pots in the garden have gone for a burton again.

Re school bags : I don't think they've been banned from DS's school (secondary). What I don't get is why it's seen as a big problem if they take a bag. If they only touch their own bags & wash hands, what's the issue? The virus isn't going to jump off a bag & crawl up the nose of a reception child.

Agree that some people find it hard to see that others' lives are different to theirs. The "Common People" analogy came to me yesterday, too.

I can hear DH on a zoom meeting with work, & his colleagues have suggested to him we can all go abroad on holiday & "just self-isolate" when we get back because DH is WFH. I couldn't help myself, & shouted, "No, we can't all do that! you idiots!" Left DH trying to explain that me & DD have jobs that have to be done out of home, & that we would have to take unpaid leave in that circumstance. They have no idea what it's like, & yet I've met them & they're nice people. But we are not all living the same neat & tidy lifestyles.

"wonder if could be from unions knowing the press cites MN in stuff about schools. which the gov also looks at for opinion"

I don't know, but I read some threads sometimes & wonder if they've been planted on here to deliberately wind people up.

Coronavirus: Smart tests for Covid ‘poised to halve quarantine within days

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/coronavirus-smart-tests-for-covid-poised-to-halve-quarantine-within-days-sh9gjrfrn

Consideration is being given to using testing after a week to cut the fortnight of isolation demanded by NHS Test and Trace amid concern that the cost of taking two weeks off work is reducing compliance. Less than a third of Britain’s daily capacity of 338,000 tests is being used.

Hmm

If there was a test that told you if you'd got it there & then, the moment it was in your system, & you could get a result really fast, & needed to miss maybe a day of work or school, that would be a lot better, & might tempt more people into complying with testing etc.

The problem is the incubation period, hence having to stay at home for 2 weeks, & probably why testing everyone at the airport isn't that effective. A test result as they are done now is only as good as the day you did the test. You could test negative today but catch it tomorrow. Or you could test negative today & have the virus but it doesn't show up yet.

I'd be more confident about going out & about in general if the isolation period was much shorter. That would entice me out far more than wearing a mask. And isolating isn't just about me, it's the stress of knowing colleagues are also going to have to isolate or pick up the slack for me, the stress of the rest of the family possibly having to be at home too, the stress of getting food etc sorted out for the duration.
I also have this strong pull to go out as much as possible because we've missed out so much of the year already. It's quite a dilemma.

I know it seems to be about money so they don't have to pay people isolating. They are saying about reaching a proportion of cases not all. I'm not sure about it really.

Just heard my brother has been made redundant. Two small children. Wife is a nurse though but still not good.

@Orangeblossom78

I used to work for the quango which is now DEFRA. Kind of glad not doing that anymore. friend is there now quite bogged down in it all.

www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/out-the-ooze/202006/why-face-masks-give-us-the-creeps

Like this one

I think that helped me understand what I sort of knew but couldn't put into words.

He spoiled it all with his last paragraph though, putting himself firmly in the 'do the right thing and wear a mask' camp.

@orangeblossom78 I hope your brother finds something soon.

DH says he tried to apply for the govt £50 bike voucher scheme (he cycles to work when the office is open).

An hour after trying to apply & getting nowhere, the site crashed. He says, without a word of a lie, the message that popped onto the screen to explain why the bike scheme page had crashed read, "This page is not working due to high levels of traffic."