ADs against the ‘’ current abnormal ‘ and ‘ antisocial distancing ‘...Gather here 👍

[Dowser]

New thread
Hello Girls..it’s me again.

Hope your all out and about enjoying this glorious Saturday.

@LadyOfTheImprovisedBath

I think branding others as thick who have different outlook or view is a major problem all round in our society.

Not just thick - they are selfish too

@Welcometothelifeboatparty

The blind obedience is hard to tolerate, I think, because some of the people who are blindly obedient have the brass neck to categorise all those who are less compliant as 'thick'.

Blind obedience is often not a sign of impressive intelligence or an enquiring mind.

Nailed it!

Many people haven't got the education to make any sense at all of the figures and rely on the media to translate, which is a recipe for disaster

I hadn't realised truely how bad our media had got with science and stats and being a bit behind with updating views and positions with rapidly evolving stories.

There are bright bits with in it More or Less - and many are good in some topics and remarkable poor in others. It's a reminder to look at a variety of sources for information.

@LadyOfTheImprovisedBath
I think people are asking questions or eye rolling behind closed doors in RL
^ yes, I've noticed this more. There's some good common sense going on which is based on evidence & fact, combined with a healthy dose of scepticism about some of the roolz, but with respect for people who are scared.

Some of those who are complaining about people not following the rules are, in my experience, genuinely terrified about catching it & dying, but they are prepared to listen to explanations of statistics etc.

There are, of course, those who are nasty & lack compassion. It's unfortunate that they seem to shout the loudest. It's also the easy option to call someone, "thick" if they have a different opinion to you.

@IAintentDead

A bit like I wilfully refuse to read anything that catastrophises the situation. Even if it is possibly true, I don't want to know - I'll deal with it if it happens

^this has been my strategy for a long time. Bad things happen all the time. But they might not. Let's not waste time catastrophising. Unfortunately, humans do seem to be drawn to doing it.

What was that line from Winnie the Pooh (which I'll misquote, but it seems appropriate)?
"What if a tree falls down?" said Piglet?
"What if it doesn't?" said Pooh.

Ha! That pooh/Piglet convo reminds me of chats with my dd when she was an overly cautious nipper. "What if I fall off [whatever thing she wanted to climb]?" "What if you don't?"

BBC website is reporting that routine ops in English hospitals are down by 67%

Oh blimey I really should do some work. But it's pissing down and black as your hat. Depressing.

Hi, I very rarely post on MN but have read all these threads and just wanted to thank you for being a little oasis of sanity and hope through all of this madness. I've been at home throughout with my 4 DC, aged between 13 and 5, plus DH on furlough, now possibly facing redundancy, and have never struggled so much in my life. The mandatory masks was the final straw and I seem to spend most of my time in the brink of tears. I keep thinking that everyone will wake up soon from the collective lunacy but still it drags on. MN is a cesspit right now, and these threads are the only thing that keep me here. I've been reporting left, right and centre but some of the comments left to stand are mind blowing. I've just read that people who were too afraid to seek A and E treatment and died as a result need Darwin Awards, ffs. That comment prompted me to post here to say thank you for being so rational, sensible and supportive of all views, fears, frustrations and opinions. This is about the only sane place on the whole site!

My local newspaper can't seem to get through most days without a glaring spelling or grammatical error in the headlines

I think that one of the main problems is that people have one-track minds. 2019 was single use plastics, 2020 is Covid with a brief window of #BeKind just before all this kicked off. Ironic combination really. A surprising number don't want or can't seem to see the shades of grey and complications along the way. They see the angle of keeping children safe with masks/ closed schools, but can't see the increased mental and physical harm that has befallen many more children than the virus has in the first place.

I want the economy to be sucessful, that cycles more money into education and healthcare. I am aware that by avoiding places for my own physical comfort, that has an economic impact, but then I am cycling that money into other places that bring me more personal benefit and enjoyment.

I'm normally very middle-of-the-road politically, and it feels strange to have opinions that seem to be at an extreme against the vocal masses. Emphisis on the vocal because I think most middle-of-the-roaders can't be bothered to engage with the level of vitriol that some of those evangelist types throw out. Like the shock result of and election/ referendum when the results did not match the public discourse in the build-up.

Feeling an odd energy today. We've gone from 33oC to 20oC with a sharp breeze which is a shock. Heavy cloud. Probably hayfever. We're all wiped out. DS2 finally got dropped off at sports club after a tired, snotty, sobbing Klingon routine that lasted half an hour before he joined his group. He'll enjoy it when he gets going, he just didn't sleep before 11pm at which point he had a cool bath to help. I need to try and shift DS1 out. I let him have a lazy day yesterday as he shuts down in the heat.

"I hadn't realised truely how bad our media had got with science and stats"

There was a story in The Times yesterday about a study which concluded that if a mother has depression pre-natally her son is more likely to have ASD. I thought, "here we go again, another thing to beat mums up with." To my surprise the story actually pointed out that the study had been done on a small scale & therefore couldn't be applied to the whole population.

It could've been that they were just quoting the conclusion from the paper they took it from. But we need more of this in everyday media, the pointing out that if X happens it doesn't always lead to Y. And more understanding that just because a scientist said it, it doesn't necessarily make it right, & that science doesn't always have all the answers.

I’ve just been accepted onto a study of potential T cell immunity to Covid. I think I had it early in April, and my BIL who is a GP thinks I had it too, but I’ve had two negative antibody tests. It was pretty mild if it was Covid so it could have been a T cell response. I give blood and results are two days later.

I've just read that people who were too afraid to seek A and E treatment and died as a result need Darwin Awards, ffs

And these are supposedly the kind, caring, selfless posters who are doing everything ‘for the greater good’ 🙄.
Welcome!

@expectingnumber3 so rarely do you post - your username is 2 babies out of date! 😁

Welcome! Pull up a pew. We’re using our masks as spit rags for our kids’ faces.

Welcome to the thread, @expectingnumber3.

@BogRollBOGOF
"think that one of the main problems is that people have one-track minds. 2019 was single use plastics, 2020 is Covid with a brief window of #BeKind just before all this kicked off. Ironic combination really"

Yeah, what happened to the single use plastics thing? One minute we were getting rid of it to stop the population dying out from when the planet dies out, now we're single-use plasticking everything to stop the spread & stop the population dying out.

As for "be kind". It's been forgotten about because it's everyone for themselves.

There's lip-service being paid to being kind now because of covid, from the safety announcements in shops, to helplines on adverts for shampoo. And whilst I think kindness & compassion are very important & I'm all for it, I raise a cynical eyebrow. Where was it before covid? Because life was undoubtedly hard for lots of people before March 2020. Where was the kindness then?

But we need more of this in everyday media, the pointing out that if X happens it doesn't always lead to Y. And more understanding that just because a scientist said it, it doesn't necessarily make it right, & that science doesn't always have all the answers.

I saw a poster who been fairly D on many threads and is a teacher say on a thread she was suprised to learn though this science wasn't one train of thought that there were debates and differing views and didn't have all the answers - I thought it was really shocking -even someone from a humanties/arts background - ever thought it was one thing/ one idea.

@LadyOfTheImprovisedBath

But we need more of this in everyday media, the pointing out that if X happens it doesn't always lead to Y. And more understanding that just because a scientist said it, it doesn't necessarily make it right, & that science doesn't always have all the answers.

I saw a poster who been fairly D on many threads and is a teacher say on a thread she was suprised to learn though this science wasn't one train of thought that there were debates and differing views and didn't have all the answers - I thought it was really shocking -even someone from a humanties/arts background - ever thought it was one thing/ one idea.

I saw that too and was pretty shocked!

Thank you for the welcome! Watched "Hot Fuzz" last night, wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry!

So scary that a teacher said that about "the science". Hope they don't work in any of my children's schools.......

I'm allowed to be selfish over masks because I wasn't #BeKind in February

I'd like to hope that there is more critical thought about masks because we are better at recognising disability/ mental health issues in a more inclusive society. I'm not sure on the facts of life of other countries to make any comparisons though.

The problem with ‘be kind’ is that, when aimed at women, it so often means ‘shut up and don’t ever express a negative opinion’.

The problem with ‘be kind’ is that, when aimed at women, it so often means ‘shut up and don’t ever express a negative opinion’.

I've noticed that to - and that its' frequently aimed more at women.

Welcome @expectingnumber3

Well I'm not gonna do work. dd is taking me for an afternoon tea instead.

I put up zero resistance

I agree. Be kind is just another way to silence those voicing something contrary!

Ooh that's interesting, Magda, keep us updated!

That IS interesting MagdaS

I think that one of the main problems is that people have one-track minds. 2019 was single use plastics, 2020 is Covid

Absolutely. Actually I remember seeing an interview with (I think) a farmer, about single use plastics, arguing that demonising them was, basically, stupid. He was explaining about how much food wastage was saved by the packaging, that if you take that away you end up with loads of wasted food, loads more freight journeys, higher air miles and so on, so the actual environmental damage is less if you use the plastic. But people had jumped onto the PLASTIC IS EVIL bandwagon at that point.

Current bandwagon is MASKS ARE GOOD, I reckon.