Is it just me or are people more aggressive since lockdown?

[Happyharry2003]

Hello
I’m just wondering if it’s the life style
I lead (fairly quiet, full time job, teenagers and a couple of hobbies) but I am finding other people in all walks of life so aggressive and grumpy and quick to call you out of say something negative at the moment.

My life hasn’t changed since lockdown (I worked throughout not at home and was lucky to keep my job and have no ill health) and know people have been stressed or worried but it seems Covid has given people the excuse to just be rude and selfish!

Examples - colleague at work not liking something I’ve done. Not her decision - nothing to do with her. Rather than discussing it calmly just let rip at me.

Car drivers - seem more pushy and road ragey

More people saying ‘I just say it how is is’ and basically just come across rude and blunt with no attempt to be pleasant in shops.

It is by no means all people but it does feel a significant number of people have become more self centred, less aware of others feelings, expect what they want in life to happen immediately and get confrontational or cross if things aren’t done exactly the way they want or when they want it done!

During lockdown 1 it felt like everyone was championing ‘be kind and respect each other’ but now if feels very dog eat dog out there!

@MeAndDebbieMcGee

... and now not being treated lol

Yep, that'll add to it.

Thing is it might not excuse it but it is the actual cause. I guess it depends how you want to deal with that. I mean you can go down the route of repeatedly telling yourself and everyone who will listen that it shouldn't happen, but I wonder how effective that will be.

At least now we're starting to acknowledge that yes, this has been a shit time. I personally feel less stressed just by hearing that. Or maybe I'm just a miserable bastard lol, but I got positively enraged with all of that fucking kitty O'Meara the earth is healing precious family time crap that we got for the first few months.

I spent some time in Scotland recently and the government messaging there is really quite different from England: it's all along the lines of yes we know this is difficult, it's gone on a long time, but just keep going sort of thing. I dunno but it just felt a bit more honest and therefore that keeping to restrictions was something I could actively do.

As a pp I’m finding people are more cheerful generally - in the supermarket and shops, at the swimming pool and the local parks etc.
The only place I’m finding tension is the school run. Since we’ve been back I’ve witnessed two very low impact shunts and parents thinking they can park directly opposite where the lollipop lady stands meaning people crossing the road can’t walk directly to the pavement. One parent even pulled into the space whilst people were crossing into it, there was a lot of shouting that day and eventually he did move.

I think a lot of it is the rules that we've had imposed upon us. Queuing for supermarkets. Only one adult per trolley. One way round the supermarket. Masks. Stay back, no not there, that line further back. Now we are released from those rules and 'Covid marshalls' its a backlash against the imposed authority

Yes. I just called some idiot in a tuxedo at 8am trying to open every window on the bus selfish. So long as his psychological neuroses are pandered to, the rest of us can freeze.

Never seen him on the bus before so he probably hasnt left his house in 18 months.

Grrrrrr sitting here being blown away. Im vacvinated no doubt he is too if he's this neurotic.

Covid marshal is right.

Yes, on the few train journeys I've had there have been aggressive incidents. People out walking stamping along not moving aside. Drivers being impatient. People glaring and challenging.
There's been a rush to get off the starting blocks and now we are all walking under the sword of Damocles.

I think a lot of people are fed up of being compliant to new and ever changing rules, so can be quick tempered and rude in a bid to regain a feeling of self empowerment. I also think everyone is sick of hearing everyone else's opinions in the countless social media rants calling others various shades of stupid if they don't agree.
I especially agree with how annoying the 'I just say it how it is' defence. It's pathetic. All it means to me is you lack the intelligence to think before you speak and if the listener is offended then that's their own problem.

and the tutting. I don't appreciate being tutted for not wearing a mask.

Yep, I work in customer service. It started over lockdown and it's just got worse

I agree with pp that the roads have gone to shit. Nobody seems to indicate at all anymore, I was almost run off the road last week by a van overtaking a cyclist on a blind bend and I had to do an emergency stop when someone shot over a roundabout when I was already going around. The arsehole must have been doing 40mph in a 30 and didn't even slow down to see if anything was coming to his right, so could have easily T-boned my car.

Two days ago I saw three very, very near misses in the space of five minutes because of people either not signalling or just pulling out without looking. It sounded like Manhattan at rush hour with all the honking and shouting.

I don't trust anyone on the road now and I'm so sick of it. This morning I was keeping a respectful distance behind a learner doing 25mph and a woman was so far up my arse I made eye contact in the mirror and shouted "do you want to get in my fucking boot??". She got the gist because she eased off...

I think viewing other humans as vectors rather than people probably hasn’t helped. On here some people seems obsessed with knowing exactly who “gave” them Covid, or whether someone has been “careful” enough, as if there are deserving and undeserving victims. It was evident earlier in the pandemic too, with all the ranting about “covidiots” who were “not following the rules” without any consideration for individual circumstances. I think that level of mistrust and dehumanisation is going to take some getting over.

Good point. The weekly clapping was bizarre. Neighbours standing hitting saucepans on their doorsteps and looking up and down the road to see who wasn't 'supporting the NHS'. It sounds ridiculous when you look back on it

There's something in that viewing other people as vectors first I reckon. That combined with the social isolation of lockdown and I think it's affected how we relate to each other. The face coverings probably also make people seem less human.

I hope this wears off soon.

I think collectively we’re all spending too much time on the internet and have forgotten how to interact with people.

Also recently with Trump, Brexit, etc it’s become normal to rage at anyone who dares disagree with you. This has become accepted and even applauded in public life whilst politeness and compromise is seen as weak.

I read this then happened to phone my GP surgery who have added a long message about how abuse towards their staff won't be tolerated. I've actually always found the receptionists there massively helpful, not at all like the dragons supposedly manning all GP surgeries like you read about on MN. Clearly patients are getting ruder. Equally though, this was a ridiculously long message that followed an already ridiculously long message about not going into surgery if you have covid symptoms etc - I know it's probably necessary but it is frustrating when you've been on hold for ages already, it's stating the bloody obvious and just want to book your child's flu spray. I can imagine if you were trying to navigate overstretched GP services for a condition you were worried about it would be even more frustrating. It's all these little things adding up. I don't know what the answer is. I've been on maternity leave for most of 2021 and am dreading going back now after reading this thread if people are just going to be even ruder at work!

I just find it sad now. I try to be a decent human and it ends up either making me upset as it’s not returned or frustrated to be called ‘weak’ just because I don’t want someone to be abusive to me! Why does trying to be polite or understanding make you weak? I guess this thread shows I’m not alone and there are still nice people out there. Or maybe I’m just as bad as I’m getting pissed off with the people being rude so does that make me impatient and rude myself?!!

Yes. The roads are like the Wild West now. People are so angry, all the time.
I did feel People were hiding behind masks in shops, never making eye contact or saying thank you if you held a door or stopped to let them go. But now there’s just no manners.

At first people were scared, they were petrified of this unknown virus. it seems to have stuck for some

Yes, people are more aggressive. Our flight or fight responses are very near the surface right now. Everyone seems up for a fight. I think the pandemic has really highlighted how unbalanced our society is and the preaching about 'all being in this together' has been shown up for the nonsense that it is. I think some have just given up because they could die soon and have become incredibly fatalistic while others seem to be regressing into neanderthals.

Conversely, I'm fed up with organisations using COVID as an excuse for not even attempting to do their jobs properly. It seems that some are hiding behind the pandemic because they don't give a shit. These companies (won't name names) were ambivalent about their customers before the pandemic but now they've been given a perfect excuse to be sodding useless so I understand why people are frustrated. As always though, it's the folk on the ground who have to deal with this while their superiors just shrug their shoulders and look the other way.