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Original poster

If there was another pandemic in your lifetime...

259 replies

GoodChat · 07/04/2023 16:05

Would you follow all the rules as stringently as you did the first time around?

I was thinking about this today. I was completely law abiding the first time round - followed every single rule and guideline they put in place.

I had a 9 month old at the start of lockdown so it was nice to spend more time with her as I'd just come off maternity leave and then got furloughed. We were basically living in a little bubble and it was lovely.

I was made redundant which was crap, but it also opened up new opportunities for me and now I'm in a completely new industry, with a far better work life balance and better pay for a more relaxed life.

But... I now have an 18 month old and an almost 4 year old. I can't imagine only leaving the house for an hour a day and not being able to take them to parks etc. I don't know how people managed it. I think those who did are incredible. My mental health was battered by the end and I still get wary of groups in enclosed spaces without masks - even though I'm not scared of catching anything.

I also think any kind of lockdown/furlough scheme etc would destroy the economy beyond repair if it were to happen in the next 50 years or so. I imagine more people would die from poverty than die from infection next time.

I don't think id cope with a pandemic being managed as it was last time, and I don't think I could trust the government with the complete mockery they made of us before.

I think I'd approach it the next time with a stiff British upper lip of "keep calm and carry on".

What do you think? What did you do before and what would you do again? Would you be as fearful as you were at the start of covid?

OP posts:
travelingtortoise · 09/04/2023 21:24

BashirWithTheGoodBeard · 09/04/2023 21:18

I think what we do inbetween emergencies is more important than what we do when something like a pandemic hits.

Agreed. A big part of the reason the UK was structurally vulnerable to this one and inevitably going to come out of it badly is the years of austerity that preceded it. And we had what was generally considered to be decent quality pandemic planning before all this too, which furthers your point that it goes way beyond that.

But I think as things stand, and it's possible this changes with time as memories fade, one of the major things we'd have to work on is public trust. The effects of the gaslighting and deliberate use of manipulative fear tactics are a real problem. It's hard to think of people who'd be believed at the moment.

I actually think if we had another different pandemic in the near future, like a couple of years or so, a not insubstantial number of people would be willing to believe it was in some way connected to the covid vaccine.

Yes, absolutely.

And the conversation I wish more people were having was about that: less 'they shouldn't have done X' and more 'What would need to happen now that would mean we could all trust them more next time?'

What kind of society could we imagine that would mean we'd know: 'they're navigating something new AND they've done the work already to mean we can believe they have our backs while they do'?

Childcare initiatives, universal basic income... what might it look like?

I guess I just wish we spent time wondering, as well as 'how bad has it been?', 'how good could it get?'

mostlysunnywithshowers · 09/04/2023 21:33

I was fairly resistant to covid lockdown rules, mainly because I couldn't reconcile the degree of threat with the degree of response, but we went along with it as best we could. Would I follow the rules again? I won't knowingly spread disease around, but I also will not be sacrificing my children's education and lives for some 'greater good', or for the good of an unspecified, unrelated person, who for all I know, is at greater risk because they've put their health under strain for years with their lifestyle choices.

LunaTheCat · 09/04/2023 21:49

I think that we have entered the “age of pandemics”. Humans are shifting the barriers that keep us safe… climate change and deforestation make us more at risk.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another quote quickly.
I am now in my late 50’s and a GP… if there was another you wouldn’t see me for the dust. 😉.. but yes, I would follow the rules.

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Covid-19
BMW6 · 10/04/2023 10:51

Actually I'm quite heartened by the number of people who will ignore Social Distancing rules in the next Pandemic.

The world (and this country particularly) is over populated and would massively benefit from a human culling. Nature finds a way.

Those who are left thank you for your sacrifice. Sorry about your kids left without you though. 😔

YellowClock · 10/04/2023 10:55

Actually I'm quite heartened by the number of people who will ignore Social Distancing rules in the next Pandemic

What a wet wipe 😂😂

Timeforchangeithink · 10/04/2023 11:01

Followed all the rules last time, never again am I giving up my freedom. Even if that means the end of me.

BashirWithTheGoodBeard · 10/04/2023 11:01

I'm writing this from beyond the grave, having died several times since my household stopped observing social distancing restrictions a couple of months into the covid 19 pandemic.

Original poster
GoodChat · 10/04/2023 17:04

BMW6 · 10/04/2023 10:51

Actually I'm quite heartened by the number of people who will ignore Social Distancing rules in the next Pandemic.

The world (and this country particularly) is over populated and would massively benefit from a human culling. Nature finds a way.

Those who are left thank you for your sacrifice. Sorry about your kids left without you though. 😔

I'm still adhering to social distancing rules now - but that's just because I don't particularly like people, so I guess I'm safe

OP posts:
BashirWithTheGoodBeard · 10/04/2023 17:51

GoodChat · 10/04/2023 17:04

I'm still adhering to social distancing rules now - but that's just because I don't particularly like people, so I guess I'm safe

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Well, when life gives you lemons...

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