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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:
SoggyPigeon · 07/04/2023 20:11

magicthree · 07/04/2023 20:10

I loved lockdown and so did many others I've spoken to, in fact I don't know anyone who complained about it. If it happened again I would comply.

Not a key worker then..

Mutabiliss · 07/04/2023 20:12

Tarantellah · 07/04/2023 17:40

Last time we stayed in because they told us Covid was dangerous and people were dying. And we didn’t know any different so we believed them and we were scared, so we stayed at home. Then after a while we all caught it and most of us didn’t die, so we stopped complying.

So I suppose the question is, if there was another pandemic and they said that people were dying, would we believe them? Because if we believe we’re actually at risk of dying then we’ll stay at home.

What are you on about? People were dying. Members of my family were dying. It was fucking terrifying on this day three years ago. We knew nothing.

User639762456 · 07/04/2023 20:15

If a really bad pandemic came along, you wouldn't be able to just wfh and have everything delivered like last time because there would be nobody willing to deliver it.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Covid-19
Mumwomansisterdaughter · 07/04/2023 20:15

I don’t exactly followed struck rules as I had a teen with autism and we still went out daily . We also carried on using the beach mountains and Forrest near our home . But we are semi rural .
if there was another lock down I would do the same or look for a hit place where we could stay for a few months and could live in the pool

x2boys · 07/04/2023 20:15

ChirpyChirpyCheepCheepBeep · 07/04/2023 20:06

Even at the start we knew it was the old and sick who were most affected.

Show quote history

It was as the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable,some of whom were not sick they just had underlying health issues that made them clinically vulnerable,,my dh,was diagnosed with type two diabetes just a few weeks before the pandemic ,he was put on the shielding list when they revised it in January 2021,because of reoccurring infections caused by his Diabetes,my 16 yr old now has no functioning pancreas and has been diagnosed with type 3c diabetes ( a rare type caused by damage to the pancreas) I imagine he would also be classed as clinically extremely vulnerable,he's been very unwell but making a good recovery and both my dh,and myson will hopefully go.on to live a long life ,,we can't write people off just because they have underlying health issues.

User639762456 · 07/04/2023 20:19

Mutabiliss · 07/04/2023 20:12

What are you on about? People were dying. Members of my family were dying. It was fucking terrifying on this day three years ago. We knew nothing.

Show quote history

I guess you were one that sat at home terrified, waiting for deliveries...

userxx · 07/04/2023 20:20

No I wouldn't, i was lax with the "rules" imposed on us by our outstanding government during covid. Fuck that.

userxx · 07/04/2023 20:23

magicthree · 07/04/2023 20:10

I loved lockdown and so did many others I've spoken to, in fact I don't know anyone who complained about it. If it happened again I would comply.

You being for real? Wow. What a cuntish thing to say.

BashirWithTheGoodBeard · 07/04/2023 20:30

User639762456 · 07/04/2023 20:15

If a really bad pandemic came along, you wouldn't be able to just wfh and have everything delivered like last time because there would be nobody willing to deliver it.

Which would be the least of it.

The food delivery chain, water in the taps, electricity, wifi, none of this keeps going without lots of people taking the risk of going out to work. There'd be more to be afraid of than just the virus in that situation!

Nailsandthesea · 07/04/2023 20:30

Mumped · 07/04/2023 16:08

It depends on what the disease was.

If there a some sort of flesh eating ebola horror doing the rounds, I guarantee you WILL be staying indoors.

This

Felixss · 07/04/2023 20:37

JarByTheDoor · 07/04/2023 19:44

Having lived through the last few years, if another pandemic happened and it was identified that by far the most severely affected group was children, a tiny part of me would be tempted to claim I intended to strut around potentially spreading it with abandon, saying things like "I'm not at risk, why should I have to change anything, if you're not under 12 you should be getting on with life not living in fear, why can't children just stay at home while the rest of us crack on, have you never heard of childhood diseases, it's natural that children will die of diseases anyway, we can't let a few vulnerable people be the reason fit, healthy taxpaying adults throw away years of their lives" etc. etc. — obviously I wouldn't actually do or say these things, and would do what I could to avoid spreading disease to vulnerable children, but I wouldn't be able to forget the dehumanising and callous way that some people spoke about their resentment at being asked to change their behaviour to protect the elderly, the CEV and the overweight during covid-19.

DC haven't had chance to live their life yet. They are literally the future of the human race so of course we need to protect them. I think people would be more willing to comply if a virus was disproportionately affecting the young because again they haven't had chance to live their life.

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 07/04/2023 20:38

Absolutely not! I already feel that two years of my life were stolen. There’s no way I’d give up any more.

magicthree · 07/04/2023 20:39

SoggyPigeon · 07/04/2023 20:11

Not a key worker then..

Show quote history

Obviously not - I suspect there are more non-keyworkers than key workers. Just because it wasn't great for key workers doesn't mean the rest of us aren't allowed to enjoy it. In fact I was unemployed at the time of lockdown - is that okay with you?

JamSandle · 07/04/2023 20:39

It would depend on the nature of that pandemic.

x2boys · 07/04/2023 20:39

userxx · 07/04/2023 20:23

You being for real? Wow. What a cuntish thing to say.

Show quote history

Tbf,for some people the first lockdown might well of been a fairly idyllic time it depends on individual circumstances if people were furlougedor could wfh,knowing,their jobs were safe and they had a nice out door space ,for a lot of the first lockdown the weather was really nice obviously for many people they didn't have that luxury and had to go to work
During the first lockdown for my family ,my husband was given 12 weeks full pay off work because he was classed as clinically vulnerable ,we have two kids both now with disabilities but in the first lockdown we spent a lot of time doing the garden up in some ways it was quite nice granted our youngest son was unable to go to his special school and we had zero respite ,but in some ways it was a break from normal life that doesn't mean I can't understand that other people had it far worse or that I want lockdown in any way to return .

lipstickwoman · 07/04/2023 20:40

I would have to trust the experts (cos I'm
Not one) and take their advice. I've never been one for listening to expert advice and then ignoring it.

Original poster
GoodChat · 07/04/2023 20:40

lipstickwoman · 07/04/2023 20:40

I would have to trust the experts (cos I'm
Not one) and take their advice. I've never been one for listening to expert advice and then ignoring it.

I'm fully on board with this. I 100% trust the experts. It's the government and media I'm very wary of.

OP posts:
magicthree · 07/04/2023 20:42

userxx · 07/04/2023 20:23

You being for real? Wow. What a cuntish thing to say.

Show quote history

Yes, I am being for real - sorry if that offends you!

Felixss · 07/04/2023 20:42

Mutabiliss · 07/04/2023 20:12

What are you on about? People were dying. Members of my family were dying. It was fucking terrifying on this day three years ago. We knew nothing.

Show quote history

A significant amount of the population had to keep working and didn't have chance to be afraid. I'm a HCP followed all the rules I stopped being scared in around May 2020 if it was coming it was coming to me. My long stay ward lost half the patients who were already very poorly . Those working didn't have the luxury of being scared they had to keep on going.

Deathbyfluffy · 07/04/2023 20:42

The problem is there’s too many morons with the ‘not doing that again’ attitude - as long as they’re okay, they don’t give a fuck about anyone else.

I hope there’s not another pandemic as the idiots would make it so much worse this time.

DojaPhat · 07/04/2023 20:46

If it would be like lockdown 1 again then yes.

BashirWithTheGoodBeard · 07/04/2023 20:48

Deathbyfluffy · 07/04/2023 20:42

The problem is there’s too many morons with the ‘not doing that again’ attitude - as long as they’re okay, they don’t give a fuck about anyone else.

I hope there’s not another pandemic as the idiots would make it so much worse this time.

This not only assumes any rules we had would make things better overall, it completely ignores the reality that restrictions inevitably screw some people over. You're showing no signs of giving any fucks about them.

User639762456 · 07/04/2023 20:48

It was a very middle class lockdown last time, quite nice with furlough, wfh, sitting in the garden.

user1471453601 · 07/04/2023 20:52

It depends. If the next pandemic was as deadly to the vulnerable as this one was, yes, I'd follow the rules and the guide lines.

I'm old and frail and no longer afraid to die myself, but I sure as hell don't want to be responsible for someone else's death

Mostar · 07/04/2023 20:54

lipstickwoman · 07/04/2023 20:40

I would have to trust the experts (cos I'm
Not one) and take their advice. I've never been one for listening to expert advice and then ignoring it.

Yes. 100%