Almost 4 years ago, Lockdown started (23 March 2020)

[SparrowSally]

Can't believe it's almost 4 years ago. I feel so uncomfortable looking back at that time, we really had no idea what was to come.

We already had Covid in my care home a week before lock down. Everyone was terrified and there was no advice as to what we should do really . So all my staff bar one said they were scared to come to work. Therefore I had to actually move in to ensure minimum staffing levels at all times until we could persuade them it was safe to come back with safety measures (ie short supply ppe) in place. I lived there and didn't seem my kids for the best part of a month.

Lockdown wasn't all bad however for me. I started chatting to my now husband in a spaced out line in Waitrose and as soon as we could we met properly for a date-and by the second lock down we liked each other so much we became each others 'bubble' and now we are married! So we think of lockdown as the thing that accelerated our relationship and it might not have happened otherwise, so we are quite fond of it in a selfish way-though obvs It was hard in others and I'm incredibly sad for those that lost people and couldn't say goodbye properly.

I find it frightening how much it affected some people's mental health to such a degree that they're irreparably damaged. COVID and the lockdowns are just a dim and distant memory for me. But a good friend has remained trapped in those times and COVID now defines her. She still washes and sterilises everything she buys and still wears masks all the time. She resigned from a job she loved because they insisted she returned to the office three days per week, and she felt too exposed to people. Her Facebook page is dedicated to campaigning for the government to bring back mask wearing and social distancing. I genuinely don't think she will ever recover.

This is so sad. Some irreparable damage done to people’s mental health. I do worry about my kids a lot, and it’s lasting impact. They were old enough to know and understand it and their schooling was really messed up as was their confidence buys nothing in this scale. At least I hope not!

Does anyone remember the "needle spiking" urban myth frenzy that popped up at the end of 2021? Suddenly everyone knew someone who'd been injected with something in a club, when the reality is that it's very rare and almost impossible to do successfully.

I thought it was a very interesting manifestation of the state of the nations psyche at the time given the obvious vaccination connection.

It was so terrible for so many people but I am lucky enough to be able to just look back with fondness and honestly say I loved it.

I got to spend months at home with all my family, the weather was beautiful, we had BBQ's and spent loads of time in the garden where I started growing all sorts of fruit and veg. My son had lots of free time outside of doing his school work and was able to throw himself into his hobby which he has now decided will be his career. There were no cars speeding up and down the busy road outside our house, it was so peaceful and tranquil. I really miss the peace.

we don't actually have the resources to have conducted a house to house search for cats. Which is what would've had to happen. It wasn't practical

One of the few laughs I had in lockdown was all the things posters reckoned the army would/should be doing. Checkpoints at every town. Distributing food. Imposing martial law. I never failed to point out that the army is about 75,000 and the population verging on 70 million so even numerically those comments were uninformed pish. It did illustrate one disturbing thing, though, and that's how many people would love to live in a state where the military and the police have a lot of power over the populace.

Yep! People seemed to lose the ability to think. Even assuming they could borrow a few of the UK's 170,000 police, it's still nowhere near enough to make 70 million people do things they don't want to do. Which is why the nudges, the psychological messaging were so important. Because we really can't police every corner.

And even in China, where the military and police definitely have a lot of power over the population, it didn't last that long all things considered. Not to downplay atrocities like that family in Urumqi burning alive whilst in forced quarantine, but the government still backed down pretty sharpish once it became clear that they'd lost public support. That's in a society where they've got gulags.

Absolutely this; I could always see the need for initial caution, but as you say the way it was dragged out was beyond all reason and became a social experiment of the very worst kind

Hated it, my mental health suffered from having everything that kept me sane taken away from me.

The only good thing was the weather. The fact that everyone was so compliant was quite scary.

At least in the following two lockdowns we knew what to expect and what we could get away with (I did outdoor gym classes for example).

Its bred so many conspiracy theorists and made so many people paranoid.

I will never forgive those who made it such that an elderly, dying woman was denied the comfort of human touch from her loved ones

Yes and this is the sort of thing I meant about a "social experiment", where even humanity was considered dispensable

As for suggestions it could never bappen again, don't be too sure ... those who thoroughly enjoyed ramping up the hysteria still walk among us, not to mention the endless opportunities for gouging public money for the cronies

Matt Hancock and his "We will put that cherry on Dido's cake" anyone?

Not sure if it's me you mean here? I haven't seen anyone say it could never happen again in this thread, though I could've missed it. What has been said is that it couldn't happen now, as things stand. So there'd have to be a significant change in public attitudes, given that the state couldn't impose it if the people weren't willing.

Which isn't to say that it couldn't ever happen again. I don't think we're in a position to rule it out at the mo, any more than we can assume it's a definite next time round. The reason I think this is because I agree with you about the description of lockdown as a 'social experiment'. It's still playing out.

No I didn't mean you, @Vod, but it's definitely been suggested that expecting folk to accept this would never work again

And in some ways that's worrying, because if - god forbid - we were faced with something with a truly high mortality rate, it's possible the reaction would be "Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before"

Edited to add I also agree with you about not being able to police every corner, except that in too many areas it wasn't even tried because of "community sensitivities"

COVID revealed to me how many small minded, mean spirited people were living among others. People who revelled in policing others and gloried living in a controlled police state. I finally understood how the atrocities of the world wars could so easily happen through the actions of normal, average people.

Ah ok.

I agree one of the most worrying aspects of covid policy and everything that went along with it is the level of alienation it ultimately caused. Although tbh I think if we get something with a really high mortality rate in the Internet era, we're probably fucked regardless.

I've just had a fb memory pop up, a photo of the beer shelves in our massive sainsburys, completely empty, apart from corona.

I think we all went a little loopy.

@Puzzledandpissedoff And in some ways that's worrying, because if - god forbid - we were faced with something with a truly high mortality rate, it's possible the reaction would be "Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before"
Exactly, it would be the boy who cried wolf. The government massively squandered public goodwill on something that wasn’t very deadly. It’s already happened in lots of smaller ways, when something has been blown out of proportion, by the govt or media. See also:
The millennium bug.
Foot and mouth.
Your mobile phone is killing you.
Coal and oil might run out. (Now they have been given a different reason for being “evil”.)
And many more.
Heard it all before.

One thing I do remember is the ' quietness ' and the birds singing - it was like ' going out to play in the street on a Sunday as a child in the early/mid 60's '

I also remember saying to my adult dd one day that we were so lucky to live where we do, we were walking the dogs at the time on the nearby beach and a breeze was blowing - nice fresh healthy air.

At first I did think that the supermarkets would shut ( or maybe restrict the hours they opened or only do deliveries ) and I admit I did stock up on loo rolls and tea bags ( when I could find them )
I can remember the fear I felt , which is irrational now thinking about it sensibly, but the nudging they did and the constant doom and gloom did make people fearful.
In some ways, the early days of Covid worked well for ramping up the fear.

@idontlikealdi

Guess that says something about Corona beer!

@Vod

"Yep! People seemed to lose the ability to think"

My favourite was the use of anti bacterial hand gel in order to combat a virus. I mean the clue is in the f'ing title!!!

Wow. That's really weird.

I "locked" me and dcs down a week before as I'd become increasingly concerned, and ds got ill.

But God those lockdowns were awful I think they were the right thing to do, but shit a lot of damage was done. Almost chilling looking back, it feels a lot like a very long bad dream.

I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard it was for people living alone 💐

I'm so sorry 💐

It was enormous collective trauma for, imho, most of us, in different ways. For me the government incompetence at best, corruption and criminality at worse has exacerbated it.

Rather like sitting in an office in July and spotting a bit of tinsel stuck to the ceiling with sellotape....

Going into supermarkets and malls or other public places now and seeing the 'shadows' or remnants of floor markings so we kept our distance. The unused sanitiser stands. It all makes me shudder.

Our local chippy literally destroyed their entrance to create a makeshift airlock serving hatch with rope and pulley mechanisms during Covid so people didn't have to enter the shop. It was a genius set up. Then!

They haven't got the money to put it back now interest rates are sky high and people aren't getting takeaways so much so you still have to call them to order and collect your fish supper via a convoluted Wonka style delivery system.