It's been five years since the pandemic and I have questions

[BaggyTrousing]

• will Paddington ever be investigated for his role in the departure of our dear old queen?
• was the woman who wrote "and the people stayed home" ever taken to task for her contribution to the awfulness?
• what about that nurse who was roaring about bread in a supermarket car park? Hopefully shunned and avoided at least
• how do you all feel now about protecting the NHS?

The modelling was horrendously bad - it wasn't based at all on how humans actually behave and it was worse than useless because it presented situations that would never happen in the real world. There were some people who tried to point that out but they were ignored - they just accepted the pure fiction of the model because it allowed them to make outrageous claims about how how the virus would spread out of control etc.

It was awful. I get that they were working with a novel virus but the modelling was shown to be wildly wrong again and again and again. And yet STILL we used it to drive lockdowns and restrictions.

This is a great demonstration of the level of thinking-power that led to a lot of the societal awfulness during the lockdowns.

I do find it odd how righteous people get about it all. It reminds me or Brexit. Why must there be “goodies” and “baddies” like we are preschoolers. Life is more nuanced than that.

You make an extremely valid point and I agree!
But you only have to read the conflict in the middle east thread ( and watch the TV ) to see that within certain guidelines people can talk about and make questionable remarks about whatever they want.
Look at Trumps election campaign.

Its free speech.

Will clapper be held to account and more heavily taxed?

When that fiasco was exposed I knew it was all nonsense.

He didn't even try to come up with a convincing story, did he? Wanker.

Him legging it out of downing st was one of the enduring images, for me. He literally ran away! Like the COVID was chasing him or something. "Exit, pursued by a virus."

I work in a school and we have had the same experience. It's quite shocking and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Dominic Cummings being grilled by Beth Rigby sat in the Downing Street rose garden on a trellis table that wouldn't look out of place in a church hall was just bizarre. He looked like someone selling raffle tickets whilst lying to everyone about his trip up north with the family.
That sparked many a thread on here.
I did actually write to my conservative MP about all that and received a reply ( not saying much really )
To think that a lot more went on , but we didn't know for ages after that particular press conference.

That one was.... surreal.

Dominic Cummings poor child was dragged into that one. I actually felt sorry for his little boy when he said they took a potty with them to the forest for a walk. It was totally bizarre all round that press conference. I suppose it made a change from the usual ' hands , face space ' or whatever they used to advise us to do / not do.

I could get behind the rules that made sense such as washing your hands regularly, using hand sanitiser on your way in and out of shops etc. But I always got annoyed by the rules that just made no sense

The one that really annoyed me was only being able to exercise with people in your own family and/or within a certain distance of your house. That had a disproportionate effect on many women who need/want someone to exercise with in the winter; and how did the virus know if you were further away from home than the home nations government(s) said you could be?

And then the ridiculous rules in Wales about what you could and couldn't buy in supermarkets.

People really did lose their minds.

Oh God the slebs in their massive mansions with massive gardens doing sodding pity me videos, Sam Smith being particularly pathetic

They were all disgusting, I hope each sleb thought about all those cringe videos and never ever does them again.

I was incandescent as each bloody one came out and the newsrooms were all sympathetic, oh poor celeb has covid or has to lock down like the rest of the world, how sad even all their money cant save them from this hassle.
But two women drive separately to a secluded place and walk at a distance and they get arrested.
Mothers blasted for taking kids out for longer than an hour, when the smaller the child , the more exercise it needs, people slated for wanting to visit relatives and on and on, but oh no, poor celeb.

We are living in a world where Science and Statistics are the new gods.

And the ones who said it was selfish to go to parks when they had big gardens.

Sent my husband who was working full time all the way through (god knows how he was considered a key or essential worker In his trade!) shopping on his way home instructed to pick up some cheese! There was hardly any! ( I presume people were using it in their coffee??!) He managed to locate 1 block at over £12! Needless to say I refused to use it for frivolities like cooking and confined it to the freezer for 2 years then it was liberated for a formal occasion. My friends still laugh at me for my lockdown cheese! 😂😂

Re celebrity covid, didn't a load of them get together and do some kind of covid song video? Sort of like live aid but bloody awful? Did I dream that?

Oh absolutely.

I have lots of questions because but it was a real life serious pandemic that did kill millions and who did die a horrid death without loved ones.

I just think there were rules for rules sake and the fact government were ignoring them and laughing at us has made me mad.

Alongside all the double standards - especially treatment of public sector workers.

Life in general is post pandemic but attitudes have changed for good I think. And not necessarily for the better.

I also think peoples experiences depended on their experience iyswim?

I work in education. Despite popular belief I was in everyday. I work in special education. I had both parents going through chemo.

So I wasn't isolated. I left home each day at 8am and got home at 4pm. I did then also have to shop for myself and my parents.

I think people who lived alone, were furloughed, had new babies, home schooled whilst wfh etc all had varying experiences and the issue has stemmed from the fact everyone pitted against each other rather than taking someone's word for it that their experience was as it was.

People who had relatives alone, relatives ill in hospital and relatives die alone had even more horrendous experiences but it didn't help when they were blaming others for being selfish rather than understanding someone's circumstances were personal.

The rule of 6 was difficult in a household of 7. That and one bizarre bit where you could only buy one tray of meat or up to 4 individual pieces….again such a joy not being able to feed the whole family the same meal.
And the pasta rationing…..
Strange times.

i liked the introduction of hand gel to my life. Very convenient, I’d only ever used it in hospital before. I liked the birdsong and the quiet.

Yes - Gal Gadot and a gaggle of minor celebs. Super cringy!

I miss the cake. I am retail and we were 'key workers', and it was awful having to act as marshals to frightened people who needed to shop and were trying to buy for several households whilst only being rationed to one pack of toilet rolls. But the locals were fabulous and brought us cake and biscuits to say thank you for staying open ( we were working with skeleton staff as many were sent The Text Of Doom to stay home because of health conditions and we were very close to closing some days).

I always felt for the people who got lumbered trying to enforce restrictions without any legal status to back it up. Can imagine it must've been very tough.

I think it must have depended where you live as I never encountered a one way system, most people were pretty relaxed and we bought beer from the pub (handily selling in 1 pint to take away or 4 pints) and sat overlooking the sea drinking, eating fish and chips, a few busked even, was pleasant you could even say. Real community feel but we don't have a particular aged population in this part of town, more 50's and 60's