To think this lockdown is very revealing

[prince55bananahammock]

We're in a pandemic and the outside stimulus of normal day to day life is removed and our usual rhythms have been interrupted.
At first it's about survival, getting food, dealing with finances, putting new habits in place (hand washing, social distancing etc) so we have plenty to keep us and our brains busy.
Plus we're all glued to the breaking news watching as the cases develop, death rates climb, the lives lost get younger and everything gets more scary - lots of things to process here.
Now we're a few weeks into UK lockdown and in a phase of 'the new normal'. We've accepted our fate to an extent and are finding ways to get through each day- in our own ways.
What I've observed is that there are some people being productive ( gardening, cleaning, using the time for homemaking, baking, sewing etc). Some are developing skills (learning, creating etc), some are making daft videos for laughs and others are curtain twitching and making their disapproval known, some are doing none of this and simply trying to get through the day.
But what I find revealing is the people who are drama queens and kings in their lives. They are missing their fix of attention/ chaos and are so desperate to be 'seen' and acknowledged. Because the rest of us are busy with our own situations, and not sending attention their ways, I find it very outing to observe what they text or upload next to provoke a reaction.
Does anyone else find this? It's easy to spot the drama llamas at the moment?

I'm finding the whole celebrity culture seriously crass.And the virtue signalling from certain people dominating the newspapers. I can't watch the One Show or any of the celebrity driven drivel from baking programmes on. Just so, so irrelevant.
Where I live, most people are reasonable and many of them work in the health sector or local government. They're not breaking the rules. They're quietly getting on with life in a stoic sort of way.
The ones who are seeking attention on social media I feel a bit sorry for. And the middle aged blokes ranting and raving in supermarkets on occasion too.
They can't cope. Their bubble has been burst and they've no resilience nor character or backbone to deal with the current reality.
It is profoundly sad.
It's also very enlightening.

I've noticed that some middle aged men seem to be existing in their own little circle of hell at the moment. I wonder who they normally throw their weight around at. I feel sorry for their wives.

I know what you mean. As soon as I saw what was coming I was making mental plans for the things that I would get done and how my family would cope. And as soon as it happened I swung into action.

Other's seem to have struggled more. I imagine for those who are used to socialising it's a more difficult change to manage, I don't enjoy too much time with others, so I've been happy getting on with stuff in the house.

@pallasathena
Yes I find some of the celebrities a bit tragic at the moment. It's like all the attention and praise is going to key workers as it should, and they are dying to stay in our awareness and stay relevant. I don't mean those artists who actually have a talent- music, comedy etc. It's more the ones who are just arsing about for the camera to 'entertain' - and it's not entertaining, just tiresome.

@rosiethehen me too.

@grolliffethedragon Yes! I also mentally prepped for what was to come. I'm missing going where I want, when I want, but the break from having to mingle with actual people is a nice break!

There's a certain irony to this thread, OP.

@Sarahandquack
Yes. I see what you mean!!! 😂

@SarahAndQuack

love a bit of irony

Crikey. This thought hasn't even crossed my mind.

I think you’re right, though I don’t know anyone being a drama in real life thankfully.

It’s showing an awful lot of people how little they really need. Which is a good thing. Expectations are being lowered, people are finding joy and fulfilment in new ways, returning to simpler pleasures. I’ve found friends and family much keener today connect more too. One of my siblings has been living abroad for 5 years and we all stay in touch but we’re finally having regular group video chats which is brilliant. I’m on various group chats with different friends checking in on each other in practical and emotional ways. One friend has been very open about her mental health issues which she hadn’t shared before and people have really rallied to support her. I can’t see her having shared them face to face so it’s been lovely having an opportunity to help. No one seems to miss shopping it stuff!

@HarryElephante
I don't want to make anyone feel anxious- I wasn't thinking about people quietly getting on with it.
What prompted me to start the thread was a friend telling me that she'd taken some food shopping to her elderly mother and had to come home on a motorway. On the drive back she had a scary encounter with a driver who (despite there being nothing on the road) cut her up and then got in front of her car and started braking. It was like he was trying to cause an accident. It shook her up. It made me think that some people are missing their fix of drama and looking to get it in other ways, like the car / driving dangerously.

@AnnLovesGilbert
Yes this period is definitely showing us how little we need, and an appreciation for the small things in life.
I'm loving that I'm hearing and reading about appreciation of the ordinary and gratitude for what we all do have, amongst my friends and the groups I'm in on Facebook.

In a local Facebook group to me someone posted about two neighbours (men) in their 80s having an argument and one going towards the other with fists raised, only for the other's son (in his 50s) to push him to the ground.

@Hostile17
Goodness! Possibly the longer this goes on, the more angry some people will get. I hope most of society remains well behaved for the duration.

Yes, definitely lots of people desperate for their fix of attention, and thrilled to bits that everyone's life has been reduced to the same constraining limits as theirs. They're making themselves feel important by telling people when to go out, what to buy, who to clap for, how to wear gloves in the supermarket, and making very sure that the whole world knows if they buy a pint of milk for their elderly neighbour or donate £2.50 to charity.

This situation has certainly shown a lot of people who they really are.

It's shown up who is motivated at work.
It's shown up a lot about people's attitudes towards each other.

I have a friend who is posting ‘daily updates’ of isolation, with photos and videos of course.
Look at me, I’m baking today.
Look at me, I’m painting today.
Look at me doing my gardening today.
Urgh. You can tell how desperate she is for people to comment on how great her muffins look... I’ve unfollowed anyone doing this.

I’m another one who prefers my own company so it’s not hitting me too bad, but if I do feel a bit lonely I pick up the phone and call and text people.

@UnaCorda
There's a person like that in my local Facebook group. Making all the announcements about clapping, jumping on every discussion with something to add, and making their selfless acts of community spirit very well announced. It's a bit like the good deed doesn't count unless you let everyone know that you did it! 😂 She's getting the back up of a few of my other friends!

Yes I know what you mean OP

I come under your taking one day at a time and I don't go out much anyway so its easy for me to do that.

Its the celebs posting videos of them make up free Who cares ? and the likes of Ellen Deveres claiming her huge MANSION in lockdown is like being in prison . Please.

Urgh. You can tell how desperate she is for people to comment on how great her muffins look...

I have a relative who phones for a chat regularly and always, always says "It's really hard you know as I have been stuck inside for a month and I have to work from home and can't see my friends". I know. We only live 10 minutes away and we're in exactly the same position!!

It's a bit like the good deed doesn't count unless you let everyone know that you did it!

If she's at all religious she'll know the opposite should be the case. Also, as Tolstoy said, "it's much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it."

NICE MUFFINS

I couldn’t cope with social media through all this! I don’t know how people can bear it.

@TiredofSM. Oh gosh. I’ve been doing a daily post. About all sorts not just me. I may have to stop!

My bil, normally a quiet guy who we don’t see much has turned into the fb police. He used his wife’s fb account to give me a very public bollocking on my own page.
Apparently my use of the f word ( with two asterisks appropriately placed )has degraded and humiliated the wider family.
My wonderful dd immediately posted an article linking intelligence and swearing.
I haven’t responded but I’m thinking of sending him a string of pearls for his birthday.

A string of pearls? I think that must mean something different to you than it does to me..