To ask posters to stop with the "When....?" threads

[thejollygargler]

This is becoming absurd.

When will kids go back to school?
When can I go on holiday?
When will hairdressers re-open?
When will the pubs open?
When will there be a vaccine?

When, when, when, when, when?

There is a very simple answer to all of the questions:

NOBODY KNOWS. ABSOLUTELY NOBODY KNOWS.

MNetters do not have access to some sort of secret information that nobody else in the world does, and also MNetters do not all live in one place - or indeed in the same country/continent so even if they did have a definitive answer it might not apply to you.

@DaphneFanshaw do you have a source for that information?

@bumburnerbum exactly! Nothing wrong with a bit of musing and speculation, but so many replies are written as actual "fact" when they are nothing of the sort.

I am not in the UK and had a bit of a debate with another poster who had written a "fact" about France being closed until October. This absolutely isn't the case, but many people may have taken it as true.

someone was convinced schools will be open in May which I find hilarious yet fascinating! I mean, why on earth does she think that?

Well, this is the case in France (to an extent) and is being discussed in some detail on a specific thread, so it maybe that the poster has not appreciated that the thread relates to a different country....which is sort of my point.

I shall go in the greenhouse and oil and sharpen all my garden tools

If you are feeling grumpy i really don’t think this is a good idea

Speculation is not pointless, it's a valuable way for many to manage the uncertainty and associated anxiety - many people are really struggling, without information, without a plan, they're aimless. They need a point to understand, to manage their feelings to know how long their current problems will last.

Without the information, and even just good discussion which gives them more confidence in the likelihood they are much more likely to be anxious, and much more likely to just start managing their current problems in other ways - that's going to be much worse than you having to ignore a few threads on a forum.

They might start thinking, well if I'm not going to see grandma until Christmas, she'll be dead by then anyway, I'll go now. Or they'll drink more to manage the isolation, or take their frustrations out on their household, or all sorts, just ignore the threads.

I agree that the speculation is pointless but some people want to anyway. That's up to them; I've just started to hide those threads.

I saw a tweet yesterday which said that journalists continually asking when lockdown is going to end, are like children on a long car journey asking, "Are we nearly there yet?".

That pretty much summed it up for me.

No you're not missing something people are just effing morons

Speculation is not pointless, it's a valuable way for many to manage the uncertainty and associated anxiety - many people are really struggling, without information, without a plan, they're aimless. They need a point to understand, to manage their feelings to know how long their current problems will last

But I still don't understand how loads of people saying 'tomorrow, next week, next month, the autumn, next year, next decade, never' helps anyone.

People state any of those things as if they were fact and people go off thinking 'someone who sounds like they know what they are talking about on Mumsnet says we will all be back to normal by X date' and the next time they look at the thread, someone else who equally disguises idle speculation as a factual statement says something completely different. What does that achieve?

We do not know. You have to wait and see. The government and the experts are constantly looking at science and data and setting dates for any significant changes on a rolling 2/3 weekly period and that is where we are until we are told different.

Never have I read as much speculation as I have on here the last few weeks. It’s quite funny to read what some people believe, and they post with such unwavering certainty that they know exactly what will happen.

Take it all with a pinch of salt. Hide threads as you go or the whole CV topic?

But I still don't understand how loads of people saying 'tomorrow, next week, next month, the autumn, next year, next decade, never' helps anyone

Exactly. I have seen several posters saying that they don't actually watch any news or read any papers yet they are happy to seize on any old bollocks that is stated as fact here on MN.

As it happens I do have the CV topic hidden but I go back there from time to time for some of the more interesting and informed threads.
Plenty of CV related stuff being posted outside of the topic. This thread included

@1066vegan - yes "are we nearly there yet?" sums it up perfectly.

@RufustheLanglovingreindeer No Garglers were harmed in the sharpening of the tools