To wish we had been completely wrong

[Wehttam]

Many of us were trying to warn people to mentally prepare for what was coming at the end of January, early February. Watching with horror at what was unfolding in China it was inevitable a pandemic was hurtling towards us like a freight train, only it was coming at 10mph and was still somewhere off in the distance. Nevertheless it was coming, and nothing could stop it. Any suggestion of this was met with accusations that we were revelling in the drama and being hysterical. The mention that it could linger in the air, was highly contagious and affecting millions was ludicrous and again we were berated and reported because what we said didn’t match the narrative from the news here in the UK.

We were sneered at and accused of scaremongering for even suggesting the possibility of a lockdown or that we would face living with this virus indefinitely. I think I can speak on behalf of all of those when I say we were hoping none of this would happen and that the sneers were for good reason, though this wasn’t meant to be.

This is now our new normality, a new world, again something I had posts reported for because it was a ‘fantastical’ ideology, that we were some frenzied lunatic fringe spreading conspiracy theories and talking about new normals as if we were disciples of David Icke.

How we move forward now will define our civilisation for generations, we are taking tentative steps towards a new set of rules and behaviours. What comes next no one can be sure of, it’s a new lifestyle we must learn to live in and accept. One day there will be a vaccine, a cure, a therapy, a way out. Until then, we carry on, stay safe.

Please do not label those with worries, fears and concerns as Dementors, yes I see those threads and frankly they are despicable and I am embarrassed for you that you openly mock those who have concerns, questions or fears about this virus. Your motivation for having to resort to name calling or compartmentalising us I will never understand, it says a lot about your character.

To those who were mocked, how do you feel now we are over the first wave? I am very relieved that society has stayed glued together for the most part, we are far more resilient than I first anticipated. The deprivation and societal impact will surely unfold as we go on, the economic damage will be immense, the mental health impact will be just as devastating.

I just wish in this instance I had been absolutely wrong and we would all be carrying on with life as I am sure everyone else does. I miss my family, interaction with people at work, being able to walk into a shop straight away and so much more.

@Hobnobswantshernameback

Isn’t the wording of the title interesting though completely wrong not completely right
Because I remember agreeing with the more sensible bits but not the end of the world this is the apocalypse the worst virus the world has ever see

@dibble15

I can't tell if you're joking along with people who found your photo elsewhere online or if you're actually claiming to be the person who has that stockpile in the picture?

Either way it's frustrating seeing people gleeful about their stockpile as if other people struggling to buy things (which didn't happen for very long) was proof of them being better citizens... if they hadn't stockpiled so much they have loads left even now then there would have been more to go around wouldn't there....

hmmm I think the op, or rather, ‘Matthew’ may be out to wind people up.
Anyway, regardless, it is true that the Dementors are still out in full force. I hope their hysterical warblings are called out by those with cooler heads.

Someone else has been doomongering that women won’t get any pain relief in labour because of shortages and midwives will all be dead and they’ll be left to give birth alone at the side of a road.

Why do people make up this bullshit?

@BackseatCookers oh, I thought it was obvious i was joking!

@bananafish what's the Matthew thing?

I've seen the OP having hissy fits on threads for months about the end of the world!

I’d forgotten the asthmatic children won’t be given medical treatment post! Again a high point of utter cuntery. Not sure it was OP though.

Carlotta it definitely was op, I remember it clearly because it is unusual for me to report posts!

@dibble15

Oh thank god! On Brexit and CV threads it's always risky for me to assume as I've joined in jokes before only for it to become clear the other person wasn't joking

OP there is a difference between dealing with a situation seriously and taking yourself so bloody seriously. Let's say I agree with you that we are all doomed, I dont but let's just go with it for arguments sake.Being so overwrought and negative isnt going to help,just the opposite.

I have dealt with some really difficult and ongoing situations in my life as many of us have. To deal with it you try and deal with what you have today make the best if it and plan for a hopefully better future.

The future may be different than previously in ways that we cant imagine both as a society and individually,the difference for me is I know I /we will deal with it.The future is as likely to be good as it is bad so I'm going to save my energy and deal with it when it happens.

@BackseatCookers 😁

You’re one of the usernames I recognise and roll my eyes at, every thread you’re on you seem to enjoy spreading fear and doom, out of all proportion to the actual facts, which you seem to ignore.

Yes there are many threads with posters for whom you can sense the joy they get from delivering a piece of bad news about this virus as if they actually want this to get worse or continue

OP you are the grim reaper personified. You want us all to die a dog's death to prove you were right. Let me get you a gold star and place it on your smug face. Happy days.

Well....what a horrible, smug, gleeful little "I told you so" rant. OP I imagine you're delighted so many people have died so you're able to write this!

Oh yes, the ‘BREAKING: Italy, 870 deaths’ Just horrible, desperate to be first to give the death toll.

This seems like a terribly drawn out post just to say “Pandemic told you so!” I’m not sure I got bored and could be bothered to read the rest of this sanctimonious tripe

I don't see what you have said that's remotely gleeful, manipulative or out of order, OP. I too would like to ask those inexplicably complacent folk from three months ago what they were thinking-but I wanted to ask them what they were thinking then as well. It is horrendously aggravating to see a car crash slowly unfolding, causing an enormous scale of human suffering, and to think it was avoidable to a much greater extent than anyone acknowledges. It doesn't mean you were pleased to be correct, quite the opposite.

I think half of Mumsnet must be daily mail readers. It's the only explanation. At any time, there is always an incredibly high volume of poorly informed, highly opinionated commentary and this is no different.

Yes, I remember the threads where people would start getting all anxious because the 2pm update on that days case numbers was a few minutes late.

Ah, them were the days.....

This is a bit of an "I told you so" post, OP. But the fact is, lots of us DID tell people so, because it was bloody obvious what was coming, and the same ones who ignored us then are now saying "Why does everyone criticise the government? Hindsight is 20/20."

They can all fuck off, to be quite honest.

Ok I'll hold my hands up and say in February I thought maybe some people were scaremongering, and that it might be like SARS or Swine Flu that had potential to be pretty widespread....but in fact didnt have a lot of impact here. How did you know this one was different?

I admit I was wrong but in reality even if I had "known" in january I'm not sure what difference it would make now? In fact I probably enjoyed february and the first week of March more than the told you so gang (although I didnt go to crufts, Cheltenham or football matches!)

Covid-19 has had an unprecedented global impact so it’s understandable that many people were sceptical of how seriously it would change our lives, as we simply had not experienced anything similar on this scale.

Even my partner, an A&E consultant who now works on Covid, was non plussed about it initially.

Also some posters did take it too far & scaremonger which wasn’t helpful as it eggs others on. For example this could have contributed to the increase of xenophobia - in Feb I recall seeing many social media posts/videos of Asians being ostracised in public due to apparently bringing/spreading covid based upon their appearance alone. Also the sections of society that spread their conspiracy theories across Facebook/WhatsApp, somehow 5G has been implicated as the catalyst of Covid and these people have burnt down unrelated 3G/4G towers in an attempt to thwart the government.

0v9 how do you think a great amount of this could have been avoided?

Personally I think the media has a lot to answer for manipulating headlines, using words that have one scientific meaning and another in day to day speak to magnify the fear of this to an indescribable level

Do you mean complacent as in content to watch unfold (rather than smug) because what else is there to do. I can’t control or change this situation I never could. I still can’t. So there really is no point in stressing or worrying about it

If offered an antibody test I will take it to confirm I have had it but other than that I will put one foot in front of the other and adjust to each stage.

There really is no point in worrying about things I can’t control and I can’t control this

@Crosswordocelot it’s a weird one because it’s less deadly than SARS but far more infectious

I suspected it was coming we were due a pandemic but what good was that (apart from I bought yeast and flour)