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.

@SummerHouse I can hook you up with some yeast. PM me :)

Funny how a few months ago we weren’t even allowed to talk about it.
Was deemed an annoyance and all threads were immediately moved to the coronavirus board.

Can't believe I've got this far and nobody's mentioned the nadir of Dementorism: putting cheese in tea because milk is not an essential.

Also the thread where people lined up to chastise the OP for wanting to get an mascara from Superdrug when she went to collect a prescription.

I think there are a number of people who won't be happy until we are actually living in the world from The Road.

I agree and that along with the closet-Stasi tendencies many have shown has been more disturbing for me than the actual virus.

@0v9c99f9g9d939d9f9g9h8h absolutely agree that a large swathe must be Daily Mail readers. That would explain their way of reading into things that aren’t there and also their lack of critical thinking. It’s very sad they feel the need to post the words gleeful, shrieking, smug, hysterical but then again very typical of that type and the way they exaggerate to manipulate.

I tend to ignore them. In this instance though, they know I’m right and they can’t bear it.

@Wehttam

It's worrying if you actually believe what you're saying.

I've followed Covid on the news since January - I went on holiday in March, I didn't stock pile (and have never been short of something) and could see a lockdown coming but I don't have the same dramatic, dooms day stance as you. It's 100% has not been as bad as many, including you, have predicted on MN.

What people take issue with is your tone, it's smug, dramatic and honestly, you don't sound all there.

And as for calling people Daily Mail readers, half of what you spout sound like scaremongering DM headlines.

Trying to get you to see another point of view is like talking to a brick wall - but I think you need some support on how to navigate challenges in life. Thinking this way cannot be a happy way to live.

@Wehttam

It's your lack of critical thinking that's led you to have these views - it's been proved as this unfolded, your predictions have overwhelmingly been wrong.

I'm a general prepper and fairly used to occasionally getting called fucking mental on here. Some delightful twat actually sent me a dm to that effect. Until recently.
The whole point about prepping is to be able to face trouble head on. Doesn't mean you feel it less or embrace it. 99 problems but food or other household necessities won't be 1. That kind of thing.
Do I think "you should have listened to me"? Honestly? Pretty regularly. But it's not massively helpful and seeing more people finding a way to cope, even if they started on the back foot, is better for everyone. In fact seeing people make it work, especially if they started on the back foot, is inspiring.

@HerbieHerr - having a coronavirus topic and having threads about the virus all gathered together in one topic = "not being allowed to talk about it" ???

Oh ok.

OP "I was right all along."

Posters "No", "No", "Fuck No".

OP "Yes, I am and I am sobbing, and you are ungrateful sodding Daily Mail readers"

OP, you could have written 'I told you so' in much fewer words. What do you want in recognition - a medal?

I was t remotely prepared.
In fact I flew back from Jamaica the day before lock down because I was convinced it was all going to be fine
I landed at Heathrow and thought - bloody hell its like a film (which is ironic because I was filming in Jamaica).
Obviously we had no food or anything when we got back.

But you know what? It was fine .
We went to the supermarket and picked up food. The shelves were not bare. We collected our adult kids and the army were not parolling the M1.
And now we’re all working from home.

What were we meant to actually do to prepare? How would it have in any way helped?

It’s very sad they feel the need to post the words gleeful, shrieking, smug, hysterical but then again very typical of that type and the way they exaggerate to manipulate.

The other posters exaggerate and manipulate? Have you read your OP?

I don't see what you have said that's remotely gleeful

Shall I point you in the direction of the thread where someone was talking about schools and how they desperately need them opening as they’re losing their marbles while trying to homeschool and OP said something ‘schools won’t be opening on 1st June LOL, can’t believe anyone thinks they will ’.
Gleeful. Taking delight in someone’s misery.

OP, you lack any sort of self awareness. I suggest that after you’ve come down from your self congratulatory podium you have a quiet reread of this thread and think about what people are actually saying to you.
But you won’t.
And I’ve never read the Daily Mail in my life.

I'm the polar opposite of a DM reader.

I seem to remember you started a very goady thread about how wonderful lockdown was and how much you were enjoying it. That went very badly as I recall.

Dark humour is a coping mechanism which is where the term originated and mockery of more extreme behaviour is an obvious consequence. It’s pretty naive to assume some of the bollocks we’ve seen posted here is the product of fear, a lot of it’s virtue signalling and competitive lockdown.

That would explain their way of reading into things that aren’t there and also their lack of critical thinking.

The irony......

@0v9c99f9g9d939d9f9g9h8h I think that there is a middle ground here. Back in January scientists were predicting high numbers of deaths if the governments didn't pull their fingers out and anyone aware of that were scared, that is fair and justifiable. But things have moved on, the governments pulled their fingers out eventually in March more than expected - some better than others - and things have moved on in relation to scientists understanding the virus. The OP was looking backwards rather than forwards. What we have now is a government in the UK which has taken a halfway house approach, risk of anti vaxxers in groups declaring the lockdown unlawful and creating mayhem. There are still unknowns about the virus. But not to the same extent as in Jan as science has moved on and more people are aware of the science now. The messing around about stockpiling on the thread is just light relief because the OP was referring back to what was known/not known/feared in January rather than thinking about the landscape we have today with its slightly different set of problems I think.

Based on the news given at the time what has happened is what most people expected but each persons perception to what is happening is very different though.

Some people think this is the end of the world as we know it and only they foresaw it. Others think it's a disease, some will die and in time the lucky living will move on.

You are at one of the extremes of reaction, whereas most people are somewhere in the middle. I would be very surprised if anyone didn't see it coming.

Well, I freely admit I was one of the ones who thought it was all going to be much ado about nothing. Rather like the Swing Flue and SARS threats.

I admit to being wrong.

I was even guilty of joking about it, not too mention not prepping for Brexit, (and being a devout Brexit supporter), so I am doomed.

I was also one of the ones crucified for continuing to take my dog out twice a day.

I hate lockdown. I hate the fact that the impact of this has meant all my plans for pre joint replacement activities have been kyboshed. I also hate the fact that my surgery, that already had a 12 month waiting list is going to be even longer. The knock on effect to my other already knackered joints is going to be horrendous.

I am completely aware that people have and are continuing to die, and my sympathies go out to them. However I am also concerned about the impact the lack of schooling is having on vulnerable children, whose life chances are being even more screwed up by this virus. The impact on the already isolated elderly, those at risk of domestic abuse, those who were already on the breadline, those whose mental health issues are being exacerbated by this crisis, and others whose medical treatment is being delayed.

I have zero sympathy for people like the OP who are getting their rocks off on all this.

I think this virus is here to stay, and we have got to learn to live alongside it.

I don’t extend my wrath to any government- they have all screwed up in different ways. I despise most politicians.

I do however have a great deal of anger towards the Chinese Leaders who knew damn well this virus was about in November, and did their damdest to cover it up.

I hid the Covid topic months ago. If this is what some of the posts are like, I'm bloody glad I did. Over dramatic 'I told you so' self congratulation.

masakabuzz in relation to the governments, the UK figures for deaths per 1M and cases per 1M are really high, comparing to the other countries who have hit and passed peak or who have managed it well from the beginning. I am not advocating retrospective anger at any government, but if you are going to blame China for not acting faster, the same applies to all western governments - the dna for the virus was known in January and the warnings about precautions were being communicated to the WHO and western governments in January. I don't have special knowledge - there were media interviews with asian scientists back then. I was the same as you, didn't take it seriously at first. But new cases and new deaths numbers are high in the UK still now, and this is why lockdown is still in place. Life will go back normal, I believe, if people wear face masks and social distance if and when the virus is still around. Children are going back to school in other countries.

Anyway - light relief about stockpiling or anything else is good too.

@Wehttam

I'm saying this as someone who doesn't have a stake in either 'side', I think it's depressing this is so polarising on MN - most people I know are in the same boat, were shit scared of CV and took the measures they could without losing their job, still scared as now they know people who have had it, faced with the prospect of going back sooner than feels safe due to socioeconomic realities.

It is worth you thinking about how the tone of your writing does come across as being vindicated to the level of smug (this is not an attack so please don't think it is, I'm trying to use as non judgemental words as possible all round) and rejoicing in the things you were 'right' about. You do from the outside (and have on other threads too) sound rather gleeful about the things that have been awful.

But the shops didn't run out of everything, and most people didn't have to have huge stockpiles - in fact the things normal people ran out of were mainly due to other people having stockpiled then instead of having what they needed. My auntie couldn't get loo roll because people using her shop stockpiled loads in panic she couldn't go on amazon and stock up (can't afford to bulk buy and can't navigate amazon very well) so we had to drop tissues round at hers while social distancing.

This is all awful but please do consider from someone who isn't "taking sides" as such that your posts do sound as if you're revelling in the worst bits of all this with a huge dollop of "I told you so" rather than genuine concern for anyone.

Again I really not trying to start a row and I hope you can look beyond the fact someone is criticising your tone and remember that we should all be aware of how we come across to other people. It's ok to be humble and say you're sad you were right about some stuff but yes some other worries didn't come to fruition and that's a relief.

But he/she is not sad. They have said some terrible things during the last few months, most of which haven't come true.

Yes, I’m still waiting for the hospitals all being flooded by a combination of Covid patients and fighting injuries from the mass social unrest that’s coming and the medics all being too afraid to go to work. That was one of OP’s predictions if I remember right...

brb, someone just sneezed and now I am SHAKING IN FEAR.