To wish we had been completely wrong

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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.

Oh don’t be a drama llama
It’s not a “new world”

Sounds like you're really enjoying being 'right' OP. Otherwise why the thread?

Love how people were warning in jan when even the WHO weren't then

Christ alive OP, if you want people to kiss your arse and say how wonderfully clever you are can't you use fewer words to do it?

I’m not sure relishing ‘being right’ is helping anyone right now.

To be fair...Birdie Friend predicted it first! And he was laughed at. You don’t want to anger BF...

Good Birdie Friend. Kind Birdie Friend. DS has just pushed him in my face for “love.”

Well according to the ons statistics the chance of me dying is extremely low. The fact I dont go around licking old and vulnerable people helps. It's hysteria and scaremongering that gets you the label dementor.

Wow that’s some navel gazing.

Ah so it's a TAAT
Nice

And actually, I was one of those following the early threads on it. I took my children out of school early as I recognised the risk. Advised my dad not to take his holiday to Thailand in early feb (he ignored me). What I didn’t do is try to provoke fear in everyone else, ‘lol’ and ‘grin’ at people who didn’t share my views, seek out anyone who dared to share an ounce of positive and stamp on it, or go around telling people ‘I told you so’.

Jeez. It's like you're single-handedly saving the human race. Talk about up your own arse.

this is such an odd thread - I'm not sure what you want from it really OP - its a mixture of I TOLD YOU SO with a bit of please all thank me for being so right and a dash of hyperbole

Lots of the 'OMG IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD' threads lead to the panic buying and shortages - not helpful and not realistic

look what has happened - we are at home, working, schooling and going to the shops less - no huge shortages, no hunger and no mass rioting etc - yes it's a bit shit but it really isn't the apocalypse predicted in many of the early threads.

so well done for being a bit right - if that's what you need!

None of these joy suckers ever seem able to see anything from anyone else's point of view or offer any constructive solutions
They just want us all to wallow in their misery
They'd have been knitting at the guillotine I expect whilst moaning that the prisoners didn't die a painful enough death

Birdie Friend warned you first...and he was mocked! On the 18th January.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/3798666-My-child-has-a-badge-that-sees-ghosts

My child has a badge that is possibly a demon. I’m more worried about that than Coronavirus.

So you were right along? Congratulations for this massive after the fact ‘told you so’.

I don’t believe you wish you’d been wrong for one second. You’re relishing having been ‘right’, the ghoulishly gleeful anticipation of worse-to-come-mark-my-words in your posts is almost palpable.

Oh yes, the many "I predict a riot" threads.

I think some posters are unhappy that riots didn't happen.

This is the smuggest post I have ever read on mumsnet and that is an incredibly high bar.

There does see to be a certain glee in these kinds of threads "see I told you so". It's really not a nice trait to have.

Some people have been hysterical over this. There seems to be some kind of rule that means nothing fun happen. We must all be completely miserable the whole time. We must live by someone's own perceived rules - that's been evident on here in the early weeks when discussing going to the shops.

Any worry that isn't covid related is not worthy of discussion and has been dismissed out of hand by some, and nasty insults are then thrown at the person worried. It's not been pleasant to watch.

Just weeks after the whole "be kind" thing and people are rubbing their hands with glee over the death toll and the prospect of a second wave and shouting I told you so.

Mental wellbeing has taken a dive for many, domestic violence has significantly increased, vulnerable children are falling through the cracks. Poverty will increase when people start to lose their jobs.

Interestingly when I was looking at the statistics for flu the other day (as a friend had said she knew covid was here for a lot longer than January, as she knew someone who died from flu and her words were "I mean, who dies from flu these days?" According to public health England the average annual death from flu is 17,000 and in 14/15 the annual total was 28,000. That goes past each year with barely a mention at the death rate, to the point where some don't realise you can die from flu.

I know why covid is a big deal and why lockdown is necessary at the moment, but we do need to realise we may never have a totally effective vaccine and we need to figure out how to live with it in society.

There are people on the dementors thread who are in absolute despair at the fact that their children are developing severe mental health issues due to lockdown. They can’t mention this elsewhere as they get shouted down by people saying things like ‘well boo hoo for your child, PEOPLE ARE DYING’, or ‘you need to help your child develop resilience, children in the war got sent away to live with people they’ve never met’ etc. If they say ‘I hope schools open soon, my child is really struggling’ people respond with ‘lol, you’re deluded if you think school is going to be anything like normal for a long time’. That is the purpose of the dementor threads.

OP I was one of the people ignoring and laughing in January. I then caught the virus and it was fecking awful and even after that I was slightly bemused at the fear of it, because in my bubble I hadn't died, so it wasn't that bad. And then in March I heard what was happening in Italy, and listened to some recordings made by doctors and I thought fuuuuuuccccckkkk ('scuse my language). And I then did some more research into it, heard what the Asian doctors were saying and thought, again, fuuuuuucccccckkkk. So I do sympathise with you.

I was then one of the ones making a lot of noise about ventilators and lack of hospital beds and trying to calmly tell the mockers that this was real, and that the government had to up their game. And so again I can see where you are coming from here.

But on a positive note, the scientists have been awesome the last couple of months, discovered a great deal about the virus, educated people about testing, tracking, face masks, and governments did pull their fingers out, some more than others, and we are now in a waiting stage.

There may not be a second wave throughout the world. There may be a second wave but it will be better prepared for. Governments around the world (some better than others) are thinking about how to make it work for people, so that people can live and work while also protecting each other.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I completely and utterly disagree with you OP.

There is a difference between being "prepared" and labelling people "murderers" simply because they put a non essential item in their shopping trolley and thats what I HAVE seen on here.

Those people ARE dementors and THEY should be ashamed of themselves for being so full of hatred and bile. The dementor threads are the only thing that has kept me sane during this whole pandemic so no, I dont agree with you at all.

I have name changed but I was on the worried about coronavirus and prepping for pandemic threads.

But I call people dementors. It’s a separate issue. Plenty of people take it seriously and are scared but don’t feel the need to counter every bit of positive discussion with “there’ll never be a vaccine”, “why are so many people keen to put their children’s lives at risk” etc

I am embarrassed for you that you openly mock those who have concerns, questions or fears about this virus

The trouble is, even when those concerns and questions are answered with science and statistics, unless it shows that we're all going to die and will never be allowed out again, a vast number of people on here refused to believe them because it didn't fit their agenda. It has been shown on here time and again that the chances of dying with covid are, for the majority of people, is less than 1%. The anti-dementors threads are not mocking people who are worried and anxious, far from it. Some of us are very worried and anxious...mostly about what all the hysterical posting of "we're all gonna DIE" "won't somebody PLEASE think of the children" and "who cares about mental health people are DYING dontcha know?", is doing to not only our own MH but that of our children's.

this is such an odd thread - I'm not sure what you want from it really OP - its a mixture of I TOLD YOU SO with a bit of please all thank me for being so right and a dash of hyperbole

Lots of the 'OMG IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD' threads lead to the panic buying and shortages - not helpful and not realistic

Exactly. I find this thread throughly distasteful tbh. Its panic that caused us to run out of things that were NEVER going to run out FFS