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.

Argh, hadn't seen the Birdie Friend thread...

*Took DS and BF out to lunch at a local cafe.

“Birdie Friend says all this will be gone soon mummy.”*

Ours are opening again on Friday. I wonder if BF knew that too

Thanks for the laugh OP😁

No one on the dementor threads is mocking people for having anxiety. In fact a lot of posters on there have their own anxieties.

It's people who are telling us that we are killing people by going out and sitting on a park bench, or that we will never have a holiday ever again and if we dare mention that we're having a hard time in lockdown we get "people are DYING how can you be so selfish!" Those are dementors.

I wasn’t dismissing concerns but I was dismissing those who were buying wind up radios and 100 toilet rolls

Why do you care what a load of strangers think ? Like seriously ?

And I was following this early with many of you

Like what does it really matter ? Being worried 2 months earlier mainly means you might have saved a bit, and based some pasta . but surely such a huge global crisis is , well just that !!!!

OH HOWL, HOWL AND THRICE HOWL!

Yes, Dementors are those who go on a tread where someone who has just had a baby is worrying and and who crow "Put up with it, at least your child is alive". (a hypothetical thread example, of course)

We have crossed swords before OP because I remember how apocalyptic your new world was, how everything would be different and never the same again

My argument was always whereas in part you were not wrong and it would be something to deal with you are definitely not completely right. The sky hasn’t fallen, Shanghai Disney for example has now opened up. Life is slowly starting to come back and see. There may be setbacks but society hasn’t crumbled

Life has carried on, supermarkets have food, socialising is being done on a new platform

Science is showing it not to be so scary, it’s cfr looks to be just under 1%, antibodies seem to be produced and last for 2-3 years and reinfection. It’s infection rate is scary yes

As always there needs to be a balance

Whilst i get where you are coming from, my grandad was in a japenese prisoner of war camp for 4 years and my gran was bombed in the blitz. Yes they bore scars but went on to lead prosperous lives. I think humans are more resiliant than you imagine.
My biggest fear is climate change and nature has had a temporary breather. However, consumption will return as it seems our current economy cannot thrive without consuming shit that we dont really need.

LMFAO

Someone certainly thinks alot of themselves dont they OP?

Classic dementor.

Yes you were right. We were wrong. Big clap and a gold star for you ⭐️

How we move forward now will define our civilisation for generations

That's still hyperbole in my book.

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

And will still be saying "I told you so" then.

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

Quite. There has been a hardcore of posters on here for months determined to push a "we are all going to die and everything's going to be horrendous" agenda. Any attempt at positivity is scorned. Figures from the government treated with skepticism as they're all lying, secretly turning Hyde Park into a morgue and stocking up on body bags. Someone in Inverness who posts that the popped to the shops for chocolate is rounded on and accused of being directly responsible for the death of someone's granny in Bristol.

Dementors is absolutely the right word for them and quite frankly, I'm not sure what they're trying to achieve. We know we're on lockdown. We know it's shit. We know people are dying - even although not in the numbers stated by the dementors, who pull death rates of anything between 3% and 10% out of their arses and state it as fact.

What it boils down to is the dementors are scared and upset, and don't like the changes. The fact that other people are desperate to get back to normal makes them angry. They want everyone else to be as scared as they are.

OP, can you give me a quick heads up on what’s going to happen now and over the next few months? Need to do a bit of financial/personal planning and would be great to have somebody telling me in precise detail how the rest of the year will pan out. So glad I found you. Thanks.

And it’s so easy to get sucked in by the dementors. To start to think they’re right, and we are all doomed, and even attempting to find any positivity in the situation is completely pointless.
The dementor threads have been an absolute lifeline for me.

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

As stated mockery is not aimed at those who have reasonable concerns, questions or fears about the virus, it is aimed at those who show zero concern for any other concerns, questions or fears and dismiss those with shouts of people are dying/you are murdering people/you have blood on your hands. Another prime example of a dementor is a poster who posted several weeks ago when there was an issue at Watford Hospital (and it was in shouty capitals) "THE DAM IS BREAKING", the dam was NOT breaking, has not broken and the issue at the hospital was resolved and was nor more or less than similar issues which arise at hospitals throughout the country on occasion which require hospitals to request people don't attend until said issue is fixed. The poster who posted that ridiculous hyperbolic rubbish never retracted or apologised for their extreme statement, that poster is dementor personified, positively revelling in their made up dystopia and being mocked is the least they should expect.

I love your overly dramatic writing style OP.

To wish we had been complete wrong

Your opening post conveys quite the opposite.

A conversation I had back in march on FB went like-
"I think we need a much tighter lockdown or we'll see over 50000 deaths very quickly"
"Don't be stupid. Lol. We'll not have over 20k deaths so a lockdown is a stupid idea."

Another was about deaths and how the government briefing wasn't including all the deaths. Again I was calld an idiot, told i didn't understand how it worked. I was a twat for thinking the government were under reporting etc. Then others realised care homes weren't included in briefing figures and it became a story in the media.

The worrying part is that I've been told that free movement, schools opening and VE celebrations won't possibly cause a second peak, no way, I'm a test for thinking it will... Time will tell I guess.

I take little satisfaction from the prepping to pleading with the school nurse to please listen and not assume it will be the same as SARS, and to start taking it seriously.

Mostly people did not want to face up to it, there was great deal of fear and if I am honest a collective of burying heads in the sand when it was obvious it was coming here. I do remember the posts that were labelled dramatic, drama lama and hysterical hand wringing whenever anyone had the audacity to say it was going to be terrible. And yes here we are, and it is grim and it is terrible!!

But that is where we part op, because far from seeing the next stage as being even worse or just as bad, I feel we have enough resilience and innovation to work around it, and fortunately for us we have both the talent and resources to develop successful antibodies and vaccines.

For me, I see this as short term, I am taking the kick up the backside that was well overdue to make the changes to my own life, and hope to support the changes to the country as a whole.

For those of us that were fortunate not to lose loved ones or become impaired ourselves we must take our lessons from this.
I hope for a greener, more considered, grateful country, that consume a lot less, care for real heroes and not fake ones and see this moment a as turning point rather than a complete disaster.

I still think you were all being utterly hysterical in January/February. Sorry. Being hysterical about what was coming has made no effect on what has happened, and has caused damage, possibly long term, to many people's mental health. I have thought the whole way through that a calm approach, avoiding hyperbole was the way to meet this situation, and I still think that.

I prepped for Brexit so didn't have to participate in the great toilet paper and pasta hunt in March.

There are a category of people here that are rightly called dementors. CV-19 is serious but most people have little risk and dementors need to calm the fuck down. Of course they are free to live life stricter than government guidelines but shouldn't be judging those who live by the government rules. Dementors are not the people shielding etc They have a different risk to the rest of us and I understand why they would be at home waiting for science to rule out their condition as a risk factor.

Dementors aren't only on MN. I've seen people stare disapprovingly at siblings on bikes laughing to each other and people complain that people in the supermarket were buying a basket of food rather than 2 months work. "I've not been out since lockdown" is a popular brag of these kinds of people and I can't help think "So fucking what?" I'm not ashamed that I've been out for walks or to the supermarket.

I've seen some outrageously hysterical posts on here. If you do searches there's a definitive list of single items that these dementors prevent you going out for including sanitary towels, printer ink for home schooling, milk...

The trouble is that it was very easy to disassociate from the virus when it was in China and then moving towards us. I was certainly very chilled about the whole thing. It was only when lockdown looked inevitable that I though ooh-er 😬 Everyone deals with things differently.