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.

And I suspect this one has a PHD in mansplaining

Oh, you again! I didn't clock that at first. You were hilarious on the KFC thread. Why on Earth are not writing some stand up comedy?

Why aren't your shop workers and public transport workers already using masks and gloves?

@Hobnobswantshernameback 😘 I’m not taking your bait sorry 😉

I won’t apologise for telling people to stay home because there was a genuine fear the wave had overwhelmed the healthcare system.

Ah you are one of those always right even when they are wrong types. The dam wasn't breaking, and in whose mind was there a genuine fear that the wave had overwhelmed the NHS apart from yours?

The problems at Watford were quickly rectified you didn't comment on that though did you?

@Snorkelface they would be wearing them if I was in charge.

I've heard that you can get a kind of scanner that gives a rough idea of whether someone has a temperature, rather like a heat camera. This is being used at airports.
But on buses, trams etc. that would mean every bus would need to be outfitted with a scanner of that kind, and some kind of doorman to stop people getting on if they seemed hot. As it's unlikely there would be multiple scanners per tram, you'd have to have people all getting on via the same door, which would likely raise the likelihood of infection. One study found that 2/3 of seriously ill Corona patients did not have a fever. Let alone the people not yet showing symptoms.

I think I disagreed with @wettham about bodies in the streets & riots & was told I was gov stooge!

@@Snorkelface they would be wearing them if I was in charge.

How would you police & enforce & source them all?

All shop workers and public transport workers have been wearing them where I am for a long time, and they're separated from the public behind perspex and distancing markers too. Are they not doing it where you are?

I'm glad I didn't realise what was coming sooner. I think if I had known this would happen since January or February it would have sent me into a very depressed state. Obviously everyone wishes it wasn't happening, but I think it was better that I wasn't really aware until it happened. It wouldn't have changed anything. Would have been better if the government had been a bit more prepared.

We were told by some people on here that millions would die in the UK and that the hospitals were overflowing and people were dying in the streets.

This is something I was hearing a lot irl too. Was told by a very good friend, who's mum works in the hospital, there were people left to die in corridors and the mortuary was overflowing apparently! Absolute rubbish, and I relished in telling people it was total bullshit. I had spoken to a few other people who worked in the same hospital, who said they were empty! At the point she was telling me the mortuary in the local hospital was overflowing, there had been no covid19 deaths in our area!

My old life was great and I want it back. I tried so hard to make that life.

My favourite threads are the ones where bread and milk were not essential shopping.

Oh yes I remember that THE DAM IS ABOUT TO BURST! post too.

OP, surely you were wrong about your prediction of the NHS being overwhelmed, and that should make you happy? It would make me happy to be wrong about something like that.

That was OP with the dam, wasn't?

Great prediction, that was.

But the only reason why the NHS has not been overwhelmed is because we were all told to stay away and so people did not get the help they required and that is the reason why we have such a shocking death rate.

The Gov has handled this whole crisis terribly. Its unforgivable when they saw it coming and were warned.

Ah god I'm still pissing myself at that damn poem

There is a really unpleasant sense of glee from some in relation misery and death.
We have always been surrounded by misery and death - we do, after all, all die, the vast majority of us not of Covid - yet we have never had this amount of hand-wringing and almost lascivious interest, presumably much of it from people who haven't previously thought a great deal about these issues.
Cancer, malaria, stroke, heart disease, dementia, meningitis, measles, TB... None of these have ever been discussed with such passionate glee and near-religious fervour.
In particular, I am cynical about the apparent care and levels of empathy some people are now showing for those they do not know, considering the millions of impoverished lives and early deaths our western lifestyles have caused in the global south, not to mention the rising and frankly obscene levels of inequality we have seen over the last few years.

I hid the CV topic early on because it was full of hysterical lunes.I in fact suggested that it should be removed because the manner in which people came across on those threads and fed off one another’s anxieties was incredibly unhealthy.

And I said early on that Coronavirus will likely always be here,and that even if there is a vaccine people will still catch and die from Coronavirus, the same as happens to flu every year, to thousands and thousands of people.

Clearly the OP is not only gleeful about the fact that she apparently was “right” (even though she wasn’t, she is also relishing in the deaths of others.And that’s really not an attractive trait.

I am among the vulnerable.If I catch covid it will likely not end well for me.But the truth is that there has to be a middle ground between ensuring that we’re not overwhelmed by the virus (and this was always what it was about,not about stopping it altogether,) and keeping the economy going.Any death is tragic, and death because of the consequences of lockdown doesn’t suddenly become less so just because others have died of COVID.

It’s not a competition.

Pretty sure OP is a he but other than that agreed.

@ iamapixie quite.500000 people die of TB every year, but I suspect that’s not considered important because it doesn’t happen over here.

It’s only when “it could happen to you,” that people start to take notice.

I pointed out on a thread that “well,we’ve all got to die of something.” That went down well 😂

I think once we have the antibody tests released for the general population the dementors are going to be terribly upset as just how many of us already had cv19.

As upsetting as that is for the Hysterics, it’s a fact.

The dam most definitely did not burst. Might have leaked a bit, and it’s still not 100% back to full strength, but we are not “all gonna die”

Might have leaked a bit

I'd be over the moon if coronavirus is shown to have infected many more people than assumed and the mortality rate is reduced but you want to take a good hard look at your metaphors. It's a great sadness that so many people over and above the usual have died. A fucking leak - give your head a wobble.

OP are you going to respond to the multiple posters on here (many not on the dementors thread) who have commented on your gleeful manner when making your predictions around death and hardship for others? Because it’s obviously something that is apparent to many.

AlternativePerspective Yes I imagine you got all sorts of fake dismay and horror at your evil selfishness!

I am embarrassed for you that you openly mock those who have concerns, questions or fears about this virus I’ll give you hand working out genuine concern with dramatic hyperbole, dementor type posts.
(Concern) OP - hi, my child is in the age group that will be going back on the 1st June. He has no underlying conditions. My mother is isolating by herself at the moment and I’m doing a shop for her. She’s 86 and has COPD. Am I right to send him to school? He’s desperately missing his friends (also his nana) and my mental health is suffering as I’m just not a good enough teacher.

Answers focussing on the concern - here’s a graph that shows that children are very, very unlikely to die from coronavirus. However, your mum is more likely to be affected. So if he goes back to school, you might want to make sure he doesn’t see his nana up close. Have you tried x, y or z to keep them both connected?

Dramatic hyperbole that the dementors favour
OP - I’m not sending my healthy son to school until this virus is sorted, he is not a guinea pig and the government cannot use him to build their “herd immunity”.

Dementor answers to OP’s genuine concern - OP if you send your kid to school, you’re probably killing my kid or my mother or his teacher. Those lives are more important than your mental health. You also should not be dropping shopping of your mum, you will kill someone. You absolutely cannot have a chat to her in the garden (socially distanced) because you will be murdering people. Also, I saw on another thread that you’re concerned about the economy and the long term impacts this is having - peoples lives are far more important than the economy OP. The fact that you would put the economy before actual lives says a lot about you.