To be unreasonably annoyed at Royals at the pantomime

[Gigheimer]

I post knowing I’m totally unreasonable (probably) and you’ll all shout but I got both angry and sad and rage at seeing the press stories of Kate and Wills at the pantomime in the West End.

I’m normally a fan, and of course I don’t begrudge those cute kids a pantomime.

But my kids don’t get that this year, no Santa experiences, no pantomime no fucking nothing because we are tier 3 and if our local pub or theatre ever open again I’ll die of shock.

But we are in the North so who gives a fuck right?

I just have the absolute unreasonable fury tonight.

@DameLucy

Tier 3 and in the North too. Totally empathise. It’s so miserable up here right now 😢

Tier 3 here too ~ in the South [all of Kent is and likely to stay] . it's not so cheerful down here either

[quote MintyCedric]@1AngelicFruitCake

Overall that's a fair point. For me personally it's made no difference as I've been caring for a terminally ill parent since April, so to protect them have isolated myself as much as possible.

Admittedly it makes a difference when it's (somewhat) by choice.[/quote]
I’m very sorry to hear that.
Don’t understand your ‘somewhat by choice’ comment? Yes I’m choosing to follow the rules but I’m a teacher so already feel at risk and worry about being the member of staff to cause a whole class of children to isolate, as well as avoiding catching COVID to protect myself and my family.

Sorry I understand your point now!

The Royals have endless privileges that most normal folk don't. It's hardly news.

@wildraisins

Very unreasonable to say "We are in the North so who gives a fuck"

The tier restrictions are to do with numbers of cases, not to do with you being in the North. I am northern myself and I think it's stupid that so many people have this grudge.

The grudge is more to do with the north being stuck in tier 3 (and previous versions) for months, with no support for schools such as testing. London and the South East s not even at that level and there is talk of mass testing for schools there.

Plus the entire country was taken out of the original lockdown when rates were controlled in London - causing unnecessary loss of life in the North-West which was still seeing high cases.

I am not from the North-West but can understand their anger.

@1AngelicFruitCake

It's crap isn't it? I'm school support staff. Was able to wfh initially but back in mid-June, so taking that risk into account didn't want to add to it by going out much otherwise, especially as DD is GCSE year (same school) and can't do much to minimise her risk. There was a case in her year a few weeks ago but they've been using strict seating plans so thankfully she only had to stay home for a day while they traced the students that had been in close contact.

I've just requested an unpaid career break as managing a sick parent in Covid times alongside a full time job is simply untenable.

I hope you manage to stay safe until the end of term and enjoy a restful Christmas break

@butterpuffed
The point you don't seem to be getting is that yes, you are in tier 3, and that stinks, but you had July, August, September, and October with much much more freedom than we did in Gtr Mcr where we have effectively been tier 3 since end of July. Leicester of course has had it even worse. It's the relentlessness that has been so awful.

London and the South East s not even at that level and there is talk of mass testing for schools there.

London is one of only three regions where cases are rising. Some of the boroughs in the east have some of the highest infection rates in the country. For example the case rate in Havering stands at 379.5 per 100,000 people as of 5 December, an increase of 31.3 per cent from the week before. This makes it the worst rate of any London borough and the ninth worst of any local government authority in England.

The original list of boroughs where mass testing was going to be introduced which appeared in this mornings papers didn’t have a single London borough on it, they have joined up their thinking now but I think this is a case of doing too little too late again rather that a north v south thing.

I had Covid in March when all the middle classes bought it home to affluent areas north and south when they came back from skiiing. It ran unchecked through London for a whole month so that twice as many who live here have antibodies as those living in any other part of the country. If having a deadly virus allowed to run through my community is an example of London’s privilege then I’ll pass on that thanks. (My parents also had it in March in a wealthy northern village -Ilkley still has the highest death rate in Bradford)

It is not even as if the politicians are affected by those rising infection rates, they will be tucked up in west London where rates are much lower, probably why they did not react to what is happening in the east.

Resentment of London and the south is misplaced in this instance. We have all been shafted by this government’s gross mishandling of the virus.

Very unreasonable to say "We are in the North so who gives a fuck

of course. Greater Manchester for exams has had massive restrictions since the beginning of July. They have now much lower numbers than London yet Manchester is in T3, not London.

Or look at secondaries, now the gov is rolling out covid tests in secondaries in London/South because of rising cases. No such thing on the North.

it is quiet obvious that this government hates the Norths and treats it very different from London and surrounding areas.

@PineconeOfDoom

It was an official engagement at a performance for key workers

I thinks it’s a bit pathetic to get jealous about that.

THIS

In the overall context of the enormous privileges enjoyed by the RF, this ranks pretty low imo.

Or look at secondaries, now the gov is rolling out covid tests in secondaries in London/South because of rising cases. No such thing on the North.

In the original list of boroughs for mass testing published this morning the majority were in the north, a few inKent, none in London. Now they have include some London boroughs where infection rates are as high as the ones included in the north.

I am more than happy to concede that economically and politically the north has been left behind by Thatchers re-engineering of the economy but if you read anything into this corrupt incompetent governments handling of Covid other than corruption and incompetence you are missing the point

I am in tier 3 and there are still Xmas events happening here - mainly illuminated gardens and things

[quote MintyCedric]@1AngelicFruitCake

It's crap isn't it? I'm school support staff. Was able to wfh initially but back in mid-June, so taking that risk into account didn't want to add to it by going out much otherwise, especially as DD is GCSE year (same school) and can't do much to minimise her risk. There was a case in her year a few weeks ago but they've been using strict seating plans so thankfully she only had to stay home for a day while they traced the students that had been in close contact.

I've just requested an unpaid career break as managing a sick parent in Covid times alongside a full time job is simply untenable.

I hope you manage to stay safe until the end of term and enjoy a restful Christmas break [/quote]
Thank you.?It must be so hard for you with your parent to care for and I hope you can get some rest over Christmas.
We were in all the way through (on less days) but it was the homeschooling that drove me around the twist! Let’s hope for a better 2021!

Yes, I found it annoying. I wasn't too impressed with their patronising tour of the UK either.

@MintyCedric

I can see where you're coming from about the Royal, but the North/South rhing is over egging it a bit.

I'm on the south coast, we went into lockdown in Tier 1, came out in Tier 2 although the figures for infection and deaths had barely changed overall.

No one really has theatre, concerts etc at the moment. It's just as grim down South.

No, it's not as bad as it is here in tier 3 land.

I adore them and it was the first thing they've done that I was very very about and thought it really didn't sit right. Not good role modelling, nor imho very safe. Poor timing for sure.

Some people are saying that there are no pantos or anything Christmassy going on where they are - I wonder if one reason is that there isn't enough confidence in being able to do it safely and socially distanced. It could be that doing something so high profile (with high profile audience members) helps to instil confidence that it can be done, and ultimately goes some way to keeping the arts alive.

Also, it wasn't just for one night that Pantoland ran, it's on until January and anyone can book tickets if you live in the area. Yes there were probably additional safety measures for the royals, but there are definitely still pantos running in the rest of the country (obviously limited), and it's down to the individual theatre companies I imagine if they want to risk putting on a show. That's not w&k's fault.

Hopefully now this will have the result of raising confidence so that smaller productions, amateur dramatics, community theatres etc. will decide that it's still worth it to start putting on shows again.

Having said all of that, I do understand how crappy it is when there isn't anything to do and when you've been stuck inside for most of the year! I just think that actually this was probably beneficial in the long run, and not a bad thing for them to attend. I don't begrudge them at all.

@DimidDavilby

How the fuck do they get panto? And I'm showing my son other people's bloody trees thru the window for cheer!

Is their life not easy enough already.

The rest of the audience was made up of front line workers. And it meant some in the arts got work(inc behind the scenes)

Was that ok?

There’s nothing in our area I don’t think - I’ve looked for after we get back from kids grandparents

I thought it was completely tone deaf. I'm normally supportive of the Royal family but after a crappy year this really annoyed me. The performance was to thank keyworkers. They are not keyworkers, they've barely been seen all year! Another keyworker family could have used the box if they weren't there.
If the purpose was to support the panto industry they should have picked another night.

They are not keyworkers, they've barely been seen all year!

And when they are seen to be part of the thanking to key workers, they are told off😂
Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

In Tier 3. Not much of a fan of the Royal Family.
If this raises the profile of the performing arts (on whom, let's face it we have all been relying on digitally) that's ok with me.
Much better than some shite poster urging a ballet dancer to retrain.

Fair enough @SchrodingersImmigrant! I'm quite happy that they haven't been out unnecessarily but it illustrates that they clearly aren't essential. Didn't make my point very well!

Does the profile of pantomime at Christmas really need raising?!