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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think 2021 isn't going to be the amazing year we all want...

203 replies

Skyshale · 12/12/2020 03:40

...or am I being massively pessimistic?

Everyone is going on about next year, saying it will be amazing and that we can all travel again, see family and be as normal.

But the virus isn't going to think "Oh, look, the clock has struck 12 on New Years Day. I'm gone now...BYE EVERYONE forget I ever existed".

AIBU to think 2021 isn't going to be the amazing year we all imagined?

Can I just say (I've had a few wines and my thoughts are running away with me) I would LOVE 2021 to be an amazing, incredible year for us all but a horrible dark side of me thinks it ain't going to happen...

OP posts:
Fandajji · 12/12/2020 06:35

The second half of this year has been an amazing year for me and I'm going into 2021 with more optimism than any other year. As long as the schools stay open my life really doesn't change much and even if they do close I can deal with that.

I think masks will be gone by summer, that's the only thing I dislike about life at the moment. So yes, I'm very much thinking 2021 will be a great year for me.

Lemonsyellow · 12/12/2020 06:36

I expect it to be bad, perhaps worse than this year.

At current rate of vaccination, just doing those in the top priority, and not all of them, will take 200 days.

And then we have the shitshow that is Brexit.

And the NHS will not recover, perhaps never. Loads of people have had diagnosis and treatments delayed and cancelled.

Mass unemployment is at the door.

Bills will rise.

wanderings · 12/12/2020 06:38

@TrickorTreacle You're right. It's been CovidNet since March. In fact, if this thread isn't in the Coronavirus quarantine area where it belongs, like so many of the other gloomfests, could we have a new topic of "Doom and Gloom", so that the rest of us can hide it, as many of us have done with the Coronavirus topic?

BerthaBlythe · 12/12/2020 06:42

I agree OP but I think it’s a bit like the difference between November when the year is dreary and dull and you’re heading into the depths of winter, and January when it’s dreary and dull but you know the Spring will come soon.

Early 2021 will be tough but by Easter we’ll be seeing the benefits. I think a headlong rush back to normality isn’t wise but that will probably be what people will do, and likely there will be problems from it. And the autumn/ winter will be a cautious time watching to see how effective the vaccines are against new strains.

My hopes are pinned on 2022, and it’s not about being pessimistic, or maybe it is! I just prefer to be pleasantly surprised when reality doesn’t match expectation, rather than disappointed.

TinySongstress · 12/12/2020 06:46

I don't think any reasonable thinking person does think that Jan 1st 2021 will be any different. In fact if any NYE was significant it was last NYE, after which everything changed- possibly for the duration of our lifetimes. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I suspect this year will be a VERY subdued affair for most people. I'll be in bed for 10pm like every NYE because I've never really been able to get on board with the whole thing. Time is a linear concept and all that.

MinesAPintOfTea · 12/12/2020 06:47

I’m hoping that by Easter a small family gathering in a garden might be a suitable and legal activity (in the northwest, have barely come out of restrictions). Need something to hope for whilst I plan for a Christmas without seeing relatives, just staying at home in a disintegrating marriage.

Brexit and the chaos that will bring is a worry though.

Ltdannygreen · 12/12/2020 06:49

I think the 2nd half will be better than the first.

MinesAPintOfTea · 12/12/2020 06:49

Who is not going to stay up to 11pm on NYE to find out whether there is a last minute deal or not?

PhilCornwall1 · 12/12/2020 06:49

I'm always baffled by people saying that something will be amazing, total overreaction.

As far as 2021 is concerned, it'll just be another year, hopefully just a little less shit than 2020. It certainly won't be amazing, what year ever is?

GoldenOmber · 12/12/2020 06:52

Everyone is going on about next year, saying it will be amazing and that we can all travel again, see family and be as normal.

But the virus isn't going to think "Oh, look, the clock has struck 12 on New Years Day. I'm gone now...BYE EVERYONE forget I ever existed".

Nobody thinks it will. What people are saying is that 2021 will be a significant improvement over this year. Yes it’ll take time for everyone to get vaccinated, yes there’ll be economic fallout from this, yes Brexit, but overall, tons better than this year.

If you genuinely think nobody will get to see family or travel until 2022 or later then ok I suppose but that’s not gritty realism., that’s just letting your fears run away with you.

GoldenOmber · 12/12/2020 06:55

Mind you I do think 2021’s going to be disappointing to people who’ve quite enjoyed lockdown or the drama of living through their own little apocalyptic blockbuster story. So swings and roundabouts, I suppose....

Mamanyt · 12/12/2020 06:56

2021 will find us slowly groping our way back from a very dark place. "Amazing" probably won't be part of it, although later in the year "better" almost certainly will be. The soonest I'm looking for "amazing" is some point during 2022.

TheresSnowHelpForUs · 12/12/2020 06:56

As PPs have said, the virus situation will improve, but there will still be excess deaths due to so much of the NHS being put on hold.

I also think we the general public are generally ignorant about how bad a no deal Brexit will be. At best, massive price rises, at worst, food and medicine shortages and civil unrest.

Ifailed · 12/12/2020 07:06

I expect the effect of Covid-19 to slowly wane, particularly in respect to death. I also expect deaths from all the the deadly illnesses like cancer, heart disease and diabetes to increase, and 2021 to be a more deadly year than 2020.
Add on the impact of Brexit, the fall-out from the cost of Covid in the economy and the MH state of the country will plummet, throw in political turmoil as Boris leaves and we enter a period of blame-game & I don't think 2021 will be an improvement on 2020.

tinselearedcow · 12/12/2020 07:13

Well my plan is to have as good a Christmas as possible, lots of nice food and drink (but no Christmas bubbles here, it is too risky IMHO). Then grit teeth and get through January and February, which I think will be grim. Once we get to Spring things will start to get better.

Brexit is a big uncertainty though, but I reckon there might still be a last minute deal followed by much trumpeting from Johnson to try to deflect attention from the fact that by the end of the year nearly 70K will have died.

ToffeeNotCoffee · 12/12/2020 07:14

2021 is not going to be compensation for 2020. We've had some bad things happen this year i.e. death of surviving parent. (Not from Covid, not that it matters.) Been unemployed. No furlough because it's on employers' discretion. ACAS say it's not a legal right.

We've also had some good things i.e. bought a house. Got back into paid employment. Inherited some money from said surviving parent.

I feel no one is allowed to have anything good happen because it's all about the woe is me Covid club.

tinselearedcow · 12/12/2020 07:15

Oh, and I think there will be a lockdown after Christmas.

lazylump72 · 12/12/2020 07:15

It just has to be better..surely it cannot get any worse...she says crossing fingers and toes!

MaryLeeOnHigh · 12/12/2020 07:25

Courtesy of Brexit, it's going to be crap for us anyway with or without the virus.

LadySlipper · 12/12/2020 07:29

I sat through a tedious Skype meeting the other day to plan an event for July with predicted attendance up of up to 10,000 people. I just wanted to scream 'Why are we wasting our time?!!' There is no way this is going to go ahead! And if it CAN, is it a good idea? No, it is not.

kitschplease · 12/12/2020 07:44

Although I'm cautiously optimistic about restrictions lifting, I'm really worried about the long-term economic recovery and the impact of Brexit.

MistletoeandGin · 12/12/2020 07:47

But the virus isn't going to think "Oh, look, the clock has struck 12 on New Years Day. I'm gone now...BYE EVERYONE forget I ever existed"

Yeah, because that’s exactly what everyone thinks Hmm.

longtompot · 12/12/2020 07:48

For me, it's seeing the back of a most unusual year, that has been sad for a lot of people. It hoping that next year, with the vaccines, will start to be a bit more 'normal' and that I will be able to hug my parents and my sisters and nieces. And maybe my brother and his family will be able to come over and I'll be able to give my newest nephew a cuddle.
Thankfully I've not lost anyone through all this. I did lose my aunt just after Christmas last year, so that was a sad end to last year.

Charleyhorses · 12/12/2020 07:49

I think it's human nature, the old "it will be over by christmas".
I do think it will be better in terms of virus this time next year.
But I also think, realistically a lot of other things will have come home to roost and it's gonna be a difficult time for most.

Pukkatea · 12/12/2020 07:49

I think a lot of the mental health issues I've seen emerge in my own friendship group are as a result of their optimism that covid would be over in a few months. First it would be a few months, then ok by Christmas etc. I was told I was being a killjoy by suggesting (as a former virologist, so some idea what I'm talking about) that it would be years before things were normal. But I've generally been OK - low expectations, low disappointment.

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