Some really selfish people!

[parlourpalm]

This was said by someone on the news:

"We just made the decision to leave based on the fact that my parents said come, and we couldn't bear the thought of no fresh air and a toddler going rogue round a small flat for the foreseeable," she said.

There are loads of us facing this exact situation and are just bloody well dealing with it.

@Biker47

What alternatives do you think would work?

I think the comments like “I’d rather catch it than live in some blah blah blah”. These people think it’s all about them. As long as they’re okay, then who cares if increasing spread results in the untimely death of someone else’s loved one.

I just think a) what does Granny want, maybe she's willing to risk it? And b) what if she's not around next Christmas. The clock of life is wound but once, none of us know how long we've got. If I was elderly, I wouldn't be wasting what might be the last year of my life irrespective of Covid

This. My parents feel they must follow the rules but absent those rules would have been happy to take reasonable risks. I strongly dislike this idea that adults can't be trusted to assess their own level of risk and act accordingly.

My grandfather would have been fuming. At the end of his life he would have happily swapped 1 good christmas day with family for another year in a care home. He would have declined medical treatment so would not have bed blocked the NHS anyway. I bet he's not the only one to feel that way.

It kills less than 1% of those who catch it. I'd rather take my chances and have my freedom than this half existence we currently have.
I'm alright, Jack

Even my friends are still going against the rules and seeing their families. I've decided not to and just stay at home with my small daughter, as my sister is a nurse that works in ICU

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I just think a) what does Granny want, maybe she's willing to risk it? And b) what if she's not around next Christmas. The clock of life is wound but once, none of us know how long we've got. If I was elderly, I wouldn't be wasting what might be the last year of my life irrespective of Covid

This. My parents feel they must follow the rules but absent those rules would have been happy to take reasonable risks. I strongly dislike this idea that adults can't be trusted to assess their own level of risk and act accordingly.

My grandfather would have been fuming. At the end of his life he would have happily swapped 1 good christmas day with family for another year in a care home. He would have declined medical treatment so would not have bed blocked the NHS anyway. I bet he's not the only one to feel that way.

My nana refuses to isolate. Her husband, my grandad, died last year and she's alone. She's 81 and she says she'd rather risk it than live however long she has left alone. That's her choice and I respect it.

oh FGS who cares. If you're living in a pokey flat with a toddler and have been told you can't leave the house I'd move to my parents' as well

All Johnson cares about is popularity. We couldn't have had a worse fit for what is required right now. Utter shit show

I think humans are hard wired with a need to know whats going on. We needed some element of safety and predictability to survive.

If a person or persons had come to the forefront and been straight, no matter how unpalatable the message, I believe we could have coped better.

@Biker47
@ForestNymph

Completely agree with you both

Ffs these threads are draining...stop turning on your own and take a long hard look at the government!! It's very clear there are hoards of daily mail readers on this forum who believe anything press spout.

If I was in a pokey flat in London with a toddler I'd bloody well go as well! Grow up!

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

my patience with it has run out and I'm not prepared to sacrifice my civil liberties and my children's childhoods any longer. Fuck it.

I'm starting to feel like this. I feel those focus is on restricting everyone when it should be on effectively isolating those at risk. For a huge proportion of the population this is a mild virus.

Yep.

We are sacrificing our liberties so that we don't get a virus, which makes 99% of people a bit ill for a few days. We don't do this with the flu. The fear of "cases rising" when in actual fact it kills such a small rate of people, shows how a sterling job has been done of scaremongering

And I have had COVID BTW.

In summer I would have agreed with you, OP, but summer was a long time and a lot of shit ago. If you can bear with it, then great, you do do that, but others can't take any more. We have all had different expeirences and have different breaking points. Is the risk of Covid really worse than the damage that these restrictions are doing to people's emotional and mental health?

Again, in the summer, I would have said yes, suck it up! Now, I'm not so sure.
I'm not at all advocating mixing with lots of people or having parties, but people need to make their own risk assessments and look after themselves and their families. Those that brand that selfish, are just as selfish as they clearly have no empathy.

Up until the point you start dying from the virus of course....
I could just as easily die from flu since I was born but no one ever used buzz phrases to try and scare me into submission.

We'd all leave the poky flat and go to the parents, some of us are honest even to admit it and not preach sermons to strangers.

@WomenAndVulvas

Good for them. Based on your OP, they are going to see only 2 people, their child's grandparents. I don't understand all these brainwashed people who haven't seen their loved ones for nearly a year on the off chance they might spread/catch Covid. So if their 85 year old mum dies of a stroke in 2021 not having seen her loved ones for a long, lonely last year, was it really worth isolating her like that? Is it worth all the loneliness and depression? Is it worth not seeing your grandchildren grow, not cuddling your newborn niece, not bonding with your little nephew? I say no. Fuck that.

This has always been my dilemma. It is virtually the exact situation faced by my 85 year old parents who are very frail now, with health issues that make them extremely clinically vulnerable.

I live three hours drive from the and last saw them back in August when I had to go to their house and spend two weeks looking after them while we got a proper care package in place place.

I won't be seeing them over Christmas, but we don't usually anyway. As soon as their local hotel opens again I am likely to book rooms and we can go then.

It is very hard with sick and vulnerable family members to agree that you will go long periods without spending time with them because you know that they may not have much longer left. I do think some of the sanctimonious bullshit spouted willy nilly on these threads ignores that.

I am very aware that each time I visit my parents now could easily be the last time I see both of them alive. Lockdowns have obviously made it so much harder too.

If either of my parents deteriorate to crisis point again (happened several times to both of them during the first lockdown and we feared that they might not survive it) then I will be going to them. Regardless of what the rules say.

@Aalvarino

I dont think the escapees are terrible people at all but stuck inside? Ruining childhoods?? Really...! Get a sense of proportion. You can still go to the park or out in the fresh air. Childhoods are ruined by death, serious disease, crushing poverty, things like that. Not a year of half-assed restrictions.

This exactly.

When you look at the billions spent on apps (that don’t work) and furlough, you can’t help thinking that if that had been put into protecting the people who actually will die from it, we’d be in a much better position. So literally fortress like situations in care homes, rapid testing, doctors redeployed, wards set up in the care home itself - whatever it takes.

For other vulnerable people...same...the option to be totally isolated...food deliveries, rapid testing, doctor home visits, etc.

Would probably have been cheaper and saved the lives we all wanted to save.

Everyone else just has a few days in bed if they get it.

My parents are still coming here on boxing day. I'm working Xmas. Yes I may be selfish etc but what difference does 24hrs really make?

Enough is enough now. It's been nearly a year

If either of my parents deteriorate to crisis point again (happened several times to both of them during the first lockdown and we feared that they might not survive it) then I will be going to them. Regardless of what the rules say.

@Topseyt the rules have always allowed people to go and provide care to vulnerable people. So you would not be breaking the rules to do that again.

@Biker47

Good for them. If more people do it, the government will know this draconian shit isn't flying anymore, and have to come up with alternatives that actually work.

Yep. Good for them. Sounds like a fucking awful situation to be in.

I think I will scream if I see "it's not fatal in 99% of people". When will you all get it into your skulls that:

1. 1% of millions of people would be a lot;
2. It's not just about deaths, it's about the effect on the NHS and wider society if a lot of people get ill and the same time and can't go to work;
3. It is a lottery how badly people are affected, you won't know til you get it.

Do people really think the whole of Europe is shutting down at Christmas for no good reason?

I blame the government
So tired of this pathetic cope out. I don't care at all.for the government but God Sake, when are people going to start taking responsibility for ourselves.

It's not the government fault were in this situation, we are because of people selfish, egotistic, don't give a damn for anyone else attitude.

If people followed the rules like they should and acted responsibility with a sense of community, there wouldn't have been a 2nd lockdown and we wouldn't be where are now.

I think the comments like “I’d rather catch it than live in some blah blah blah”. These people think it’s all about them. As long as they’re okay, then who cares if increasing spread results in the untimely death of someone else’s loved one

I totally agree.

@M4J4

We'd all leave the poky flat and go to the parents, some of us are honest even to admit it and not preach sermons to strangers.

You are correct. Much of this preaching and sanctimonious crap is spouted by people living in large houses with gardens. Not all, but a lot of it.

I used to live in a small two bedroom flat in London with no outdoor area at all apart from a parking space. Over the last year I have thanked my lucky stars that we no longer live there. We managed to move to a house and garden in Essex when our first DD was a year old.

If we had still been in such a property we would almost certainly have been amongst those leaving London last night.