It has not been 2 years

[maddening]

Aibu to find that people are naturally over exaggerating the length of pandemic. I noticed in March that there was a lot of reference to "the last 18 months" when obviously it had only been 12-13 at most, and now people seem to refer to "the last 2 years" when it has been been 16 months - we aren't even at 18 months yet. I know it probably feels that long but aibu to think that people are often skewing the Time frames of the pandemic?

We were well aware of what was happening in China in January. And Italy in February. Was widely talked about where I am from early February as my son was going to Barcelona mid February and it was a topic of conversation when meeting to discuss travel plans.

Panic buying here was happening late February and early March.

So yes I think covid impacted all of 2020. Not all locked down etc but impacted in some way. We have lived with the fear of it, ramping up over time since January 2020 when images of the streets in wuhan being sprayed clean etc.

And here we are in July 2021, still worrying about potential restrictions. Major impacts over 2 academic years with no idea how it will impact a third one.

It's often forgotten that some parts of the country only saw a relaxation of restrictions for a few weeks last summer and were put back into restrictions august/September until recently.

But let's "correct" people when they say 2 years...

Time is a very strange thing. Its measurable and we have exact units to express its passing.

But people also view time differently. For people whose holidays are very important, they may feel that they have already missed out on 2 years of holidays.

Those in education have had 2 years of their education impacted. I admit, off the top of my head I would say 18 months now. However, at work we started planning for 'what if this does become a shit storm' in February 2020. My kids were in Italy early March 2020 and ended up in quarantine. So it's been 17 months that's its been impacting me.

The official pandemic has been 16 months, so rounding it up to 2 years seems odd. But then when you think of about people's situations, you can see why people would say its 2 years.

Also, alot of people said it would take 2 years. Some people may be rounding it up in their head, because mentally, that means it should be nearly over (and hopefully it is) and that makes it easier to deal with.

I and a lot of friends have observed how time has become very odd during the pandemic.
Honestly, ‘before’ times’ could sometimes feel so remote as to be 5 or 6 years ago. In other ways life constricted so much and became so unremittingly flat that it sometimes feels much shorter than it has been. This is linked for me with regret - how on earth has 16 months gone by and I haven’t got fit, painted my kitchen, sorted that major life paperwork issue etc etc.

I’m with those who see this as 2 years affected - 2 summers, 2 academic years, 2 exam periods (only one Christmas and that is fascinating and discloses the time warp).
Good thread op.

I think it partly depends how enmeshed your family is in the academic year, for us we are all in some respects tied to the academic year as the children are in school, I work in education and dh with children so we think in terms of academic years, and we do more things in the summer so it will be two years missing our summer holiday abroad (we chose not to take the risks last year or this year). We went to a fairly large party and it has been two years since we engaged in small talk with people in that situation because we tend to socialise more in the summer with large groups, with more close friends over in the winter.

The schools were closed to some of my dc for five and a bit months once you add in the summer holidays when they were shut due to the summer so I can see why people would round that to six months. It might only be six months of education in lockdown but in terms of disruption especially for any who were already a bit behind and who didn't engage in schooling at home it will have substantially impacted two years of education. Say a child in yr4 who was six months behind (so beginning yr4 level) going into the lockdown then did no work, their skills will have slipped back so by September they might only be working at yr3 level, they then have three months of which some they were possibly isolating. So by Christmas 2021 in yr 5 they are a year behind their peers. They then have a further nine and a bit months from mid December to Sept 2021 with either full lockdown or burst bubbles. Going into yr6 they could be still working at a yr4 level. Frustrating for them and frustrating for classmates who might be a little ahead with now a larger gulf in their abilities.

If someone asked me how long the pandemic has been going I would say about 18 months, but in terms of disruption it has now been two years for some things due to the combination of winter and pandemic.

I wonder whether Southern hemisphere countries would regard it as 18 months or two years if they will have only missed one summer.

I think it's a strange thing to get hung up on OP. Yes, it's been 17 months since March 2020. But it has been the whole of my dd's sixth form, 2 summer holidays, 2 of my and 3 of my children's birthdays. It's still not really over yet - my children are now catching Covid.

It just seems a strange thing to be hung up on - if people want to say 2 years, why would you correct them?

@CrouchEndTiger12

It is nearly August and people are rubbing their hands with glee on here at the thought of more restrictions. So that is nearly all if 2021 too

How are people rubbing their hands with glee? I think there will be more restrictions because its not over, but I'm hardly happy about it, I just think it's something that will happen

For me and DH the being at home together all the time has been 2 years. It’s a mesh of mat leave and pandemic that has blurred it all.
It’s 2 years since I started mat leave, pandemic started officially 6 months into it if you count from March 20. I’ve been back at work since Nov 20 but WFH (and he was already WFH pre-Covid) so we’ve been living on top of one another for 2 long years already.
I like WFH but I dislike the fact we are never apart for more than the odd hour here and there.

It annoys me too OP. It’s 16 months, not two years.

Also when people talk about being ‘locked up’ for the whole of last year, particularly in relation to teens. No they weren’t. Life was reasonably normal from July to end of oct in most places in England. My DDs went to pubs, cinemas, weekends away with mates etc. Same from May this year.

I think its because people have lost 2 years worth of some things.
2 birthdays
2 summer holidays
2 school years
2 Easters/Eids
Etc

This @HungryHippo11

Dd had 3 and 4th birthday in lockdown. End of March

We have had 2 holidays cancelled 2020 and 2021

Had 2 wedding cancelled 2020 and 2021

2 restricted Easter

Etx

Yanbu op.

In my work there are certain things still affected/changed due to the pandemic. I work for a bank - and clients can't just rock up to a branch for instance and often need to take the digital route or book an appointment for their needs.

EVERY single day I hear that this is ridiculous, they've been impacted by this for two years now, two years is too long to not be able to do xyz.

I have to bite my tongue every time to prevent me from getting into a debate over it 😂

It took over 2020. It’s taking over 2021. That’s two years. Does it matter?

You are right, it’s been more like 18 months.

It does feel longer. I can’t help wonder if people will claim it’s been 3 years by Christmas though.

@WhenSheWasBad

You are right, it’s been more like 18 months.

It does feel longer. I can’t help wonder if people will claim it’s been 3 years by Christmas though.

and next summer it will have been a decade

We are in our second year of it.
Children have had 2 academic years messed up (one of my children has just finished year 1 so hasn’t had a normal academic year yet).
We’re not at the end of it.
It feels like fucking 5 years.

@CrouchEndTiger12

Well it is really.

This mess kicked off in February 2020. We knew it lockdown was coming. That is all of 2020 gone.

It is nearly August and people are rubbing their hands with glee on here at the thought of more restrictions. So that is nearly all if 2021 too.

How does it affect you if people feel as if all of 2020 and 2021 have or are going to be written off?

Why does it bother you that much how people perceive it?

January to July is six months, not “nearly all of 2021.”

Nine months in 2020 is not “all of a year.”

This is exactly what the OP meant!! I have noticed it too @maddening.

January to July is six months, not “nearly all of 2021

But there were still restrictions from July? Your life might have been almost normal but many peoples weren’t. And masks/social distancing/ban on the number of people you were permitted to have in your own home were still in place. I still couldn’t work. Large events couldn’t happen. It wasn’t normal.

Personal shit kicked off for me in October 2019 so it has been nearly two years for me and I say that. I’m not talking about just the pandemic.

I’m with you op
It started impacting in the UK in feb March last year so to now17/18 months certainly not two years
Unless you mean it’s impacted over 2 years I.e 2020 and 2021

Is it peoples ways of justifying why they’re so fed up about it? over exaggerating how long it’s been? It feels like bloody forever

@Ifitquacks

January to July is six months, not “nearly all of 2021

But there were still restrictions from July? Your life might have been almost normal but many peoples weren’t. And masks/social distancing/ban on the number of people you were permitted to have in your own home were still in place. I still couldn’t work. Large events couldn’t happen. It wasn’t normal.

January - July 2021 is not “nearly all of 2021.” It is six months.

Two school years I think of

@BettysGotMoxie

Personal shit kicked off for me in October 2019 so it has been nearly two years for me and I say that. I’m not talking about just the pandemic.

but we are talking about just the pandemic, so what's the point of inflating the length because of other stuff? isn't that quite illogical?

using your logic I could say shit kicked off for me 46 years ago or 21 years ago or 25 years ago or 11 years ago - depending on what I choose to include.
any of those would be quite daft when the focus of talk is this particular pandemic.

I was WFH from 15th March 2020 to 19th July 2021. There are people in my office who said, on going back in, "I can't believe it's been two years since we last sat like this".
OP, I thought the same as you. We last sat in an office together not even 18 months ago, let alone two whole years.

But I do feel sad that my son, going into y2, has not yet done a complete year of school in his life, having had the first two years of school so disrupted.

Is it because we had two disrupted spring/early summers? We've only had one disrupted autumn/winter so far, although who can tell what's about to come.

@HOkieCOkie

:@maddening Don’t sweat the small stuff in life, does it really matter."

Certainly not sweating, no it doesn't matter, and I am not bothered about it, I have just noticed it over the last 6 months, and from quite a lot of people and found it interesting, I think it highlights how differently we all perceive this time and how we individually measure our lives. There is an "actual" amount of time passed and then there is the individual experience of that which is skewed by our own perception, circumstances etc but for a lot of people, in fact the majority, it feels like 2 years, however due to individual circumstance the cause of this shared perception is different.

In normal times we often have shared experience of how time passed - eg summer holidays as a kid felt like they lasted a long time, now blink and it's gone, how fast time goes when you have dc - one minute they are new born, next they are.at school- we have common phrases such as "time flies when you're having fun" and "I don't know where the time goes". But this last 16-18 months is definitely experienced/perceived v differently, all at the same time by all if us so it was interesting.

I find it interesting too. I feel like 2020 didn't really happen, because I've got nothing to show for it. Everything we did last year was at home. Notable events were getting the paddling pool out or having ice lollies in our pyjamas, or having a picnic under the trampoline. Stuff we'd never normally celebrate or even think twice about.

It feels like a long time, but also like nothing all at the same time. Like when you wake up from a short but deep nap and you're not sure if it's still the same day, or you've woken up the next morning!