To miss lockdown

[globula]

Just that really.

This is my personal view and experience and I cannot comment on the suffering the COVID situation brought to many people however for me it was great (of course the reason for lockdown wasn't great, JUST THE EXPERIENCE of it).

I have a 0hrs contract with NHS but working on a non COVID ward so was able to pick up full time hrs last year resulting in more income (normally only able to do 2 shifts per week due to lack of childcare) and didn't feel unsafe or uncomfortable if anything it was easier with less patients, no visitors and limited visits from other agencies). DH was off on furlough staying at home, doing diy, garden and helping to homeschool.
I loved having DCs here to homeschool- actually think they learned way more at home than they do at school on regular basis- and overall we had more time to spend as a family and enjoy each other's company as there was no external stress and pressure.

We don't have family around and don't go out very often anyway so I wasn't bothered by places being shut.
I loved the empty streets, buses, trains and supermarkets (maybe I just don't like ppl I don't know).

So overall for me it was brilliant. I realise that I sound extremely selfish and wouldn't say it to anyone in RL however my intention isn't to diminish anyone's hardship just needed to share how I feel.

Sadly empty streets meant other places were absolutely packed (and still are), so it wasn't an improvement for many of us.

I get where you are coming from, but being unable to go away and having to cancel most of our holidays is not something I ever want to repeat. It's bad enough this year, can't wait for everything to be back to normal, we are not designed to be locked up like this.

As someone with long term anxiety, lockdown provided me with the opportunity to avoid all expectation regarding attending social events. From the POV of my mental, 2020 was the best I've felt in a very long time.

Of course I don't want lockdown back though.

I think a lot of people feel the same way, which is why people are so reluctant to go back to real life.
It was fucking hideous for me.

If I or my partner had been furloughed I’d probably have quite enjoyed it too. But that’s so far removed from my actual experience of lockdown I can’t even imagine it.

I loved it. I look back on it fondly.

I loved it but the weather was glorious and I think that helped.

Much depends on whether it affected your income.

I miss it. We are now in this weird half normal where no one is sure whether to hug on meeting/ kiss goodbye, wear facemask or not, and poised waiting for it all to kick off in autumn

I know quite a few people who feel like this and it’s a valid sentiment. I’m not a big fan of crowded shopping centres and train stations, so that’s something I too ‘enjoyed’ over lockdown.

But I must say, I felt so much joy last weekend when my workplace (performing arts centre) finally reopened its doors and people came in to attend the events this past weekend.

Just seeing people interacting with each other, laughing, having a coffee at the bar and re-discovering the exhibitions and decoration of the building, hearing those claps again as we went on stage… Knowing that there were people there, not just cameras and microphones. For me all the busyness was worth it the minute I realised how constricted our social behaviours have been these past 18 months.

I’m not even in the UK so we still have restrictions when it comes to masks, tests and distancing, but it just felt so good to do something normal, see people behave in a normal way.

I realised how dormant my energy levels had been, it gave me such a boost to see the place alive again. I’m happier in a way, have more energy and motivation to go about my daily routine.

Some aspects were ok, but many more were rubbish. I still had to go out to work with DH trying to WFH full time and look after our toddler at the same time. Entertaining a toddler with nothing open is really, really hard!! If one of us had been furloughed it would have made it much easier.

So YAB massivly U!!

I think it was a good thing for certain personality types. I didn’t miss social events, but I hated having to work and homeschool at the same time. It was a huge pressure and I was working from 4am most days. If I hadn’t had children at home or not been working it would have been fine.

I hated every second of it. But I’m very glad you had a nice time! It’s made me more anxious, I’m stressed every time I leave the house now. I was desperate to get back to work. Self employed and didn’t get any furlough after being forced to close. My business had been successfully going for 2 years and 9 months. My dad had heart problems and was stuck on a waiting list for stents for much longer than he would have normally waited. My grandad died. My dog died. I’m so glad 2020 is over. I was intensely jealous of all the people running about doing DIY and gardening in the sun while getting paid. But it was just that, jealousy. I’m happy for those that had an easier time, I think it gave many a relief from the day to day that they needed. Unfortunately, it isolated me at a time I needed other people the most.

Alright if you were furloughed i guess, getting paid to stay at home must have been lovely

I'm glad it was okay for you but I think you're unusual.

I was chatting to a colleague who was furloughed and said how I'd envied her being off during all the lovely weather (when it had rained for the one week that I'd had as annual leave). She told me she lived a flat with a toddler and no garden. I held my hands up and apologised.

I work at home freelancing anyway, so nothing changed on that front for me. But with nothing else going on apart from work, I really focused on myself for a change. I overhauled my diet, took up cooking, started running and did loads of yoga and meditation. I lost a ton of weight and got really fit, and I fell in love with the feeling of having energy, feeling fit and having peace of mind. So for me, it was a really positive experience, but I don't miss lockdown otherwise and I'm glad life has started back up again. Having said that, I'm back socialising and therefore eating out again and drinking, which is making me feel like crap!

We were lucky enough to WFH throughout lockdown and amend our hours to ensure we could take care of our children. For us, we spent more time together than we ever imagined possible, it was like maternity leave all over again.

I feel extremely grateful that last year was immeasurably kinder to us than many. It’s something I do not take for granted.

I think that broadly, the vast majority of the people who miss lockdown and genuinely think it was preferable to their “normal” way of life, still haven’t given any serious post-lockdown thought to how they could make their lives more permanently lockdown-like.

You could homeschool the DC and have one of you at home to do it. It would possibly mean a drop in your income and living standards; but since you liked never having to go anywhere then it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t have much disposable income. You could move to a cheap, remote part of the country, since it didn’t bother you not seeing any friends or family.

What’s stopping you?

I'm glad it was good for you. If dh or I had been furloughed I'd have enjoyed it more.

I've always liked WFH, it's just so peaceful not having people constantly wondering in with queries, wanting to chat when I'm busy, etc. The phone seems to be quieter, and Zoom meetings are great when you can switch your camera off and zone out of the bits that don't concern you. I also liked the lack of traffic and aircraft noise.

However, I did reach a point when it was a pain that we couldn't get into what were deemed non-essential shops, and we couldn't go out to a restaurant when we felt like it, let alone places like hairdressers, museums, local attractions, cinemas and theatres, and it's been lovely having those back again. But I still haven't been to our nearest big city since before lockdown and the first time I do that is going to feel really strange.

The comment about certain personality types liking lockdown is true. Being lucky enough to wfh throughout meant that office politics and noise just disappeared overnight and I loved my job for the first time in years. I think my age played a big part in it (50s) as I just don’t have the resilience for a bullish workplace anymore. I feel very guilty about loving lockdown when so many suffered during it.

We were lucky to have DH furloughed on full pay during the first lockdown so he was around 24/7 to help with homeschooling which I quite enjoyed tbh. It was stressful at times of course but I have some fond memories of the time we all spent together and know we’ll never spend such a chunk of time together again.

Second lockdown in January was not so much fun. He wasn’t furloughed and I had to homeschool alone which was Hell. They didn’t enjoy it as much the second time around and just wanted to be at school. The weather was fucking awful too so not like we could enjoy the garden as much. I hated not being able to go anywhere other than a local walk, it was so boring!

I also loved it - have a demanding family nearby but a cast iron excuse for not being at their beck and call. Got to work at home for the first time in my life, in a job where that had never seemed possible (and seems like it will be going forward). Finally had time to do all the things at home which I never get to. Did craft stuff that I have wanted time for over the years. And friends who are usually too busy to be in touch were reaching out. I know it caused a lot of problems and was awful for a lot of people (and the second and third were a lot harder as my mum got ill and died), but there was a lot of positives in the first one for me.

I'm a teacher and dp was only furloughed for a month, so our income was largely unaffected. We are also in Italy so had a short, sharp, non-negotiable lockdown before life returned pretty much to normal but with SD and masks.

It was fine for me, I'm an anti-social fucker who, working with 300 kids and 100 colleagues a week, like nothing more than shutting myself in at home when I get the chance, but I appreciate that wasn't the same for everyone.

With our kids, (in school) the ones who were raising cause for concern in the last term were the ones saying they preferred studying at home. However we want to look at it, that is NOT the default position for a teenager, and what lockdown and the pandemic has done, is bring to the surface a lot of issues and problems that before were not visible. It's going to take a while to get over this.

As long as I can go away and travel, I would be quite happy to maintain social distancing, masks don't bother me, and I quite enjoy the mandatory pre-bookings with a guaranteed spots wherever you go in this country.

Lockdown was brilliant. Not having to get up and go outside in the darkness and rain to catch the bus which was late again and packed again.

Lovely quiet streets, neighbours not having so many late night parties because they couldn't have people round - what's not to like? All the shops that you needed were still open and the non-essential stuff could be bought online.

The only downside was the queues to get into supermarkets, but once I'd worked out 4pm was the best time to go that wasn't a major problem.

I wish we could have an annual lockdown, just three months or so a couple of times a year - enough to get a good break.