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.

@Goldbar

I meant more like keeping WFH and the structures that have worked.

WFH hasn't worked for a lot of businesses. Many are keen to get people back in the office. It has also been a mixed blessing for workers...some have enjoyed it but some (especially those starting out in their careers) have been hugely disadvantaged.

But if the lockdown at least allow flexibility and taking people WFH seriously for example, isn't that a good thing?

Even if the concept of 1 or 2 days at home is now accepted, what's wrong with that when it makes people life's easier?

The old concept of showing your face in the office and being there for ridiculous hours while achieving very little can't disappear soon enough.

Some industries will never be compatible with WFH anyway. Some businesses are booming. It's never black and white.

I was utterly miserable. Not because places were shut but because I worked long hours every day whilst my horrible neighbors played loud, window rattling music 10 hours and a day accompanied by shouting and a hot tub. My other neighbor then would scream from about 2am about nothing twice a week. Neither side was working.

I had no escape from it and it has really damaged me.

It is absolutely crackers and totally unreasonable to say that everybody has to experience a situation in the same way, or that nobody is allowed to talk about their positive experiences if there were other people having a bad time.

Finding positives in adversity, making the best of the situation you're in, and being grateful for the ways in which your own particular circumstances can make aspects of a crisis situation enjoyable are surely all pretty normal human things to do? I mean... do you think nobody had happy times or enjoyed anything during the 2nd world war, for example?

I absolutely loved lockdown.

My youngest child having such severe anxiety headaches that they suspected a neurological issue and sobbing herself to sleep - when she could GET to sleep with all of the "sad in her brain"... the regression in speech because the interaction of a class of peers at school is not something I can replicate. My eldest being so angry and upset at everything and lashing out at the person nearest to her - which was me of course.

DH being on endless work calls in a house that's open plan with no spare room or space to turn a bedroom into an office... me trying desperately to do a degree as well - and the kids doing what the kids do, and generally coming to me every time they needed something. Me just trying to glue together as many pieces of the family and my kids' mental health and education as I could do.

My own mental health becoming so impacted that I completely broke down with the January lockdown completely and I'm nowhere near right now.

@Neverrains you know they do so why say a stupid thing?

I have my opinion, and that is just it.

@sst1234 I'm not sure why you think my post was goady? I didn't read the full thread before posting, perhaps I should have, but I was replying to the OP.

I'm fully aware that for some people it was horrendous, but does that mean I'm not allowed to say that my experience was positive?

I think I quite enjoyed the first lockdown in March 2020 (but it was also a time of worry too so I can't say u wholly enjoyed it), it felt everyone was doing their bit, but that most recent one was hideous and bloody endless, I was sick of all the restrictions by then and lots of people were refusing to stick to the rules anyway but everything was closed. I'm glad to have some kind of normality back now but I am feeling a little anxious for the upcoming winter and what's in store for us.

*i

I don’t think anyone is unreasonable to say they liked it because good things always come out of awful things for some.
I know people who have jumped head first into relationships due to lockdown and made huge life decisions they would never have without it, so for them lockdown may be life defining.
I think people are BU if they say they want lockdown back though because then you are just wishing ill on people who are so negatively impacted by it - small businesses and the self employed, people who live alone and were desperately lonely, people who were trapped in small flats with children, people trying to homeschool and hold down a full time job at the same time and feeling desperate that their children were falling behind. Ultimately people are free to live smaller lives if they want - no one is forced to go out to the pub or to socialise so people should go for it if they think they want to live lockdown forever just not impose it on other people.

I was largely indifferent to it I guess because DH was out throughout as a key worker so worked in a very busy place as normal (we were thankful for this every day), my DC were young so that was relentless without any friends or anywhere to go but at the same time they weren’t sitting exams and whilst I did homeschooling it wasn’t as hardcore as it could have been. We muddled through and have had an ok 18 months, both worse and better in parts than it probably would have been. We’re fortunate that all illnesses and deaths in the wider family happened during the pauses in lockdown and no one was alone.

I loved it even though I had to go to work. The workplace was busy but strangely calm. The traffic on the roads was minimal. Less litter and I only went food shopping when I needed something and mainly used local shops. The city centre was quiet but with the few people shuffling about it reminded me of what a zombie apocalypse would be like.

Now more traffic, more people shuffling around the town centre, the litter is unbelievable and the smell of cigarette smoke everywhere I go is disgusting.

I liked most of it, but missed the 10% of being able to go to the pub or go on a day out. Weekends were tedious.

I'm fully aware that for some people it was horrendous, but does that mean I'm not allowed to say that my experience was positive?

It's not that you're not allowed to say anything. It's a public forum, people can say what they like.

I just slightly wonder what's going through peoples heads when they pop up to post about how much fun they had during the biggest crisis we've had since the Second World War.

As if we hadn't had screeds of this when it was actually going on and huge amounts since. As if we hadn't already had the bunfights. As if this was a new thought.

You would have to have been living under a rock not to have noticed that for millions of people it was a total fucking misery. It feels a bit like someone living in a grotesque luxury mansion in the middle of a famine saying, wide-eyed: "this is fun!". It's not that you're not allowed to do it and I'd defend your right to do it to the death etc. But you shouldn't be to surprised when people think you're lacking a sensitivity chip. Particularly when its been done to death.

I just don't get why you think anyone else particularly benefits from learning that you had a jolly good time when so many other people were having a total fucking nightmare.

@LindaEllen

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.

Yeah, same.

Other than Covid related unease, I felt less anxious through the lockdowns than I have in my adult life.

LIfe is tough for introverts in an extroverts world. The cards were just flipped for a while.

Life is tough for introverts in an extroverts world. The cards were just flipped for a while

Introvert here who despised every minute of it.

I just slightly wonder what's going through peoples heads when they pop up to post about how much fun they had during the biggest crisis we've had since the Second World War.

Fun would certainly be the wrong word. I found it a bit off putting all the posts last spring/summer about what a whale of a time they were having etc.

However, I preferred lockdowns because I find normal life overwhelming. I prefer being shut off from everything with no pressures.

I just don't get why you think anyone else particularly benefits from learning that you had a jolly good time when so many other people were having a total fucking nightmare.

it gives an opportunity for others who share the same experience to come and discuss possibly?

Goady in real life, but on a thread "missing the lockdown", it's not outrageous to expect to meet others who share your feelings.

In the same way you can start a thread about "hating the lockdown" and can find others who will be the same. Then you'll get annoyed when a poster pops up and start talking about their jolly good time, they'll be accused of derailing the thread

Some of us worked throughout, essential services and supply chain had to continue. Did love the empty roads though

LIfe is tough for introverts in an extroverts world. The cards were just flipped for a while.

I’m an introvert through and through and hated it.

Introvert here who despised every minute of it

Me too

The first lockdown was very surreal and there was a sense of community spirit if and they odd few rule breakers. As time went on that seemed to vanish and now it’s like most think it’s over.

I think, for me, it showed a side of people I didn’t know was there and which friends shared the sane values etc in times of crisis.

I liked the slower pace and some changes we made will stay alongside new hobbies etc.

LIfe is tough for introverts in an extroverts world. The cards were just flipped for a while.

This old chestnut.

Anecdotally it seems to have far worse for the introverts I know -- I know of at least two who had breakdowns.

I think what people are actually talking about when they refer to introverts is people with severe social anxiety.

And I do have a degree of sympathy here: I can see how it may have been easier for people who find a lot of social interaction difficult.

But once again, its a very big jump from this to "lockdown was great for women".

I liked certain parts, others not so much.
I think it’s like anything else, you remember it fondly but dint wish to repeat it necessarily.
It made me proud of how resilient I am- I’ve never had helpful family or a break from my kids so to see others finding that hard reaffirmed that I’m not selfish or lazy and have done well to manage without this their whole childhood. It also made me sad that basically my life of no family support is other people’s hell

Goady in real life, but on a thread "missing the lockdown", it's not outrageous to expect to meet others who share your feelings.

It's not outrageous, no. I can live with the people who were surprised that they found lockdown made their lives easier in some ways.

What I can't deal with is being told it was great for women.

I didn't have 'fun' either but found relief in not have to see very demanding members of my family regularly.

Since lockdown and restrictions have eased I have once again been told what a neglectful daughter, sister and aunt I am because I don't spend enough time with certain family members.

So yes, for me, as someone with mild anxiety and a tendency to agoraphobia lockdown felt like a respite.

I do however recognise that I am lucky in that my DH was able to WFH, we weren't trying to homeschool, we have a garden am enough space. But I can only talk about my own experiences.

@thepeopleversuswork I was simply responding to the OP who said she missed lockdown.

If the OP had posted about how awful lockdown was for her I certainly wouldn't have posted my own positive experience on her thread. That's being insensitive.

Talking about my positive experience on this thread however is not insensitive imo, and as I've already said, I didn't read the thread before posting.