To ask what the most COVID bonkers thing you did about

[Jay36]

First off this is not a COVID denier thread.

But I’m wondering what was the weird things you did at the start of the pandemic because you were worried about CV. I’ll go first;

Left my shoes outside the house as was worried about bringing the virus ‘in’ in case someone had coughed on the pavement !

Bleached the door handles daily.

Feel like I was a bit crazy now 😂😭

Thankfully not too much, I disinfected the shopping once (after reading it on here, so I think Mumsnet and other social media has much to answer for for contagious craziness! Would people have been so nuts before the Internet?)

Then decided it was way too much faff.. But with the rationale that the viral load would be so low that I'd rather catch it in that way and theoretically get reduced severity than from a person.

One thing I did do though when you were first allowed to meet one other person for outdoor exercise was running next to my friend but making sure there was a huge gap between us.

Oh the other sad thing was if out with the children, avoiding speaking to any friends we saw so that the children wouldn't go near each other And meeting up outside with grandparents for the first time since the start and telling them not to go too near them.

As a PP has said, we had hardly seen anyone else, and definitely not in an indoor close proximity environment, so why we were so paranoid that the other person definitely had the virus and definitely would give it to us....

Sadly the whole period showed that The Milgram Experiments would still hold up. Lots of mini Hitlers were galvanised into action by fear and blind obedience. All the benches, playgrounds and woodland car parks sealed off. What the fuck was that all about??

Although I did some of the crazy things many have mentioned (washing shopping etc), I found I ended up putting more/different rules on myself. Things that had nothing to do with the pandemic but were more a kind of way of finding things I could control, I suppose.

I got fanatical about my 10,000 steps to the point of walking round and round my house in circles at 11:30pm if I'd already been for my daily walk and hadn't got the target.

I set funny rules about the day - the school I work in made lessons 10 minutes shorter so the children could have 'eye breaks' from the computer. Instead of doing anything useful in those 10 minute gaps, I had weird challenges like 20 pieces of a jigsaw puzzle before Lesson 2 or crazy acrobatic stunts before Lesson 4.

I did odd things with food - trying to make lunches out of foods the same colour or beginning with the same letter. (I didn't do that for the children! Just for me).

Definitely think I was cracking up a bit!

Before we realised 'touching things' wasn't a risk, I pulled out anti bac wipes on the train, in front of everyone and wiped down the handles as you walk in . I was with my teenage ds at the time, taking him to an appointment. He was mortified.. 'Just stop mum'. He said .

The saddest thing I remember was something I read on here. Right near the beginning - probably April or May 2020. A poster's sister (I think, might have been a friend) had had a miscarriage and lived on their own. The poster was asking if it would be okay to break lockdown rules and go and spend the night with her. There was a long drive involved to do that. Almost everyone said no, it was really sad but she couldn't do that. She should phone and offer what comfort she could remotely but she couldn't travel there physically. I remember thinking it was awful but not that everyone was wrong. It seemed like a tragic consequence of the rules not something we could just say 'fuck that' too. Unimaginable now. Everyone would (rightly) say go like a shot.

It scares me that we were scared into being almost inhumane in our reactions to and relationships with other people.

Some of these are insane regarding cleaning, I am so glad I didn't do any of this however thinking back to the daily walk is so crazy. I have no idea how anyone would have known if I had gone out twice but I was so strict about it.

Re the driving, I can totally understand people not wanting to drive somewhere to walk, so many people I know were stopped and questioned about where they were driving to. One police officer asked my friend to show him proof that she worked where she said she did, he wanted to see a photo of her at work

It’s so weird looking back!

We also went through a phase of wiping down our shopping… oh and my mum used to make me clean our garden chair before she came over to sit on it!

Sadly the whole period showed that The Milgram Experiments would still hold up.

I've often thought about this - and the Stanford Prison Experiment - over the last couple of years, and you're damn right.

As a PP said, I really hope those who were doing the judging and criticising of others now understand the harm they did to their victims others. Everyone was struggling but the fear-driven bullies made others' lives worse in an effort to make themselves feel better. I certainly know of a few people who seem to have quietly dropped opinions that they were using as a stick with which to beat others, and while I understand their behaviour I haven't forgiven or forgotten it.

Didn't eat pasta for 2/3 months, that is NUTS and completely unheard of for me.

@Isntitironic1 no, they were actual texts

@PugInTheHouse

Some of these are insane regarding cleaning, I am so glad I didn't do any of this however thinking back to the daily walk is so crazy. I have no idea how anyone would have known if I had gone out twice but I was so strict about it.

Re the driving, I can totally understand people not wanting to drive somewhere to walk, so many people I know were stopped and questioned about where they were driving to. One police officer asked my friend to show him proof that she worked where she said she did, he wanted to see a photo of her at work

Yes, there were real consequences. I sometimes take my mum for a drive, she is not very mobile. But she wouldn't let me until the restrictions eased because our local police fined a couple who had gone for a drive. It was crazy because there really was zero risk in doing this.

@seven201

My dh was the main worrier.

One day we had the washing out in the garden and then heard the neighbour had covid. Because they might have gone out in the garden he insisted on re-washing the clothes!

When we went for walks with young dd he'd say "we've got to keep moving" any time she stopped. I felt like I was in an apocalypse film.

I will not miss the endless shopping washing!

OH and I went for a bike ride (which was allowed under The Rules). We stopped by a field to have a drink of water. A man came out of his house and yelled at us that we weren't allowed to stop and that exercise had to be "one continuous loop" and that he was going to call the police.

I wore gloves and a mask to fetch and open the post, like it was radioactive or something. I did consider goggles too but decided I didn't need to if I made sure to open the post away from my body not towards it.

No extra cleaning
Didn’t stop seeing my brother and sister and their partners/children
Would run in morning, take children out for a walk in afternoon and often id pop to supermarkets 4/5x a week just to mix it up a bit!

I think the above contributes to fact that I w merged pretty much completely unscathed from lockdowns - physically and mentally

I personally don't do anything, I was still out working in the community, I wore a mask, followed all guidance given by the Welsh Assembly Government. But I'll admit I became lax very quickly. I never washed shopping, handles or anything like that

But bless you all who were washing shopping and things. Don't feel stupid though, the nation was forced in a state of panic, fear, worry and survival. You did what you did to keep yourself safe at the time, and thought it was "what needed to be done"

I'm just sorry you all felt so scared and worried 🥺 that's no way to live.

@babymama471

Learning to breastfeed my newborn whilst homeschooling 3 older dcs all with live lessons on webcams. All 3 needed support as have varying degrees of learning difficulties. Dp was working long hours as a key worker and I had to try and do my best by all 4 dc. I felt completely torn between all 4. I can honestly say it was one of the most stressful times, trying to stop my newborn from crying so my other dcs could hear their teachers etc, trying to dodge the webcams whilst trying to get my newborn to latch. Bleeding heavily postpartum and not even having the time to shower.

I feel like I was robbed of that precious newborn bubble. I ended up with awful pnd and on medication.

@babymama471

Why didn’t you send them in to school if your dh was a key worker?

I've never washed shopping in my life and I'm hardly ever ill so I don't think it's necessary. That's why I don't wash it. Waste of time

well enjoy your rodent/roach piss, I've never seen a warehouse/backroom that wasnt filthy and full of pest traps.

But bless you all who were washing shopping and things. Don't feel stupid though, the nation was forced in a state of panic, fear, worry and survival. You did what you did to keep yourself safe at the time, and thought it was "what needed to be done"

Hmm, while I agree with this to an extent, many of those people bullied those of us who didn't feel the need to do those things and caused a lot of bad feeling.

By all means, do whatever you feel is necessary to stay safe but it wasn't (and isn't) okay to shame those who felt otherwise.

*You don't change your outdoor clothing?

You actually wear the same pair of trousers/top/jumper for weeks without washing them??*

yes I dont see the need, I only wear them to do the school run and go shopping a couple of times a week.

@VelvetChairGirl

I've never washed shopping in my life and I'm hardly ever ill so I don't think it's necessary. That's why I don't wash it. Waste of time

well enjoy your rodent/roach piss, I've never seen a warehouse/backroom that wasnt filthy and full of pest traps.

Again, why does it matter unless you're licking the packaging?

If not washing shopping was so dangerous, we'd all be dead!

Drove 5hrs a day every weekend to take groceries and prescriptions to PILs who were still "shielding" except for their trips to bingo and coffee shops when they'd re opened 🙃

Yes - I worked in a supermarket for years. However I don't lick my shopping so I can't see what harm dirty packaging is going to do to anyone

well your going to have to handle the packets when you make the food.

Do roaches piss?

@VelvetChairGirl

You wash all your shopping every time irrespective of covid?

*Again, why does it matter unless you're licking the packaging?

If not washing shopping was so dangerous, we'd all be dead!*

to each their own I would rather not ingest other peoples/animals/insects fecal matter if I can help it if I dont know them. (Ive had loads of pet rodents they were fine because they were mine and known to be clean).

I've had worms that comes from peoples shit on things you eat, invisible eggs, and you wont really notice you have them they are tiny like little grains of rice that only come out when they are dead. my son picked them up in school and brought them home with him, only stopped when I gave him packed lunches.