To think some people are ‘enjoying’ the pandemic

[Flynnqwer]

I’ve noticed an attitude amongst some people where they’re nothing short of praying for a new, more lethal, variant.

I’ve noticed it amongst people I work with and people I do a hobby with. Any discussion about going back to our workplace (we can work from home but not easily or particularly effectively) once the Government ends the restrictions on waiting from home, or back to our hobby in real life instead of on Zoom (the hobby is controlled by a central board who are following the WFH advice until it is lifted) are met with cries of ‘No! We can’t do that! It’s dangerous!’ and it anyone points out that, thankfully, it looks like the vaccination programme is working and Omicron is less severe, they come back with ‘but what if there’s a more lethal strain that appears and kills millions?’

My workplace has one element which has legally got to be done in person. I have had emails today from managers begging us to cancel said work thing and do it online. We cannot do it on line lawfully (it’s along the lines of witnessing signatures). We have told them no, we must go into the building for an hour to fulfil this function. They are saying that that is breaking the working from home directive, that it’s unsafe, and what if a deadly variant is discovered? Then we’d have to find a way around the law.

AIBU that some people are actively hoping that the situation worsens and we are locked back down? Why would anyone want this to happen?

I know people who wished a lockdown just after Christmas, not because they were cev and scared of catching it but simply wanted furlough to come back so they could be free. I know a friend who worked for a industry that was hit hard and she voluntarily went on furlough and was hanging out every single day with her like minded friends attending secret bars that were meant to be closed, getting her hair done, nails and lashes done again at places that were meant to be closed. She even found a bf in lockdown.

Another friend where her industry was completely closed but found another job straightaway when it reopened after being made redundant. Think of her working for Pizza Express and then moving to Nando's. She also very much enjoyed it, travelling to every coastal town, London, seeing friends and doing all the activities she would normally have no time to do when working and again speaking to she wished for a lockdown.

And there are people who enjoy wfh. To me I would hate that. I see in local restaurants and coffee shops people working as close as twins in a womb and not going to even mention supermarkets, doctors, police officers in detail as you probably get the gist who have worked throughout and then the office workers I know who don't want to go in because of covid not because they cev, all triple vaccinated and like the convenience of wfh and don't want it to end.

@Hrpuffnstuff1

I think people have realized the folly of working and therefore the consequences of the 'Way' we administer and carry out work. WFH has released some people who prefer to keep work as a separate entity in their lives.

Although there are those who seem to relish the state of lockdown or even the feeling of restrictions. There are motivations for this attitude, the reasons are broad.

This is my impression too after discussing work with friends.

The pandemic related changes to work have given people chance to reflect on what purpose their labour serves, how they make use of their time, the carbon burnt by commutes when we have a climate crisis to tackle. I don’t think the reflection it prompted is a bad thing really.

Many people I know have enjoyed or benefitted from the pandemic, myself included, we can't work from home but business has increased massively, we've had a pay rise, shops and roads have been quieter which has been great for my autistic son, especially during the lockdowns, I enjoy wearing a mask, care places have become available for a disabled relative who's been trying to get care for ages but there's been no availability, now there's loads.

Yes it’s so individual isn’t it? For an introvert like me, the pandemic has removed some of the pressure to socialize. But work has been harder throughout. I am exhausted.

A friend had shaky mental health pre pandemic and WFH pushed him over the edge. He realized that his well paid, highly pressured, professional job was in his words, a bullshit job and he really needed to work face to face with people. So he had a breakdown and quit.

As part of his recovery he has been working in much more ordinary role for the minimum wage. He now walks to work, absolutely loves it and had already been promoted. He earns less but can just about manage. He seems the best he has ever been since I have known him. He says it is worth the salary sacrifice for his mental health.

@Pendolino
I think working is great, however, the time spent both formally and informally whilst working had lost a semblance of balance.
The pandemic reset this balance.
Obviously, some people are resisting this rebalancing, those whose personal satisfaction was gained via the workplace. Yes, there are quite a few people who have missed the social aspect of work.
Personally, I believe the giddy after-work drink/ events have always been a contentious issue for employers and employees alike.

It does bug me that when SAGE put out the high numbers and you get you’re selfish / ignoring the science / we’ll end in lockdown and it doesn’t there isn’t much talk on how far off those figures were. We just move on to talking about parties etc and SAGE and supporters go quiet.

Of course I’m very relieved that it was wrong. And I’ll take this scenario over others.

My lack of patience with the smug, pious, curtain-twitching WFH team is their utter failure to understand that their comfortable, 'spiritually-enhancing', noble-sacrifice lifestyle depends entirely on the hard, exhausting and frequently terrifying work of huge numbers of other people. It was not, and never would have been, possible to cage the entire population despite all the fuckwits screaming for it. (A lot of them were the sort of people who have a big enough garden to grow veg and a big enough garage to fit an extra freezer and fill it up, etc). Not only do we need the hospitals to stay open, but for them to do so there need to be cleaners, caterers, bus and train drivers. And the smug house mice need armies of delivery staff to bring them food and whatever they have ordered off Amazon.

But it was OK for these people to 'risk their lives' on a daily basis for shit pay, as long as they didn't stop for a chat with their colleagues on the way home...

I think with the wfh stuff some people do enjoy it buts it’s only half the story, others have really struggled with mh etc due to it

@Wreath21

My lack of patience with the smug, pious, curtain-twitching WFH team is their utter failure to understand that their comfortable, 'spiritually-enhancing', noble-sacrifice lifestyle depends entirely on the hard, exhausting and frequently terrifying work of huge numbers of other people. It was not, and never would have been, possible to cage the entire population despite all the fuckwits screaming for it. (A lot of them were the sort of people who have a big enough garden to grow veg and a big enough garage to fit an extra freezer and fill it up, etc). Not only do we need the hospitals to stay open, but for them to do so there need to be cleaners, caterers, bus and train drivers. And the smug house mice need armies of delivery staff to bring them food and whatever they have ordered off Amazon.

But it was OK for these people to 'risk their lives' on a daily basis for shit pay, as long as they didn't stop for a chat with their colleagues on the way home...

That's a bit harsh. I've worked thru the pandemic and wasn't terrified at all. I think calling people names is hardly likely to bring them onside or even listen to the message you're trying to say.

@heelforheelandtoefortoe

I enjoy some aspects - I'm disabled and I can finally WFH when seemingly it wasn't possible before. I'm not much of a sociable person either. Quite happy with a book and netflix.

I don't like fucking masks though and the hassle of going on holiday. I don't like not being allowed to see family although I do understand about transmission etc.

I also don't like the jealous key workers. You choose that profession but you don't like being asked to do it? All those health workers who never thought something serious would ever hit? All those teachers who suddenly don't like germy kids? Grow up or get another job.

Lovely.

Oh YANBU. I have an acquaintance who absolutely REVELS in numbers going up because she thinks it will lead to another lockdown, which she would absolutely love. She was happy as a pig in shit to not see anyone under the guise of it being "the rules" and now she's had to actually go back into the office she's found herself another job that is for now "remote working" so she can continue to live her existence between the walls of her flat, on her own, and not have to make excuses to see anyone.

She would welcome another lockdown without a second thought as to how it would affect anyone else.

I really don't get the thinking and rationale of all this. If you want to live a life of seclusion, not interacting with people, working at home, socialising purely on Zoom, having everything delivered, then you have always been free to make those choices.

Why on earth do those people want to impose their choices on everyone else? Or rather, impose it by proxy by getting the government to impose new restrictions and lockdowns.

Agreed ! The folk who harp on about how they're "still being careful" or "still being cautious" and seem to delight in pointing out that they havent been in a supermarket since Feb 2020, well, you can only hide behind your curtains because other people dont and cant.

Those people are the most selfish out of everyone, as they put their perceived safety above others under the guise of keeping everyone safe by not going out when actually it's the opposite.

[quote MaybeHeIsMyCat]@Kennykenkencat I can WFH, am not high income and yes am genuinely fearful for good reason. My work has also had covid run through it twice so my manager thinks it is best to keep me WFH - because it's safer for me and also because it leaves me as someone who won't be off sick! [/quote]
But you have an income which is more than we were left with in March 2020 when the first lockdown hit.
Family of 4 adults. Self employed, only Dd qualified for the furlough scheme.

AllThePogs Dh has cancer and diabetes and is prone to pneumonia (5 times he has had it) for him shielding was more harmful than working to the point that after he had recovered from the first lockdown he said he would never shield again and he hasn’t.

Dh has had the vaccines. I am apparently allergic to it. I have worked (apart from the first lockdown) in all sorts of roles.

I am careful and wear a mask but that isn’t necessarily because I want to just avoid Covid . I want to avoid getting a cold or flu

Taking the loss of life out if the equation. I have enjoyed it. I'm working from home, working less. People give me more space when out and about. There's less expectation to hug and socialise. I'm autistic. Life now is my kind of life.

@Nidan2Sandan

Agreed ! The folk who harp on about how they're "still being careful" or "still being cautious" and seem to delight in pointing out that they havent been in a supermarket since Feb 2020, well, you can only hide behind your curtains because other people dont and cant.

Those people are the most selfish out of everyone, as they put their perceived safety above others under the guise of keeping everyone safe by not going out when actually it's the opposite.

I am careful but I couldn’t not go out. My idea of hell is being stuck in the house.

I have done my own shopping throughout.

My concession to being careful is wearing a mask and not standing breathing down someone’s neck in a queue

Also my house doesn’t have any curtains to hide behind

Nidan2Sandan You have managed to put words to why this has bothered me so much. Thank you, spot on

@GroollyBaby

The negative twisting at every turn is there on here I agree, many examples like this

Yes, no positive news is ever actually positive news. There will always been one or two poster's who make it like a sport to ensure we all know it's still doom and gloom. (Thinking of a certain PP).

The “Good News” threads really were positive - and were definitely helpful for many.

There were a few “doom” people who popped on now and then to berate everyone that their heads were in the sand. But they were swiftly sent on their way. Everyone on those threads knew the situation (there were enough threads about it!), but it was the one place where you could go to pluck out the positive stuff.

Exactly @Nidan2Sandan, I quite agree.

I remember at the beginning of the pandemic a poster insisting that babies and young children were dying a lot from covid. She worked in a supermarket and reckoned both doctors and nurses were coming in and telling her that lots were dying.

When I called her out on it, she insisted she was telling the truth, that she's been told first hand blah blah.

What makes people make up that shit? Talk about scaremongering! What did she get from that?

Why? I’m not asking that to be goady but genuinely why ‘should’ we have started working remotely as soon as the internet was invented?

For environmental reasons for starters.

So many office towers, so much materiel involved in their construction - all mined or manufactured somewhere else and transported to the site, all the finishes and furnishings, so much energy used to heat them and cool them, so much demand for public transportation or for car use (and car parks, meaning more raw materials) to get workers to and from them.

For the opportunity for those who actually work as opposed to schmoozing and self promotion. I don't think it's a secret that people tend to be promoted based on attributes that don't necessarily have much to do with suitability for their new roles.

There is high price paid for the opportunity to socialise with people you work with.

There seems to be more people revelling in the thought of a minority who seem to enjoy the pandemic restrictions from what I can see

YY @Marmelace, and also gleefully making up stuff about what they are feeling or thinking.

Carry on thinking people love hysteria just because they don't agree with you.

This ^^

This is a disgusting thread full of people whose real problem is that people were furloughed and they are jealous of it.

Envy is never a good look.

In both my work and social group I have never come across people who are "frothing at the mouth" at the thought of a new variant or another lockdown.

I think there are many people and I am one of them who have found working from home a good thing. Even though my work colleagues are people who I am very glad I have and consider I am part of a functional team. I don't want to spend time on a train to and from work if it can be avoided.

That does not mean I want the pandemic to continue.