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?

@AllThePogs and @Dilovescake21 my experience is that unis are staying online largely because students were not attending face to face lectures pre pandemic and while they want face to face seminars/tutorials and socials, they actually prefer a flipped classroom model. Most lecturers I know, in contrast, hate recording lectures and would far rather be in the classroom.

YABU

Have you thought of how introverts have benefitted from lockdown? People like me who don’t want to go out al the time and be pressured by extroverts?

I don’t want a horrible pandemic but I felt less anxious staying at home - when I wasn’t working because I too am a key worker.

There is a difference. Try to think outside the box.

[quote pawpatrolneedaunion]**@AllThePogs* and @Dilovescake21* my experience is that unis are staying online largely because students were not attending face to face lectures pre pandemic and while they want face to face seminars/tutorials and socials, they actually prefer a flipped classroom model. Most lecturers I know, in contrast, hate recording lectures and would far rather be in the classroom.[/quote]
That is interesting. I have heard students on placement at my company say they prefer online as they can watch them when it suits them. They are doing STEM subjects so tend to have a full timetable alongside paid work.

@CharlotteGoldenblattYork

Oh god yes, all the 'I'm a keyworker' stuff!

A friends husband has insisted throughout everything that he's a keyworker when he isn't. He's obsessed with covid and still disinfects all their food packaging when they have it delivered each week, wears two masks when he goes out, and just loads of other stuff that just isn't necessary. He's convinced that things will 'never be normal again' and seems to relish the prospect

This is what scares me the most, the people who actually don't want things to go back to normal!

A lot of things and office jobs can be adapted online, even signing documents. I get that some bits can't but if they are the minority of activities, and the company has proven just as productive and revenue generation has been maintained or even gone up, WFH/hybrid makes far more sense with arrangements s to do physical stuff.

I'm working longer hours from home and would have to rethink it if forced to go back for arbitrary 2,3,4 days a week. I wouldn't be able to pick up kids from afterschool club at 6pm working till 5:45pm... or do a video call with Asia at 8:30am as I'd be commuting.

@Bobbie1976

YABU

Have you thought of how introverts have benefitted from lockdown? People like me who don’t want to go out al the time and be pressured by extroverts?

I don’t want a horrible pandemic but I felt less anxious staying at home - when I wasn’t working because I too am a key worker.

There is a difference. Try to think outside the box.

But you could have said no to people before the pandemic surely, it shouldn't take the curtailing of people's freedom to be able to stay at home.

I wouldn't however argue going back in is unsafe, just not my preferred mode. I hate wearing masks (but I do it when I go out or in office and on trains) WFH means none of this nonsense (and certainly less risk of catching anything)

Demonising someone on account of concern for the situation?

Their concern is not unreasonable under the circs and it certainly doesn't make them a psychopath. YABU.

@Alexandra2001

And could well not happen (and given the nature of viruses is to develop weaker, more contagious variants probably won’t.)

I can't wait to get back to normal again...... but i take issue with the above.
what viruses become weaker over time?

A badly adapted pathogen is one which harms or kills its host. As they become better adapted to their hosts, they do less harm, and therefore have a bigger supply of new hosts to infect. Imagine the extreme example where a deadly virus killed all its hosts- it would be committing suicide, because it would run out of new hosts to infect!

Some people positively wallow in doom-mongering. They are best avoided, or if you can’t, ignored.

YANBU.

Lockdown has been very comfortable for some people. Those with big houses, grown up/ no children, comfortable wfh jobs who disliked their commute, coworkers and socialising have seen a real improvement to their lives. They often virtue signal about wanting to save lives but actually I think many just want to enjoy their favourable new normal for as long as possible, at the expense of all those suffering because of it.

@Flynnqwer

It's interesting how working from home never seemed to attract much criticism before the pandemic.

Because no one was trying to force other people to do it before the pandemic.

... and everyone was forced to work at the offices every day! How different is this attitude from forcing everyone to wfh??

I'm so sad to see that too many people are now so afraid of dying, they are willing to stop fully living and what's worse, want to stop others from living too. Life is full of risk; we're at risk from the moment we're conceived for the rest of our lives; does that mean we should live in bubbles and never go outside? Never hug another person? Few of us are like that poor child who had no immunity so had to live in a bubble.
As for the fear of "What if there's a new variant?" there's saying "Don't borrow trouble!" The fact is, all viruses mutate and in doing so, become more contageous but weaker, and weaker with every new variant. This is because a virus needs living host cells to survive. It would be counter to the virus's survival to become more virulent with each variant, as it would end up killing all it's hosts, then die itself. This is why we are where we are with the common cold. We get the sniffles and feel shit for a few days. People need to stop ruminating on worst case scenarios, as stress weakens the immune system. They should work to strengthen their immune systems instead. Vitamin C and Zinc pls Vit D at 2000 units would be a good start!

Sorry but you’re missing the point entirely OP. It has made certain aspects of peoples lives more comfortable, that’s all I’m saying - introverts prefer the quiet. The original post suggests you are only thinking one way.

I’m more concerned about people who are using it as an excuse not to go to work.

People have seen that wfh is possible and flexible working is better they like it, not the pandemic itself

Plus of course those who were on furlough and had an 18 month paid holiday would love it to come back so they could get paid for doing nothing

I don’t think they are wanting it to worsen I just think they have got used to the restrictions of a pandemic and find some comfort in it or simply find the thought of change difficult.

@BrightYellowDaffodil

YANBU. Some people seemed to really enjoy lockdowns because they didn’t like to socialise but didn’t like to feel left out, so they were happy to see everyone stopped from socialising.

I get that there’s an element of some people genuinely still being scared but there’s also others who just seem to like the endless drama of it all, presumably because it gives them some focus in their little lives.

Bright Yellow Daffodil is one of the many people on here who can see into other people's minds and can know their private failings. faults. motivations and fears. Also the ability to know the size of people's lives. this seems an amazing power. I am one of the normal people who do not have this amazing gift. Please, if you have it, consider whether it would be a good idea to share or explain your gift.

@Flynnqwer now that you've just outed that you are the employer, I think you should really take a long hard look at yourself and show a shred of compassion for your employees who do not want to increase exposure to Covid when cases are so high

Your attitude is utterly selfish and a prime example of why so many people do want to wfh....distance from employers like you

Not for the same reasons as posted, but I'll be honest I've actively enjoyed the pandemic lockdowns. More time at home more time with my children, less time with extended family and the general public. I've enjoyed wearing a mask, no being asked to smile to need to apply makeup. Social distancing has been an absolute blessing, noone in my space, people actually being respectful etc. Schooling has been an issue I'm no teacher but we've muddled along fine. Now things are back to 'normal' one of the kids has been off every other week, people have been rude and dismissive of mask wearing, everyone is up in arms either pro or against vaccines. Most of the town is still shut, public transportation is hit or miss. The media are having a fit and all I can sit and think is my god I genuinely miss being locked down. Misinformation is at an all time high the government are still having parties and the rest of us don't know if we are coming or going and if I have to take one more lateral flow I'll probably vomit on myself (again). Lockdown has been some of the most enjoyable formative time with my children and emotionally the balance and growth from that has been something rare. So NO I don't wish a new deadly variant on anyone but I'll freely admit I wouldn't be devastated if one appeared. And throughout all of that I kept my disabled daughter safe, for two years we've not had a flu hospitalization not covid not a sickness bug or slapped cheek or the cold or hand foot and mouth, for the past two years instead of 15 hospitalisations in one year we've had none, not a single one. Can't say I'm sad or guilty about feeling this way at all.

YANBU. Many people love restrictions, lockdowns, school closures etc. because it gives them a chance to realise their dreams of pettyfogging officialdom, controlling everyone's lives and stopping other people's fun. These people love pub and nightlife closures, love the idea of no-one going on holiday to anywhere, and have generally revelled in the ease of being 'right on' during the last two years, because they 'stayed home saved lives etc.'

@BogRollBOGOF

Fortunately it's a declining minority but there are people that lap up gloomy predictions and the prospect of further restrictions. Discussions like The Jeremy Vine Show are never short of people demanding lockdowns.

There is a small cohort of people that like having a small world with firm boundaries. They could have created that for themselves but unfortunately they also have FOMO, and they loved being released from FOMO as everyone had to live within the same little world. They don't like being responsible for themselves, and anyone else not willing to martyr themselves to keep these people safe is SELFISH.
Oh the irony.

I know someone like this and I could not have explained how they are better myself so thank you for your point! (And for others who have said similar)

I just think we are at a point where as long as people are following any restrictions we do have an and are being as careful as they possibly can be then the people who want to be more restricted need to stop judging them.

YABU.

People are just scared. They don't want to pandemic to continue or get worse, but they've had 2 years of this. Worrying about themselves, their family, their friends, the impact on society, shortages etc etc. And we've had it more than once where things were opening up, or we thought we were past the worst of it and could let our guard down, only for things to change and get worse again.

So I don't think people are unreasonable to be cautious about us potentially nearing the end of the pandemic. But I also don't think it's unreasonable for others to be more optimistic. That works for them. For me, well, I was optimistic during summer 2020, and as a result I found the Jan 2021 lockdown incredibly hard to deal with. Getting my hopes up only to have them come crashing down, is much harder for me to cope with. So, having been burnt once in this pandemic, I now urge more on the side of caution in order to protect my own mental health.

I don't try to tell anyone they shouldn't be optimistic, or they shouldn't go out or to the office etc though.

My colleagues some of them seem to love it not having to go into the office.

I do think that lockdowns have amplified something which was bubbling under in our society beforehand, a sort of pathological fear of day to day social interactions in some people. I've noticed a lot of threads on here recently which make me think this has really increased over the past few years.

Multiple posters cropping up to say how much they dislike ordinary interactions with other people. How much they resent smalltalk, they don't want to have to interact with anyone outside their family or a small group of friends, they don't want people ever to approach them. Anger and frustration at being contacted out of the blue, waved at, interacted with in any way by members of the public.

There was a thread earlier in which someone was complaining about people they work with contacting them out of the blue without a warning email or text. In their own company. It was a real eye-opener to me that people felt violated by being called on the phone by their own colleagues.

Some of this is natural: introverts have often struggled with this and to some extent I think the lockdowns have given them a degree of power to shape the way they run their lives which they didn't have before. Lockdowns and WFH have allowed these people a degree of control which they didn't have before and they understandably don't want to give it up.

I'm very ambivalent about this. On the one hand I think its good that society has become more tolerant of people who don't fit the office life moult. It's great that everyone isn't expected to be in their offices every day just because and that people aren't all expected to be rabid extroverts. The new flexibility is a good thing.

But I'm also slightly concerned about the pathologising of human contact and the idea that people find day to day interactions with other members of their species intrusive. I think we need to find a happy medium. We've allowed people to take back control of their working lives which is a good thing, but we seem also to have pushed them to reject almost all of their social infrastructure. And I think this is fairly unhealthy.