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?

@ealteacher

ODFOD. My comment is based on actual conversations with people I know IRL, who've said statements (like the ones here from @Bobbie1976) in that they don't like having to socialise but they don't want FOMO either and they don't like having to say no, so they'd rather no-one socialised instead of having to develop the ability to say no and live with their decisions. I also have seen those around me who've treated every worsening of the situation with borderline glee - they've genuinely been quite excited about food shortages/further restrictions/difficulties in getting LFTs or vaccine appointments and revel in the drama of it all including posting all over social media (which arguably makes the situations even worse), which I find immensely distasteful.

This is on top of all the curtain twitchers who monitored other people's movements during lockdowns - I can remember posts here about people seeing neighbours with clipboards, and I got approached by a neighbour myself questioning why I was going out as much as I was (even though I was going out for caring responsibilities). Those like the ones @Pebble55 describes: "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."

Or are you one of these people?

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.

I agree, the sad thing is many of these people will be the ‘village to raise a child’ type who complain of having no friends & communities being a thing of the past. They want interaction but completely on their own terms.

Thank you for a thoughtful post @thepeopleversuswork

I agree with a lot of what you have written. I am one of these introverts who has ‘taken back control’.

What the lockdowns have made me realize is that I don’t like people very much save for a tiny circle of family and good friends. I cannot be bothered with them. Part of my disillusion is the selfishness and stupidity shown around the pandemic and Brexit. I also cannot bear the racism and hard right wing sentiment which seems mainstream these days.

Seriously I was only trying to help. I have generalised anxiety disorder so just wanted to offer an alternative opinion and point of view. Thought that’s what the lady was asking for.

Why is that a problem though? I have WFH job and a small house so no office or big garden to make it so pleasurable but I get more done at home.

I disagree to an extent, in human history we were tribal/communal creatures our interactions extended to our own tribe/clan beyond that it was literally ONLY our extroverted leadership that had any need to interact with strangers I feel like this is (albeit a dramatic example) a return to that dynamic. Generally it isn't exactly in human nature to be extroverted and enjoy interaction with anyone and everyone. I'd go as far as to say a huge majority of people don't actually enjoy mass socialisation or interaction but we are educated to act like we do because otherwise you'll be a social outcast (the horror), granted we do need to find a balance but it's not at all shocking that the majority of people enjoy their own company and those of them close.

@Goldenbear

Why is that a problem though? I have WFH job and a small house so no office or big garden to make it so pleasurable but I get more done at home.

I don't think WFH is a problem. I WFH myself and I love it.

What I think is beginning to be a problem is that people seem to regard it as a violation of their rights to be expected to interact with anyone outside of their immediate family.

@PenStation's post is a perfect example of this. I've seen literally hundreds of posts like this. To some extent I sympathise. I can completely understand the quiet relief that your social calendar isn't taken up with things you'd rather not do and that you can have quality time with people you care about.

But it worries me a bit that people have got to a point where they are utterly desperate to avoid seeing anyone other than their immediate family. I'm not blaming them for feeling like this but I don't think its great to be in such a state of anxiety about having to come into contact with other people and to seek to avoid it. I think we have to ask ourselves some tough questions about why we have made so many people want to hunker down and basically avoid the world.

Why can't we work at home forever? Most people who want to continue working from home actually enjoy it. I would also quote 'what if's' if it meant I didn't have to go into the feckin office for an hour of watching someone sign a document- why can't that happen on a video call? My lateral flow test was done via a video call and that enabled me to travel to a foreign country..
Some people just want to control other people and get them back into the office because their function means they have to be in the office (no offense meant OP- as I have no idea if this is relevant to you) and they want everyone else back in too!

@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.

If you don't want to go out all of the time then don't. You can't seriously think it's reasonable for everyone else to be forced to stay home just because you can't say no to going out?

@notacooldad

If I never have to hear “I’m a key worker” ever again I’ll be happy So will I and I am one! I couldn't believe it when some of my colleagues changed their FB picture to 'Proud to be a key worker' We are not NHS staff and we weren't in the front line like hospital workers. Frankly it was embarrassing!

Couldn't agree more. And the "i can't stay at home, I'm a key worker" posts that were doing the rounds on social media at the start of lockdown one. Ugh get a grip. Go to work, do your job and come home. It wasn't that hard.

I do think the furloughed and wfh collective have probably found it hard to return to normal. I hate myself for saying this but i felt jealous of those that were in a profession that enabled them to wfh or were furloughed.

eh ? the poster you quoted didn’t mention trying to keep anyone else in, they mentioned preferring not to have to go out into the human soup of society themselves

@Maximum71

Why can't we work at home forever? Most people who want to continue working from home actually enjoy it. I would also quote 'what if's' if it meant I didn't have to go into the feckin office for an hour of watching someone sign a document- why can't that happen on a video call? My lateral flow test was done via a video call and that enabled me to travel to a foreign country.. Some people just want to control other people and get them back into the office because their function means they have to be in the office (no offense meant OP- as I have no idea if this is relevant to you) and they want everyone else back in too!

I don't wfh so i cannot speak from experience, but i struggle to believe on the whole wfh has the same productivity outcomes overall for the majority of businesses and organisations. People need to get back to what they sign up for.

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

You weren't forced. You could have always got a job which was remote working. I'm not suggesting anyone being forced now. The irritation is that, when those of us who do want to go back say so, some people react by attempting to stop everyone else returning.

I would also quote 'what if's' if it meant I didn't have to go into the feckin office for an hour of watching someone sign a document- why can't that happen on a video call?

Because the law says it can't. It isn't literally signing a document, I used that as an example. There are industries where the Government has not changed legislation to allow some aspects to be done from home. You could quote what ifs to your heart's content. Unless a ministers hears it and acts on it, there is no choice.

😂😂😂😂
Now we're onto the implication that people that don't wish to devote themselves to a corporate lead work-life-balance are introverted.

No.
People just have more options, and to be blunt a better offer (Social interaction).
How dare corporations insist on control over people's social life.🤣🤣🤣🙈

I don't have a problem with people working from home, all or part of the time. At all. Where it works. I have a problem with them wanting burdensome restrictions to continue for other people simply because they can't be arsed to go into the office they went into all the time before covid and they know their employers want them back in. Negotiate with your employers, if you're all so very productive I'm sure they will listen, I think the issue is that quite often productivity is sub par and people are just getting by with an "it'll do for now" service, but it's not going to work in the long term for clients etc.

For me I’m not sure anxiety is quite the right word. It more like extreme prioritization of how I use my time and energy. I feel as though I have nothing to say to people I’m not close to. I am not worried if they think I’m antisocial. I am not a horrible person and have done a lot for other people, but something inside of me is saying enough.

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

This, absolutely. So much misanthropy has been enabled and normalised, and many people don’t seem to realise that it’s these little daily interactions - chatting, smiling, sharing space, acknowledging the essential humanity of our fellow citizens - that bind us together as a society and stop the whole house of cards tumbling down.

Public sector employees appear to thrive on it!

I don’t know anyone that wants restrictions to continue. Even my extremely clinically vulnerable friend with blood cancer acknowledges that things need to return more to how they were, even though it will make life more stressful for her.

I have my own office at work but I'm still more productive at home as my work requires quite a bit of concentration and it is a noisy building. In addition I have sometimes worked in the office all week and not seen anyone so why am I wasting money on petrol, driving to work and damaging the environment, to sit in a windowless, internal office. I'm not an introvert but I have quite a few friends for socialising with, I do feel I need to get that from work. I do think people who can't WFH in my building are resentful but that's not a good enough reason to stop the practice of WFH.

I don't need those social interactions at work, if anything I'm part time (30hrs) just and have so much work to do as I am the only one who is employed to do it, then I have to factor in school run etc. That I don't have time for these petty interactions at the photocopier, people coming to see me because they feel sorry for me on my own. Very nice of them but I don't have that time to spare.

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.

@ealteacher - YYY to this.

I am also a normal person who does not possess the gift the Universe has apparently bestowed on so many here who have very confidently stated the contents of other people's minds and hearts. I would like to buy a few lottery tickets this week.

@Goldenbear

I have my own office at work but I'm still more productive at home as my work requires quite a bit of concentration and it is a noisy building. In addition I have sometimes worked in the office all week and not seen anyone so why am I wasting money on petrol, driving to work and damaging the environment, to sit in a windowless, internal office. I'm not an introvert but I have quite a few friends for socialising with, I do feel I need to get that from work. I do think people who can't WFH in my building are resentful but that's not a good enough reason to stop the practice of WFH.

Is it a permanent switch from here on? Or changing still when advice changes

Ie restarting in office when restrictions lift

I think it’ll be a mix done will stick with it, many will do more hybrid

Some will..

There are aspects I've definitely enjoyed! And some I've most definitely loathed.