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?

@treeflowercat

... did you really expect people would keep happily wearing masks indoors for the rest of their lives?

I think some people do actually expect this. At least, there doesn't ever seem a point when they'd be happy getting back to life pre-2020.

Yes, I've seen people on Twitter arguing that after the pandemic we should wear a mask whenever we have a cold. There is even one person on this thread who says she LIKES wearing a mask.

...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.

@Lifeisnteasy
Is that verifiably true, or is it something you just made up?

I'm not sure but I'm going to try and persuade my boss that it can be a hybrid. I don't know how he could argue that it can't be really. My only concern is that he may not want to allow it for the sake of organisational politics.

I welcome a move towards more WFH, flexibility with hours and hybrid set ups. I don't however think most organisations are as productive with 100% remote working.

I think most people I know well have stayed true to character pre covid. Three main social circles have people similar in age, 60s All have followed the basic guidance ie numbers when socialising but with some common sense re vulnerable relatives, 3 have caring responsibilities for elderly / neighbours , all had no problem with masks. One social group is a mostly retired group of wind instrument players and can understand more caution than a mixed age group, not really a social group, which I also attend. Bit twitchy about the latter as Delta was prevalent and basically blowing spit around room. Mixed age group opened up immediately after restrictions were eased. Went, OK loved it, not ill.
Oldies met later with LFT.
One close friend pushed the boundaries a bit pre covid. Has paid attention to sense and the law during covid. Which sometimes conflict. Could and still can be a bit irresponsible. But super reliable advocate and carer for her dad.
Vast majority of friends just stuck to guidance. As did I. Very frightened of breaking the law and fined to begin with. Wanted to meet up up with one friend for a walk and agreed to bail as people being prosecuted for socially distanced walks in beauty spots. Even sitting on a bench alone if outside perimeter. Police manning car parks in beauty spots. Had a half hour walk around a housing estate, alone, for months.
But tough measures were needed then.
Later, the rules for social distancing make no sense if people are already contacts at work. So Boris was right, health wise but not not legally, if work meetings were bubbled. Which they weren't. But tough rules still in force for others. Think fines issued by police should be refunded.
None of the people I'm thing about are clinically vulnerable but 2 have thought they are. So more precious than usual.
Most, including myself, trying to avoid virus and, key point, not get arrested.
Legalities again with care home visits and funerals. Too little to late. Should have been illegal to send covid positive residents back to care homes.

"Look, I empathise, but there have always been WFH jobs and there will be more of them now even after mandates are lifted. Just as there have always been partners that don't lump all the childcare and chores on their partner just because she's WFH. You don't actually need a government to demand everyone live like this in order for you to get to do it."

And why should anybody else be made to wfh because you didn't choose your husband wisely?

@HarrietteNightingale

I welcome a move towards more WFH, flexibility with hours and hybrid set ups. I don't however think most organisations are as productive with 100% remote working.

It doesn’t work to do full remote for the sector I know, others may be different. A bit more flexibility is really great though I agree.

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.

@Pebble55

Truth?
Fiction?

We will never know.

It will be left to future generations who happen on the MN archive to ponder the madness and the anger and to wonder if better political leadership would have generated a less resentful, bitter, and divided society.

I absolutely agree some people are revelling in this and seem almost triumphant when things go wrong (cases go up, new variant found etc). It’s fucking weird behaviour in all honesty.

"People who work from home may not be spending money in High Street shops but they will be spending money elsewhere for the food they eat in their lunch breaks creating jobs elsewhere."

No, they won't unless you count the supermarkets. People were saying that if we didn't commute, shops and cafes would pop up in smaller towns or residential areas. They haven't and won't because there isn't the concentration of customers there.
After two years, there is no shop within a short distance of my house where I can buy pre-prepared food for my lunch.

@KarenTheGammonRemoaner

Yes I've noticed people becoming obsessed with testing then when they are positive they share it all over social media for attention. It's something akin to munchausen syndrome but on a mass scale.

If I got Covid I'd put it on FB too, just like I do all my important news. No Munchausen here.

To add, I’m not talking about people who have liked the shift to WFH/hybrid working or have felt less pressure to be social butterflies.
I’m more talking about the people who seem disappointed when cases go down and have an air of “I told you so” when cases rise, like they want the actual pandemic to continue on and on. I get wanting to be able to WFH, I don’t get wanting the actual pandemic to continue.

"They should work to strengthen their immune systems instead. Vitamin C and Zinc pls Vit D at 2000 units would be a good start!"

I was taking Vit C and 3000 units of Vit D and got a cold this December. I have zinc, but had read that it's more useful to start it once you get a cold than take it all the time. The point is, these things are not guarantees.

A Pandemic is people dropping dead in the streets. People need to get over it.
@threatmatrix

You have provided an example of the ignorance that has contributed to the opinions of those agreeing with the OP.

It's interesting that whenever you phone anywhere they are working from home and cant deal with your queries. I'm fed up not been able to speak to anyone and have a meaningful and worthwhile conversation. I am sad though for all the NHS workers in hospitals who have worked hard throughout this pandemic.

"It was a real eye-opener to me that people felt violated by being called on the phone by their own colleagues."

Yes, but if you're in the office you can pop your head in and see if the person is talking to someone/in a meeting, etc. When you're at home, you don't know what they're doing at the moment you want to call them.

"i felt jealous of those that were in a profession that enabled them to wfh or were furloughed. blush"

And as a wfh person I was jealous of those furloughed AND those allowed to go out to work.

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.

@TempsPerdu although I’m part of the problem I am concerned about this but I don’t see it as my problem to fix. It feels as though the social contract has broken. People aren’t generally worth a smile or my time because such a lot of them these days are only out for themselves.

...the differences between the children that were fortunate enough to have parents willing and, more importantly, able to help them home school and those that did not are huge and it's horrible to see and I don't know how we are going to close that gap.

@Lokipokey1, this was always the case in schools. Nobody knows how to close the gap. Some people tout phonics as the magic solution. Some advocate for concerted community outreach and making schools more parent-friendly. Some think more money for schools would help.

Why do you think the bottom third of teenage school leavers in England are functionally illiterate - a fact that has been true for decades?

@PenStation

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.

@TempsPerdu although I’m part of the problem I am concerned about this but I don’t see it as my problem to fix. It feels as though the social contract has broken. People aren’t generally worth a smile or my time because such a lot of them these days are only out for themselves.

Why do you say that? Out of interest re only out for themselves

I feel the opposite (most of the time anyway), maybe area has something to do with it

You are welcome to your opinion. But maybe watch Dr Robert Malone who is he I hear to screech, he helped invent MRNA. Read about Dr Tony Hinton or Bret Weinstein there are loads but but I know you only watch the BBC. Omicron is a cold not a pandemic. Spanish flu thst was a pandemic wasn’t it and I’m pretty sure people were dying in the streets. Mums net is a hive of mass formation psychosis.

People aren’t generally worth a smile or my time because such a lot of them these days are only out for themselves.

Human nature hasn't changed. It has been the same since the beginning of time.

People aren’t generally worth a smile or my time because such a lot of them these days are only out for themselves

The massive irony and lack of self awareness in this sentence alone is mind blowing.

@goawaystormy

People aren’t generally worth a smile or my time because such a lot of them these days are only out for themselves

The massive irony and lack of self awareness in this sentence alone is mind blowing.

I agree. There have always been misanthropes but COVID seems to have given people not just a license to do it but even made it a badge of honour.

It’s almost a source of pride to denounce people you have never met, to regard basic human contact as a violation and to want to limit your social circle to two.

We need to get a handle on this. Being understanding of introverts is good. Enabling pathologically antisocial behaviour is not.

I agree. There have always been misanthropes but COVID seems to have given people not just a license to do it but even made it a badge of honour.

There is encouragement of this on here I agree