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?

Fortunately rl feels very different

@WhatTheWhoTheWhatThe

If I never have to hear “I’m a key worker” ever again I’ll be happy

Yup! And I am front line NHS!

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.

I don't think many do. I think that a lot of this is a feeling that optimism can be unlucky, and that being as pessimistic as possible is the best way to prevent disaster, or at least to be prepared for it.

My mother, in almost all ways extremely sane and scientific, had a little of this, possibly as a way of dealing with anxiety about having several relatives with health issues. Thus, she would jump with anxiety and cross her fingers if I said something like 'I haven't been ill for a long time'. After my rather protracted hospital stay as a child, she wouldn't remove, or allow me to remove, my admission wrist-band for ages, because she had a superstition, despite knowing that it was irrational, that the moment it was removed I would get ill again and have to go back to hospital.

Add to such superstitions, that one of the chief British sports is moaning (notably about the weather, which, dare I say it, is much better than in many countries), and you get these sorts of remarks. But I don't think that people actually want the pandemic to continue!

So I have tried to catch up with the whole thread, and one thing seems to stick out to me. It seems it is only a couple of people that you perceive as being obstructive to your work and hobbies. So it is perfectly possible that these isolated cases have genuine reasons you don't know about, rather than them taking pleasure in the pandemic.

Could they have a vulnerable relative they spend a lot of time with? Not the extremely vulnerable, but vulnerable nonetheless. Enough that they are genuinely apprehensive about exposing them to more illness.

Could it simply be the change of routine that is the problem? I'm autistic and it often surprises me that others don't get the level of apprehension I do by a simple change of routine. If I expect to be WFH all week (doesn't happen for me) and I find out on the Monday that I will be in on Friday, that would set me off. I just don't like my plans to change. I would need something like, "next Friday you will get a schedule for when you are needed in the week after" or something to that effect. It seems stupid but it would really bother me and I would throw up any obstacle to not comply. I can rationalise that it makes no difference if I do the one day on the Friday or the following Tuesday (if it genuinely doesn't) but it unsettles me.

The "excitement" when the numbers go up could be apprehension, the "disappointment" when they come down could be relief. Varients are known to generally get milder but there have been articles recently reminding people that they could also mutate and get more deadly. You can't blame people for reading that and feeling concerned.

Sorry, I think you are being a little harsh. I don't believe anyone is "enjoying" the pandemic. Some people will always be workshy, and they will use it as an excuse to get out of a day's work, but I am sure you would know which of the people you work with were workshy prior to the pandemic. I sure know I did in my place of employment and they have held true to form, but others are genuinely worried.

It's really quite bizarre that you spend time debating and learning to recite covid death rates for countries that you're not a citizen of.

I'll tell you what's really quite bizarre, @dontsaythj.

It's your intense focus on the US when this thread is about the insanity of life in the UK currently, and your burning hatred for a country you clearly know absolutely nothing about. I say 'clearly' because you don't see how your tone and intemperate words and disregard for the reality of covid suggest that you would feel very much at home in a MAGA hat.

Also your absolute insistence that I am American.

Thanks for your unintentionally hilarious post on NI.

I think many people feign fear of new variants when talking to their boss / work colleagues in order to continue making a case for working at home. These same people are more than happy to spend an evening in a busy restaurant or gym

@mathanxiety

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.

Oh thank goodness, you’re back. The thread was veering dangerously close to sensible discussion without your valued input.

My reply therefore applies as much to you.

@Flynnqwer

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.

This exactly. This explains much better what I was trying to say.

Well yes, I feel aware of that tendency around me but there is another thing: depends on your circumstances but many people including me have long journeys to work which of course are unpaid. Working from home in this respect gives me back 9 hours a week. But I like to get into work a bit to avoid cabin fever. So my future would be blended if I had my way

It’s almost a source of pride to denounce people you have never met

@thepeopleversuswork
I can only agree with this, but not in the sense you clearly meant it.

Denouncing people who are not interested in smiling and making small talk as 'pathologically unsociable' is harsh and completely uncalled for.

The lack of self awareness on this thread has ceased to surprise me.

@FrippEnos

Kanaloa

I mean, what? I presume you mean shutting down all leisure and entertainment and sports and hobby clubs and things like that.

You presume wrong. all of these areas could invest in better ventilation systems. not only would this prevent the spread of covid but of other viruses as well as would better facilities for washing and sanitation (and by that I don't just mean washing hands but also machines that have been used.

What machines are passing Covid?

Honestly if that’s what you want campaign for it. I don’t care if you bring in super sprays to clean machines at the cinema. Although I would question how far cleaning machines will arrest the passing of an airborne illness. I would presume the difference would be negligible in most entertainment venues and you’d be more likely to catch something from the person standing next to you than a machine someone touched.

I think the pandemic can have its hard parts and easy parts for everyone, but I also think young people with children have had a really, really tough time compared to many of us.

Plenty of people my age -50s - have said it hasn't made an enormous difference, other than some squeezes on socialising in full lockdown. No young children, can mostly work from home, easier to multitask, easier to fit in a walk or exercise, no loss of income. I've spoken to retired people who have barely noticed.

On the other hand, health is often less good, resulting in more worry about covid than some others, especially in the first year.

Just because a lot of people like WFH, this doesn’t mean they have enjoyed the pandemic. WFH is a positive that’s come out of the pandemic, and that’s not the same as thinking the pandemic is a good thing

@DrSK2

Yes but how can you get your husband wfh if the employer doesn’t want/allow that although his work can be perfectly done remotely. My dh is more than capable and willing to do childcare, chores etc more than my fair share but his employer is terrible. Unless the gov mandates wfh I am left as the one wfh (due to the nature of my job and my employer giving autonomy) and it is physically not possible for my dh to share the housekeeping burden. The gov must legislate wfh as a right but not a benefit as it is now. Employees are at the mercy of employers and unless there is no covid wfh mandate people cannot work as they prefer (for the jobs that can be perfectly done remotely). Gender inequality and gender pay gap won’t close unless the gov steps in. We are desperately using the wfh mandate for our advantage as otherwise I would have to go part time in my job to be able to do “homemaking” as Americans call it!

How many hours does your DH do that it’s physically impossible for him to do his part in housekeeping?

This is the issue, so many saying their employer should allow them to work from home because then they will save money in childcare/can do housework/pop out to do xyz. Like it’s not your husband’s employer’s job to ensure he has time set aside to do housework.

And as for people having the right to ‘work as they prefer’ surely you do that when looking for a job? You think okay I need xyz and you interview with that in mind, then negotiate until you and the employer are both happy. You don’t take a job asking you to do x hours and then expect your employee to organise you having the time to do your own housework.

And to answer your question about ‘how can I get my husband to wfh when his employer doesn’t allow it’ he would need to give notice then look for a job that advertises as remote work/work from home. Not start a job that asks it’s employees to work from a certain place then whine that he should have a government enshrined right to work from home because otherwise he simply physically can not manage to do any housework and his wife would need to go part time in order to do the cleaning.

I think that because the pandemic’s gone on for nearly 2 years that people have made lifestyle choices that are dependent on being at home more e.g. taking on a pet, being able to go to the gym in the day etc and are nervous of going back to commuting and long office days. Don’t know how much genuine covid fear there is around and how much is just some people feeling they got a better work life balance and using it as justification?

@Jewel52

That's understandable. What has been criticised here are those who seem bent on propagating doom and gloom and advocating for further unnecessary restrictions for all.

What has been criticised here are those who seem bent on propagating doom and gloom and advocating for further unnecessary restrictions for all.

LOL.
What has been criticised here is a figment of the fevered imagination of people claiming to be clairvoyant.

Unless the gov mandates wfh I am left as the one wfh (due to the nature of my job and my employer giving autonomy) and it is physically not possible for my dh to share the housekeeping burden.

For the love of god, your domestic situation is for you to sort out, it's beyond ridiculous to require a government mandate to sort your housework

@dontsaythj

"We're almost there, it is now the beginning of the end, at least in the UK," Prof Julian Hiscox, chairman in infection and global health at the University of Liverpool, tells me.
It seems your professor Hiscox hasn't fully grasped the meaning of the word pandemic.

"We're almost there, it is now the beginning of the end, at least in the UK," Prof Julian Hiscox, chairman in infection and global health at the University of Liverpool, tells me.

How much continuing COVID-19 illness and death the world will put up with is largely a political question. I personally would not like to have to have my fate in the hands of someone who had no problem with the thought of bodies piled high and saw nothing wrong with one lockdown rule for his mates and another for everyone else. I would not be so sure that leaving Plan B is a good idea.

As I think others have said, endemic doesn’t automatically equate to meaning few cases. The endemic set point could remain relatively high. We don’t know yet. The pandemic is not over globally either. We are still at risk of new variants of concern whilst so much of the world remain unvaccinated.

Finally, I think it’s sad our govt plan to remove all measures in England v soon when some simple protective measures such as FFP2+ masks in indoor crowded settings and improved ventilation in buildings could reduce cases further meaning even less daily deaths (from July to September were still averaging 100 daily) and less long covid. With many kids still unvaccinated or only partially they are more at risk of LC. Cases dropping nationally but rising still in schools. Even the USA has just announced they will be upgrading masks and sending them to citizens free of charge.

Prof Julian Hiscox says in a bad flu season 200-300 die a day. However, this is only every few years and for a few months of the year.

A bad flu season only happens when the vaccines don't work as they have wrongly guessed which flu strain would be dominant.
Fewer people die with flu per day with no effective vaccine, than died from covid with no vaccine.
In a good flu year as little as 600 people die a year.

@AllThePogs

A bad flu season only happens when the vaccines don't work as they have wrongly guessed which flu strain would be dominant. Fewer people die with flu per day with no effective vaccine, than died from covid with no vaccine. In a good flu year as little as 600 people die a year.

All very true.

@Twopandemicpregnancies

I think many people feign fear of new variants when talking to their boss / work colleagues in order to continue making a case for working at home. These same people are more than happy to spend an evening in a busy restaurant or gym

Do these "people" not realise their "boss" can easily work out for themselves if this concern is unfounded or not? (Given these people exist, of course - anecdotally, I'd say not.)