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?

Covid anxiety manifests itself in various ways. One of the most common is denial: none of this is happening /no precautions necessary/ it's just a cold /anyone who disagrees with me is a lockdown lover. It's just the same anxiety disguising an inability to cope. Then you get those at the other extreme who want to control their environment by cleaning/isolating/sanitizing. Both these groups get extremely upset if you try and make your own decisions and claim you are ruining their lives.

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

This is what I thought but then read in an article in Nature it’s not a given:

“If the virus evolved in this way, it might become less severe, but that outcome is far from certain. “There’s this assumption that something more transmissible becomes less virulent. I don’t think that’s the position we should take,” says Balloux. Variants including Alpha, Beta and Delta have been linked to heightened rates of hospitalization and death — potentially because they grow to such high levels in people’s airways. The assertion that viruses evolve to become milder “is a bit of a myth”, says Rambaut. “The reality is far more complex.”

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-

I enjoyed the pandemic, it made very little difference to my life & it boosted my business to making 4 times what it ever did previously.

I actually had the ability to save & had hope for the future.

Being worried about catching Covid isn't the same as enjoying the pandemic. I don't know anyone who wants it to continue.

If I am being honest I haven't encountered many like this. I did WFH from March 2020 until late last year because we could and nobody was pressing us to return.

Most people I know were desperate to return to some normality. I too do a hobby which was considered high risk (playing a wind instrument) and we tried online substitutes but it is not very good. Happily we started to return in a limited way late 2020 and for some time now we are more or less normal. Even people you might think were in higher risk groups seem keen to get back to meeting in person.

Though recently we spoke to friends who we don't see often and discovered they have never been more than a few miles from home in 2 years. They are not especially old (early 60s) and are not in a vulnerable group but appear to have become ultra cautious if not paranoid.

You are correct OP. There is a sizeable cohort of people who live restrictions and lockdowns. They really enjoy being terrified of this virus. You see the hysteria on here all the time. Always arguing for more ‘caution’. Wonder if they exercise the same caution against the winter flu. These people have lost all sense of reasoning and have become totally irrational.

@Slowfoxfast

Being worried about catching Covid isn't the same as enjoying the pandemic. I don't know anyone who wants it to continue.

Being worried about covid has become a competitive sport. That’s the point.

So many vile people on this thread.
Carry on thinking people love hysteria just because they don't agree with you.

I think if you had posted this, say in October, I would be agreeing with you, but the massively high case numbers with omicron have thrown us all backwards . I understand they are now saying pretty much that it's a lot milder and of course that's good, but temporarily working from home again and being a bit more cautious seems to make sense at the moment .

Broblem Fri 14-Jan-22 23:35:36
"I don’t think there are many people who wouldn’t like to see the back of the pandemic.

Even if there are some, so what? A bunch of people enjoying the pandemic and social restrictions will not prolong it (if anything, it’d be the opposite).

I suspect people who accuse others of enjoying the pandemic are just trying to find someone to lash out at, and (in some way) blame for it, to try to ease their own anxieties.

When I see posters accusing others of “frothing at the prospect of a new variant” or “revelling in being in the shielding category”, I just think they’re having a bit of a breakdown."

This

@Porcupineintherough

Covid anxiety manifests itself in various ways. One of the most common is denial: none of this is happening /no precautions necessary/ it's just a cold /anyone who disagrees with me is a lockdown lover. It's just the same anxiety disguising an inability to cope. Then you get those at the other extreme who want to control their environment by cleaning/isolating/sanitizing. Both these groups get extremely upset if you try and make your own decisions and claim you are ruining their lives.

That's a very interesting way of looking at Covid denial being a form of anxiety . I agree that some people do protest too much!

A lot of people just try and stay positive in a bad situation.

Got to stay home - great I can catch up on odd jobs, avoid people.
Things open back up - great I can finally get out of the house and see people.

It really annoys me when people are stupid enough to post things like I’ve had enough now, we need to get back to normal etc when they know it’s not that easy.
Some people just love drama and want everyone to feel down all of the time.

Totally agree OP. Some people love the “rules” the snitching, having a sense of purpose. I think once it’s “back to normal” a lot of people won’t know how to live normally again and will be very bored, nothing to complain about. Plus I know a lot of people who have absolutely rinsed this for lots of time off work. My friend in the civil service said everyone books their jabs on a Monday or Tuesday, hoping to feel unwell and then have a day or two off work. By contrast all the self employed people I know (me included) have had them on a Friday, praying that you’ll be fine by Monday to carry on working. Says it all.

Another category of people who have really really enjoyed the pandemic is abusive men. From the police officers who had an excellent excuse to pester women for sunbathing in parks to coercive controllers who could tell everyone that they were putting trackers on their partners' phones to make sure they weren't breaking the rules to the ones who could batter the fuck out of the wife and kids because the kids weren't going into school so no one was going to see the bruises... back down to the ones whose wives had to stop work because of the school/nursery closures and could be reminded all day that Hubby was now supporting the family so he could take over the sitting room to WFH (ie one zoom meeting and hours spent playing games online) and demand she keep the DC silent and out of the way while doing all the domestic work...

I’m definitely not hoping that the pandemic will continue but I’m hoping that WFH will.

Its not ‘wishing or hoping a new variant comes

Its just thinking there might be

Two different things

The worst I’ve seen is someone walking in the country with a mask on and a badge ‘I wear a mask to protect you’

Some people are loving the drama too much.

Bollocks. There may be some aspects that people enjoy but I’d say 99% would rather it was over completely.

If you don’t have the fear factor, it’s hard to understand those that do. It’s not fun, believe me.

I actually think more people enjoyed it right at the beginning of the pandemic than are enjoying it now.

So YABU to only now see that it may be the case that some people are enjoying it now.

@baffledcoconut oh yes, we have one of those types, marching around our playground at pick up. We all wait for the kids outside after school and this parent has worn a giant respirator mask and disposable gloves plus the patronising badge throughout the pandemic. Her kids must be absolutely mortified! Her kids were home schooled for ages and now her kid is back but brings in her own pencils & stuff in case “she gets covid from the school ones” 🙄.

@Porcupineintherough

Covid anxiety manifests itself in various ways. One of the most common is denial: none of this is happening /no precautions necessary/ it's just a cold /anyone who disagrees with me is a lockdown lover. It's just the same anxiety disguising an inability to cope. Then you get those at the other extreme who want to control their environment by cleaning/isolating/sanitizing. Both these groups get extremely upset if you try and make your own decisions and claim you are ruining their lives.

Not everyone who has felt that the precautions and rules were unnecessary did so from a place of anxiety, it is perfectly possible to just think they were unnecessary. I don’t think a lot of the steps taken either by the government or people generally were necessary, and I believe in the fullness of time it will be better understood that these actually did more harm than good, but I’ve never denied covid exists or thought it was “just a cold”.

Ohhh it’s the ones that are terrified of going into the sparkling, sterile, empty offices but are happy to whizz around Tesco or eat in restaurants or go clubbing that boil my piss.

Some people are still in that frightened phase, but it might not Ll be pandemic related, some may be frightened everyone will see how little work they've done whilst being at home, or how awful they are at their jobs etc

I'm hoping omnicrom is it. A different strain might arise, but honestly is things carry on with infection rates down and omnicrom mild, then we need to get back some of the previous normality. I def don't want to work in an office full time, but hybrid working might just be the way it is from now on. I really hope so!

@Dibbydoos then they have shit managers if their manager has not realised in two years they are not doing much work. And if their managers are that shit, it will be easy to not do much work in the office, although a lot less enjoyable.

I did rather enjoy the first lockdown. I’m a miserable unsociable git and it was a good excuse not to see anyone.