To think there's an off/bad vibe out there?

[ARichSeamToMine]

Does the world feel "off"?
Sorry if this seems ranty, I'm really interested in the vote though.

I'm feeling like there's a weird vibe out there.

I live in London, meet a lot of people through work and am not just judging by my circle.

I've been struggling to articulate this.

I'm late 40s and have seen recessions etc before.

Was out in the City tonight and I would say bar and restaurant were busy for a Monday night, so good there. The street I was on had several completely closed offices, pubs and two gyms, which was sad.

I understand that changes in social habits have been affected by working patterns etc.

I just feel there is something else at play

I increasingly find that people are a bit...strange? We saw groups in the bar, who presumably went out together from choice, just gazing at their phones. I was never anti tech but I'm starting to wonder if there is something in the idea that it affects communication skills.

my friend is worried about her dad because he constantly watches videos of fights - this is a TV show in the US now I hear.

I know a lot of people in my age group feel very "meh" and have little enthusiasm for things, but it's not just middle age. I don't think so anyway.

I'm happy if people are happy, but starting to wonder if they are happy. I meet a lot of people who don't want to go out, are up at 5am walking a dog, they take care of themselves with a good diet, often vegan, don't drink alcohol.

I'm not saying any of these things are bad. I can see if the City is reasonably busy on a Monday night, hospitality must be recovering, which is great.

But something out in the world feels off...like people aren't interested in much.

My online creative writing group has almost no posts. The tutor is regularly cancelling workshops and looking to do online only.

I'm in touch with a couple of exes and we are staying friends but they seem to do nothing but gaming. One in particular has no friends and is not bothered.

I might get flamed but I do wonder if men are particularly prone to doing less stuff if they are single.

Again, that is fine if they are happy. But I get this sense that people aren't happy.

Social anxiety seems very much on the rise.

Just curious to know if others get this vibe.

YABU - people are fine and just living life as usual

YANBU - people are losing communication skills and becoming unhappy

Agree

Totally agree. Most of my team WFH and we have various chat channels set up to keep in touch - I can't stand them! To me it's just more to 'write' and isn't exactly conversation, so I barely look at them. In person I'll talk the hind legs off a donkey!

I agree with you that people are losing communication skills. However, I haven't noticed anything "off" with the world - everyone where I live seems to be getting on with life as usual (I'm not in the UK). Haven't picked up any bad vibes either.

I think, even before Covid, people were becoming more insular and polarised in their views/habits.

I recall, in 2003, walking down Sauchiehall Street in the lead up to Christmas. All I could see were people walking together but not talking as they were transfixed to their phone screens. Twenty years on it's even more apparent. I think 'phone jails' in restaurants are an absolute acknowledgement of that.

I believe the middle ground has been lost. We're either for or against. The polarisation on everything is becoming more and more extreme. Whether it's trans people, immigrants, climate change, benefits, Trump() etc. Either you're all in or it's a hill on which you're prepared to (metaphorically, and probably ultimately) die. () Other right wing lunatics are available.

That's something that's 'missing' insofar as I can tell. The Voice of Reason appears to have been silenced.

Beyond that, there is a further 'off' feeling. To me it feels as though as a species were are being gaslit in some way. Oddly enough both my partner and one of my favourite brothers said something (separately) in different ways that struck home. In essence they said 'They (the elite) only allow us to feed ourselves so that we can feed them. As soon as they work out how to feed themselves, we're even more fucked.'

Something of which I'm uneasy/suspicious(?) is all the hype about 'revisiting' the Moon, and all the intensive effort by private individuals to 'explore' space. In my less sane moments I think that's why the billionaires have amassed such ridiculous fortunes as it's incredibly expensive to access the only escape route from the imploding Earth.

Finally, if I'm fully exercising my paranoia, I've always wondered what effect the Hadron Collider has had/is having on the human mind? None? Substantial? The only thing of which I'm sure is if it is substantial, we'll be the last to know!

Yep also 40 totally agree something does feel off!

Actually maybe this is it, as people become more addicted to their phones and with WFH lose social skills we become more and more insular which is probably the underlying issue

I think covid did more of a number on people than we like to admit. We were all so desperate to get back normal but I think many things were at play that have caused damage without us realising.

“The rise in meal deals for valentine's day etc. how unromantic is this. My son and girlfriend had an M&S one.”

There have been meal deals for years! How on earth are they unromantic? Better than sitting in a restaurant with the tables so close together full of unimaginative couples who think they should go out for dinner as it’s Valentine’s Day. For a lot of people a meal in, no distractions, is much more romantic than a generic restaurant with 50 other couples.

I agree with OP and you. Before having our lo I felt the way the OP does… specially after Covid!
but having a dc has forced me to not hide away, as she has a lot to learn and so depends on a mother who isn’t afraid of people and the world she lives in.

I feel it. There’s an underlying current everywhere.

Bit we have a government that are routinely lying to us, no opposition that represents us, gangs on the streets with Machetes and god knows what else.

We work for well in excess of half the day to pay taxes.

the system extracts almost all of our productivity one way or another and people can’t see it, but they can feel it.

Don't forget on top of COVID and COL we're also potentially on the brink of WW3 . 2 dementia sufferers fighting for presidency. A shit show of a UK government. Children stabbing children to death.
Happy days.

I’ve actually found the opposite but this may just be my north London bubble! People say hi more when we go out for a walk, strangers have been more chatty in pubs. Wfh has made the people I work with more relaxed (job with long hours, quite stressful), and have openly said it’s been great to spend more time with their families. People at work have become more understanding, it’s made work so much more enjoyable.

I don’t know anyone who games constantly, people who enjoy the occasional game, but nothing described here. I’ve noticed people taking much more care with their bodies having more time for exercise and drinking less.

We meet up as a friends group quite regularly, not as much as before as we have all had children and some have moved out of London so we arrange bigger get togethers which take more planning. WhatsApp chat has made it feel like we are all still together.

I think the world has been a certain way for a long time and things have shifted and the groups of people who excelled before (male, outgoing, able bodied, overly chatty etc) have had to make way for a new era. People at work have been more understanding of unseen disabilities at work and in return these people have excelled. The same with a lot of women (under represented in my work) who have born the brunt of childcare etc, now have the opportunity to work more flexibly and have taken on more responsibilities and been promoted. Men have been more likely to take parental leave.

It’s been a positive shift for me and my friends/family/colleagues.

Everyone is just getting by. I think that's the problem. Years of dancing to a shit tune with shit lyrics and an even shittier ending.

I can't be bothered any more even thinking about the world.

But I prefer this version!

I'm genuinely terrified of the world and what the future holds. People are selfish and entitled, they always have been but it was less in your face. Put back for the greater good maybe but now everyone is angry and many think only of themselves.

The reason I am up is DD woke me up and I stupidly looked at my phone. I saw a crash in Birmingham where so many people are walking around filming, not even hiding it. People are dead in the cars and injured but I don't think they're being helped and the scene would be so contaminated. We have lost all empathy. Not as a person but as a people.

I keep thinking of men in black when he said a person is smart but people are stupid. I think that fits more nowadays.

Yes, I don't believe WFH is a good thing at all. Thankfully it is not really the norm where I live, so maybe that's why I haven't noticed anything off around here. The addicted to their phones bit certainly applies though, not to mention children addicted to screens.

OP I don’t understand this part of your post:
I meet a lot of people who don't want to go out, are up at 5am walking a dog, they take care of themselves with a good diet, often vegan, don't drink alcohol

This sounds like me, and I’m perfectly happy (fit and healthy too). I can’t work out what’s wrong with being like that. Which part of it is ‘off’ ?

I know what you’re saying op, I think there’s a big societal shift taking place, plus wars, recession, political discourse; it’s very unsettling

I know what you're talking about OP , it's been the source of 2 conversations I've had this week . Which makes me think it's somehow been seeded to us (not a conspiracy theorist but I notice this more and more)

I did think my neighbourhood was getting a bit rougher recently - I can't seem to walk to the shops without overhearing really bad language expressing bad sentiments. It wasn't like this before.

Because the authorities did a number on us in the name of Covid. Locked down healthy people knowing full well that it was no danger to young healthy people, stole public money at unprecedented levels and have been squeezing people hard to pay for it ever since.

People generally realize now that they cannot trust what they are told. When that trust goes, the rot sets in.

I agree but cannot put my finger on the cause. I am older (60)
I think the polarised views expressed so loudly in person are a result of people expecting radical views without filter on line and are then unable to contain/moderate it in person
I feel sad for teenagers and children who seem to have a less carefree life than I remember
we talked to my grandson (18) at Christmas who goes to college but it feels like a very solitary experience- despite the use of technology to communicate it takes forever for them to actually arrange to meet up face to face and do something- this is not because they are all so busy but because they struggle to leave home

It's February. It's pretty miserable till Spring.

The comments on this thread are totally alien to me. I'm in the NW and life is just the same as it ever was.

I think we're going through a slowly creeping apocalypse/anarchy due to two main issues : 1) the internet which is mainly ruining our children and men (porn, violence, bullying, etc.). 2) The government, which has totally ruined every public service: the police/CPS are barely dealing with crime (which is why people are now just going into shops and literally walking out with stuff). The NHS is often like a third world service. We can't rely on our politicians to be honest and decent.

It's scary - I've noticed a big change in men and younger people, in particular.

Someone was moaning about our city centre yesterday and how much it's changed for the worst (so many empty shops, homeless living in doorways).

I'm glad I'm at the latter end of my life (and that I grew up way before the internet).

My biggest fear these days is that I'll be re-born into this world 😬.