To look back on the things we did in lockdown and cringe?

[Applescruffle]

Isn't it all just really cringeworthy when we look back?

The clapping on our doorsteps, all that false commradarie and "we're all in this together" and the drawings of rainbows in people's windows?
Condemning our neighbours for buying Easter Eggs because they weren't "essential" and wondering whether we would get arrested for sitting on a park bench?

At the time I, and probably loads of us, thought we were doing the right things but doesn't it all just look so false and hollow now when we look back and see that number 10 were having parties and Dominic Cummings was running around the country testing his eyesight? My kids missed out on so much while this was going on, my mental and physical health has still not recovered from the effects of lockdown, and for what?

Know what I mean?

Really? My husband's death certificate made it clear that he'd died of a heart attack and noted the contributory effects of kidney failure, diabetes and a stroke.

Yes there was a lot of cringe. That said, I think cringe is a spectacularly muted response when we consider the shit show that has ensued from all but closing the economy and turning healthcare in to a hierarchy; the NHS actually behaved as though cancer and heart disease were no longer that important. The response was absolute insanity. The economy and the health service are still in free fall, 4 years later.

Government knew it was a disaster of a response, but they buckled because the majority of the country was in favour of (demanding!) extreme lockdown. Many of those people who were in favour are now on their uppers; I have zero sympathy for anyone who favoured lockdown and is now struggling financially.

Yes. This. The harms of locking down were out there in the research from China, but I know ICU staff and people that lost several family members, a child that lost both parents. The costs outweighed the costs of not locking down. It was real. Horribly, horribly real. The clapping was meaningful to me as I thought of my friends working in ICU and it was soooo hard for them. So hard.

I followed some rules in the beginning but by around August 2020 I was already sceptical, mainly because I paid close attention to the statistics and saw that the chance of dying from Covid if you were young and healthy was so low that the lockdown measures as well as vaccines mandates could not be justified. I kept this all to myself however as I quickly realised that most people were completely brainwashed by a combination of propaganda, peer pressure and some perverse pleasure gained from the lockdown lifestyle (WFH, everything getting delivered, the excitement of living through a historical event etc). I caught the Vid several times and it was never worse than a mild flu, I’d been much sicker with other things in the past (gastro, tonsillitis, flu, sinus infections). Overall I don’t blame anyone for getting swept up in the madness, millions were spent by the various governments and organisations to spread a message of fear, not to mention the authoritarian policies that made people feel that there livelihoods and freedoms (to work, travel) were at risk if they didn’t comply.

Agreed. I attended two other funerals (from a distance - wasn't allowed into the church or graveyard). A married couple who died some months apart - of old age.

I know ICU staff (including Consultants) who would beg to differ.

@betterangels thank you for saying that. It has been incredibly difficult - I have also lost my sight, had to manage surgery whilst very poorly and am parenting teenagers, with no income - so things have been tough. But the thing that baffles me the most is how little people seem to care about how Long Covid exists. I mean there are hundreds of thousands of us - all in pain, suffering, economically inactive and severely disabled.

Our numbers are significant nationally- they are affecting the whole country in terms of the numbers of people off work needing benefits and carers. Its not a small thing or something that is rare and just sad for me and my loved ones.

I post in threads like this and very few people respond, or take on board what has happened/ is happening. There are SO MANY of us. But when we talk, there is no traction at all - its kinda baffling and worrisome in equal measure.

and whilst those of us that caught delta are the most unwell - we are seeing a steady stream of new people coming to our long-covid groups all the time. all devastated and terrified.

I still remember the person who chastised people for 'popping out' for milk, when you could do as she did and fill your car boot with milk and other groceries on your one shopping trip a week. What you were to do if you didn't have a car was never made clear.

This person also suggested making 'milk cubes' in the freezer and defrosting one every time you fancied a cup of tea. I still think of those 'milk cubes' as just one example of the craziness of that depressing time.

Then there was the poster who seriously suggested that people should be given a financial incentive to report their neigbours if they had more than the permitted number of guests around for Christmas. It gave me in insight into how quickly authoritarianism could take hold.

I am so sorry you are going through this. I hope the improvements keep coming.

The people living opposite were arrested for growing weed after lockdown... They had even come out to do the clap 😅
I drove my husband to work down our road... It was exactly timed with the clap down our road one day and was very cringy. People yelling their thanks as was awkwardly smiled 😬
Very strange times...

You're saying that because scary events are very rare, we should not treat them as scary events because we might turn out to be embarrassingly OTT? That's literally nuts.

The pan clanking was a highlight for me!! It was such a miserable fucking time - apart from the glorious weather and the lie ins!

My NHS DD worked long shifts with no proper protection. She caught COVID twice but was told she had to go in even though she hadn’t fully recovered. Finally, she was so ill she was off sick for a month or so. She’s fine now. However, later, when signing the insurance for mortgage cover, that company said they won’t cover her any a case of mental health. Speachless.

The chances of dying from covid were low, but the chances of getting long covid were 1 in 10. This was me, I was in bed unable to even follow a sentence for 18 months. It affected my brain, my heart, my lungs. At the time I would have preferred to have died from it, it was hell. Luckily I am mainly recovered now, but there are still many in a similar position who aren't.

My husband and I stood separately in the supermarket queue (then met up inside) because they wouldn't allow couples in.

ThisMauveHiker I'm glad you posted. I had a serious case of it, although nothing like yours and not classified as Long Covid. The effects of Long Covid should be publicised more. It's important. Thank you for sharing. I wish you the very best.

1 in 10? How is that calculated if you don't mind me asking?

Is that one person in every ten? Or is it one infection in every ten, because if that's the case a huge percentage of the population, having been infected multiple times, would have 'long covid', which seems unlikely.

It’s really simple. The lockdowns did slow the spread and stopped our hospitals being overwhelmed and people really seem to forget this. If our hospitals had been seriously overwhelmed it would have been utter carnage. I’m no fan of our government and I think some of them behaved terribly. If they had ‘let it rip’ then it would have a very different history we were looking back on.

I never did any of that shit, and I changed my user name as a result. It was absolutely mental and I said so and boy was I made to feel like a wanker.

Yes. This. The harms of locking down were out there in the research from China, but I know ICU staff and people that lost several family members, a child that lost both parents. The costs outweighed the costs of not locking down. It was real. Horribly, horribly real. The clapping was meaningful to me as I thought of my friends working in ICU and it was soooo hard for them. So hard

thank you for saying this.

I didn’t stick rainbows up or clap nhs staff.
I’ll just vote Labour as I would rather pay them with real money than claps.

I am in the minority but I didn’t mind lockdown.. not forever but I do think it probably slowed transmission. It’s easy in hindsight to say what rubbish but at the time you don’t have the information to make really informed definite choices. I don’t think lockdown was extreme given the situation we could potentially have been facing at that time.

It’s really simple. The lockdowns did slow the spread and stopped our hospitals being overwhelmed and people really seem to forget this. If our hospitals had been seriously overwhelmed it would have been utter carnage. I’m no fan of our government and I think some of them behaved terribly. If they had ‘let it rip’ then it would have a very different history we were looking back on

this too.

Hehehe yea I remember someone getting royally fucked off with me, because I suggested that me going for shock TWO walks a day in an empty field behind my house was just being irresponsible and part of the problem of COVID spreading like wildfire...

yep, the zero people I came across were definitely at risk of dying of COVID

It was a way in my cul-de-sac for everyone to make sure neighbours were OK, and to actually see and speak to others. I don't have a partner and my DC spend equal time between me and their father. So I might not have seen a real person for a week. So the clapping was quite social (distanced) and important for my well being. That initial wave was deadly - please don't anyone forget that. I think the govt did the best they could at that time with the information they had and NO vaccines. Yes of course the No 10 parties were outrageous. Absolutely disgusting. But that doesn't mean the rest of us weren't doing our bit.