Mumsnet during the beginning of the Pandemic - please tell me your stories of the maddest comments you saw

[mumofoneAlonebutokay]

Inspired by chat on another thread - one woman was told not to pop to the shop for milk but to put butter in her coffee instead 😄

I wasn't on mumsnet then but would love to know the maddest comments you saw?

I myself went mad during the pandemic 🙈 and refused to leave the house and judged anybody that did, I'll admit 😬😄 - I wish I'd been calmer

Please share 🥰

Edit - I know how awful the pandemic was for those who lost loved ones, and how serious those losses are - this is just about the unnecessary hysteria and comments stemming from that, not to poke fun at those who lost someone or became ill. 💕

People said Nanny and John got banned during Omicron. Not sure if that's true. There was one from very far away who I think from the style and timing stayed much longer.

I think they did get banned but came back with a totally original UN, John&Nanny perhaps. I can't remember exactly. Then when the expected Christmas 2021 lockdown never materialised they seem to vanish overnight and I've never seen the words baked in appear in posts since.

NannyAndJohn actually did pop up again under a variation of the same name to doom-monger about monkeypox. Seems to have gone again now.

I’ve just searched for some of N&J’s old posts.
I found one (which I challenged) that stated that once your eldest is 18 years old, they should leave home, and find their own place so not to expose the rest of the family to covid 😂

That poster went to reddit. They claimed on reddit that they had been banned from here. They were still posting the same nonsense "i'm afraid..." bullshit over on R as recently as last year.

He/She also suggested that "key workers" should all be housed together, away from their homes and families, in some sort of 'centre'. So that they could just go to work and "stop the spread". Not as many people as you'd expect disagreed.

Lol. On the motorway?

I know a couple who still wear masks in their car. They also still only have socially distanced coffee mornings on their drive with the other residents in their cul-de-sac.
Their neighbourhood seems to be stuck in 2020.

I honestly believe that the pandemic exposed an awful lot of undiagnosed mental illness.

And caused more

This was toward the end of the pandemic when there were “test runs” of football stadiums packing in thousands of people. I had posted asking for advice on my conscience if I should let my very lonely SEN child who was struggling hugely, to his friends house to play for an afternoon (after they had been to school all day together). We had followed all rules prior.

I’ll never forget the very nasty poster who berated me, called me selfish, labelled me “anti science” (batshit!) and a host of other things; she was OTT awful and I avoid all threads I see her on now. Although most likely she’s name changed since.

Yep 5 minutes on an A or B road or a motorway is still 5 minutes in a car. Not sure if time takes longer on a motorway or if there is a vortex maybe that changes time when you go on a different road? Same applies!

Not exposed - caused. Their brains were not ill and just waiting to click. Mental health issues are a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. Such as this.

I think what really scared me was how people believed “the science” which when held up to the light of day made absolutely no sense.

Examples:

• The PP who went to the baby class and only the leaders were able to sing
• Don’t wear masks>wear masks>masks protect you from them>masks protect them from you … (don’t even get me started on the bacteria and grunge growing inside the average mask that was just rolled up up and shoved in a purse or car glove box 🤢)
• Don’t go to the doctor to avoid an illness you have a 99% + survival rate from to get that illness diagnosed that you have 50% survival rate from
• stand 6’/2m apart (like where did that come from?)
• Every masking rule…
• Gyms- didn’t have to wear a mask while exercising but did walking between machines. Apparently you couldn’t spread or catch Covid while you are on the elliptical machine but walking to the free weights …woah watch out Typhoid Mary.
• ‘flying… Half my Covid flights were mask free because of the great and powerful air exchange on airplanes then suddenly we needed a mask to keep us safe, right up until the airplanes air exchange was good enough again to protect us🤨

Of course when someone would point out the flaws in these rules they’d be shouted down with “tRUstThEScIENcE!1”. The mind boggles

Sounds ridiculous now but at the time no one knew - it was a new virus with large numbers being admitted to hospitals who had insufficient beds and ventilators.

Nope… that line doesn’t work anymore 🤣

It sounded ridiculous then too. 🤪

Wouldn’t say that if you were a doctor like DH working on a Covid ward fighting to keep patients alive and failing daily.

Unfortunately it also affected him hugely and will never forget what he saw.

Maybe for most? But I still believe there were plenty who always had a deeply vicious/disturbed streak and the pandemic allowed them to give it free reign.

The rules around giving birth as well were absolutely nonsensical and at times downright cruel. I gave birth in 2022 and covid restrictions were still in place in hospital. I had to take a covid test before giving birth and was told if I was positive, my husband who was covid free would not be permitted to attend the birth of his child, but my mum or best friend from a seperate household could be called in to attend. Thankfully I didn't have covid but I still don't understand the rationale behind this.

I didn't have to wear a mask in labour or when I was wheeled through to theatre, but had one stuck on me shortly after giving birth as I was wheeled through the 2 min journey to recovery.

Just stop… My DH was a paramedic assigned to the Covid ambulance. He thought it was ridiculous too.

@mumofoneAlonebutokay these type of posts were all over MN at the time. Someone would ask an innocuous question or express an opinion (it didn’t even have to be related to Covid in any way) and every family member of an NHS front line Covid ward would crawl out of the woodwork.

I regret starting this thread 😅

It was supposed to be lighthearted as I could picture a frazzled woman telling someone '... well, just put butter in your coffee!'

Its all got a bit dark and sad.

I think that was inevitable.
The people who were pro-mask are never going to agree with the people who were anti-mask. Etc. Etc.

There's a lot of unresolved conflict over the pandemic.

Yeah, I agree, i wouldn't start another one like it

This! The amount of people baking bread in their enormous kitchen of their fancy two up/two down with children playing in a garden the size of a football pitch berating others with 'how hard is it to stay indoors!?' Erm...

Nah it’s been more lighthearted and funny than most!

And has brought up some truly funny memories. (Like hedge dad!)