To miss the first lockdown?

[TidyOchreReader]

I know it was a tough time for many but I genuinely loved that first lockdown. I think about it all the time. There was something strangely blissful about slowing down, having fewer obligations and just focusing on connecting with people - even though we couldn’t physically see them. And when you did see someone, the gratitude was immense. AIBU to feel nostalgic for that time?

It was so positive for some, that some people actually started businesses during lockdown, and are still getting the rewards. Their business would never have exploded in a normal life scenario. And I am not talking about the masks or other lockdown specials.

So what? They are allowed to tell their stories and be grateful things turned out that way.

Also would like to add.. I started running because I could actually breathe the air as it wasn't clogs up with cars.

Not for everyone

I loved it.

I packed my bags and moved in with my mum and dad in the country rather than stay alone in London.

It was a wonderful cozy time. My dad died two years later and I will cherish that first lockdown forever. It gave me so many wonderful funny memories living together the three of us again.

All the people who were at home having a nature epiphany were only able to do it because of all the people keeping the national show on the road. That's why the OP is so insensitive. She benefitted from those who didn't have a choice but to keep plugging on whilst she enjoyed her slower pace. Navel gazing bullshit as previously mentioned.

How is it insensitive? It's just her experience.

I understand it was terrible for many but I agree, for me personally, it was a great. It made me appreciate things so much more and spending extra time with my daughter, who was 13 months at the time, was wonderful.

I know how you feel OP, I had a similar experience. I was lucky that I was on furlough, my DH could work from home, we had a garden, we didn’t have any kids to homeschool, and no one we knew died of Covid. We feel very lucky.

however even though during lockdown I suffered several miscarriages and had to deal with these on my own in hospital, I really enjoyed that pace of life.

as an introvert, the general shutting down of the country felt very calming and I felt very content.

during that time I read so many books, I exercised loads, we discovered our local area by bikes and walking.

i think because no one had any social plans you had to go back to a simple way to entertain ourselves like bike rides and walks, cooking meals and board games. We had regular zoom family chats and friends calls. For some reason all of this has stopped now and we actually speak to family and friends less. It’s sad as people have much less free time now.

It also felt like we were all in it together in a similar way to say world war 2. Obviously the war was a terrible time but some people will have fond memories of that community spirit.

obviously I’m aware that this comes from
a lucky position and most people had a horrible time. But I get what you mean OP.

Teacher here so I worked all through every lockdown. I genuinely cannot fathom how you can romanticise such an awful time. It was truly hideous and SO many people are still paying the price…
If you enjoyed that time so much, live like it! A global pandemic doesn’t have to guide you to do less and connect with people.

@Skippydoodle Indeed, it was all for what? What do we now have to show for the year and a half of lockdown trauma? Happy memories for a privileged few? Did we flatten the curve? We certainly flattened many things. Did we send the virus packing, as Saint Boris told us would happen? Did we build back better, as Saint Boris told us would happen?

Did we fuck. And many of us are now bitterly cynical, and much more aware that any government is the devil incarnate. I haven’t forgotten that the party which is now in government was one of lockdown’s biggest cheerleaders, complaining it didn’t go far enough, not voicing a shred of opposition to the harms of lockdowns, and opposing easing of restrictions at every turn.

We had a mini taste of it a few weeks ago, but it was even better, the Spanish outage. No devices, no electric...just totalling reconnecting with my teenage kids. 11 hours of bliss...once we got the BBQ food in bought with cash 😁. Reminded me of lockdown without the fear of illness 😊

YABVU. I didn’t get to slow down and smell the roses.

Standing staff down and telling gross paid freelance staff we couldn’t pay them furlough was one of the most painful things I’ve been involved with. Many lost all their savings.

My bosses were on my back to track the cost of lockdown to my project. Long days working into the evening to stay across costs were very stressful. Then a few months in, we were back in the workplace, with social distancing strictly enforced because the show must go on.

I’m not NHS staff. We owe all the doctors and nurses who went above and beyond a huge debt. They should have been given higher pay instead of vapid applause on our doorsteps.

You view and experience are entirely valid. But, more than one thing can be true at the same time.

If you enjoyed that time so much, live like it! A global pandemic doesn’t have to guide you to do less and connect with people.

This. If it was so bloody wonderful, just carry on.

I worked in Asda during the lockdown and working extra hours as they gave people who had health problems have paid time off so we were doing all their hours. I loved my wages but the abuse we took as we had to put limits on things and that was our fault. We weren't a 24 hr shop either so that was out fault. Asking people if they wanted a mask, I was infringing their lives, all they had to say was no, we couldn't challenge them but they were always mad with us about something that wasn't our choice.

What do you want them to do? Pretend they had a shit time?

No, but they could be more mindful of others distress. But then they knew that when making this post...it's designed only to ruffle feathers & it's worked.

It was alright for the first 2 weeks… then I didn’t know what to do with myself, I was furloughed. My whole routine changed in a minute. My sleep was out for whack… after we had dug up the garden ( we were mid doing this before the announcement) there was nothing to do, kids finished schoolwork pretty quickly. Everyone was stepping on each others toes. We did do our daily walks to the beach or park but it just didn’t fill the days. I was going to sleep at around 3am, waking up at 9 to sort kids out. That went on for 2 months so when I finally went back to work the first few days I was floored 😭 all I can say is thank god the weather was good and we could escape to the garden because otherwise it could have been a whole lot worse.

Well history needs to record both sides, whether you like it or not. Personal experiences are personal experiences.

Incidentally ‘slower pace of life’ is one of my most hated phrases from that period, along with ‘stay the fuck at home’, ‘support bubble’ ‘socially distanced walk’, ‘mask up’, and ‘school isn’t childcare’.

YABVU- I’m a paramedic and the effects of Covid lockdown still haunt me. And we’re still dealing with a lot of the mental health that developed from it too.

i didn’t agree with it and never will.

The effect lockdown had on my children was awful. I’ll never forgive the government for isolating our children.

Plus I’ve developed ashtma and im sure it’s due to the shoddy masks I was forced to wear that came from god knows where!

but again, the OP didn't have the choice either.

We are not talking about the royal family, who had different rules and didn't have to follow the same lockdown.

It's not insensitive to have her own experience.

Hell on earth and I pray we never have to suffer that travesty ever again. My FIL was ill with cancer and we had to creep around like criminals to visit him in case there were any neighbours who felt it their moral duty to report us to the police. He sat in his living room and we sat 10ft away from him in his conservatory. He died not long after.

Only because some posters decided to comment on a thread they knew they would find upsetting.

"missing the first lockdown" what else could you possibly expect from the OP?

YABU. I was pregnant with my youngest, clinically vulnerable and also shielding my DS who had health issues at the time. DH missed the birth of our DD. We didn’t see our family for months. There were moments of calm but the anxiety when it hit was utterly awful.