Sad that the pandemic didn't make us better

[Pennyforyourthoughtsplease]

Those first few weeks were terrifying, but we made it through. Many worse off. Isn't it sad that coming through a global pandemic, we didn't become kinder, more appreciative and less materialistic; realising what really matters. If anything, I've noticed a significant shift these last few years where people have become more selfish and entitled. What happened?!

People sacrificed so much during lockdowns that they are on a lifetime mission now not to let anything stand in their way of maximising their own enjoyment in life.

It was a huge relief when the performative mask wearing stopped - thank god it didn’t “catch on”.

Colds and viruses are part of life we can’t live entirely sanitised Iives - and to do so actually had a negative impact on most people’s immune systems.

Christ the wine in the sunshine in the garden was one of the few joys at the time. What country was this?😳

Sorry just seen, Thailand

💯 agree - i do wander if the money we spent on all of that shit, the ad campaigns the bodged PPE- if that had gone into fixing some of the mainly problems our society has if we would be in a better place.

Or funded some decent sick pay even.

Humans gonna human

Boris' locksown parties brought home to me that politicians hold the public in contempt. Trust was broken

This definitely resonates, while didn't experience to @TorturedParentsDepartment level, it was evident even on here, that children and how they were impacted meant nothing to so many, who were self important with their 'I AM VULNERABLE!! ONLY I MATTER!! CHILDREN SHOULD.NOT BE ALLOWED OUT IN PUBLIC AT ALL FOUL DISEASE CARRIERS!!!' and in the next breath would be expecting 'their village' to shop for them, collect prescriptions etc...
Always remember the poster on here who gave the advice a mum should isolate their 8 yo for the required period by locking them in their room, and leaving food outside the door on disposable plates...

I do think people were emboldened to break rules and to take advantage of favourable circumstances brought about by the pandemic; I have many acquaintances who were able to apply for and massively benefit from business loans and funding for the most oblique and tangential reasons, yet the absolutely believe they deserved it as it was there for the taking. Others very much took the mickey with furlough, and, again, believe this was justified and 'fair game'.
The culture around work really split society, creating cohorts of people who now think it's reasonable to be on the take (and justify their thinking because of the government's poor behaviour and management, forgetting that they really weren't shafting the government -who wouldn't give two hoots- but society), and others who feel they were severely let down and taken advantage of.

How on earth could two years of social restrictions enhance being community minded and thinking of others???

People did comply in the most part. Due to successful behaviour change messaging.

It was shite though to be under it so obviously most will bounce out of it and not want to continue being suppressed for a virus (that didn’t impact everyone that badly).

Even before COVID I've always noticed that regular and meaningful contact with others as part of a community makes me a better person when interacting with others. Feeling isolated from community makes me more selfish.

I'm not in the UK and often see people in the supermarket or out and about wearing a mask. Before Covid the only people who wore masks were Asian, but there seems to have been a shift since then.

I will say that the period made me even more invested in my immediate community and loved ones. However, much of that is because I live in a community where people stopped strict adherence very early, and also in my family we decided that our children and relationships would not be collateral. It was like we were looking out for ourselves, but I was lucky to have a wider 'us' and 'we' than most.

That was a real privilege though. Which is ironic because the area is... not usually viewed as such!

Why would the idea it would make anything better be an idea in the first place? I never assumed it would do anything, I dont get the idea of making a blanket statement about a collective group of people then acting surprised they don't do what you have decided

People dont all have the one controllable brain

💯 this.
Not everyone spent the lockdowns sat at home on furlough, banging pans and perfecting their sourdough.
I was on building sites with no social distancing, sharing fingerprint scanners with dozens of others. I then went home to my dc and we were not allowed to sit on a park bench when out for our permitted 1 hour of outdoor excercise. The rules felt ridiculous to me, and the effects will be felt for decades.

So let me get this right @Orangeandpurpletulips

A cultural expectation of mask wearing, which is what would happen if it caught on sufficiently, fucks over people who struggle to wear them.

So you would rather that more people caught colds and flu, to make up for your social discomfort in being expected to wear a mask?

yeah that kind of sums up to me the weirdness of this country I was born in and live in.

2025 and people are still arguing about masks.

What Covid reminded me about a lot of British people (yes I am British) is how absolutely obstinate we are.

We have a teenage mentality to public life. We want to rebel against anything that looks like being asked to confirm. We are waiting for our politicians to fail us so we can blame everything on them in a fit of anger, and not have to make our own good choices.

It is also reflected in our newspapers, which instead of having a good clear debate about an issue, is instead looking for the salacious stuff, the sensational, and then to tell it in a childlike and provocative way to evoke as much emotion as possible.

It is why we will FOREVER have people on here saying how they couldn't see their aunt so they will forever despise the vaccine takers and mask wearers because they went along with the regime that enforced lockdowns.

So much of Britain is a venal society.

Natalie HAS to have enough money for her two holidays a year, and her Kia Sportage at £350 / month so that Evie-Mae can get to her "activities".

Anything which gets in the way of that is considered an abrogation of human rights.

Your post is a potent combination of supercilious and stupid.

The first point to make is that I'm not talking about myself, which is why there was no 'I' in that sentence. This is because I'm not one of those who'd be fucked over. Mask wearing was never a problem for me. Also if it had been, I'd have been fine to fuck it off with impunity, because I'm not the sort of easy target that mask bullies liked to have a go at during the pandemic. I also don't have a chronic condition that makes me cough, so nobody would be entitled enough to think I should wear a mask basically all the time in public to make them feel better. But such people exist, even though you don't think they're worth mentioning.

Naturally, the total lack of fucks you give about any of the people who would struggle with means the attempt at the moral high ground is laughable. As I said, you're not morally better for prioritising one group over others. Don't delude yourself.

I think as long as @Orangeandpurpletulips isn't doing as was oft seen on here "I can't wear a mask, but everyone else needs to, to protect ME!" that's fine.

Not to worry, not only did I observe all mask rules for the whole of the period, I also wasn't one of those who decided that what other people had on their faces was my business!

Pretty thick of @JacquesHarlow to presume I was talking about myself there really, but it says a lot when someone thinks the only way anyone could have a concern about people with a particular vulnerability if they happen to be one of them.

This is an odd response tbf.

I think it's because those people who went along with solidarity, community and the Greater Good realised after a time that they had been totally exploited, shafted and despised by the cynical individualist profiteers, and they will not be so fooled again