My mum is the Coronavirus version of ‘Karen’

[Kitkatkatnap]

Attempting to convince my elderly gran to not go to one of her weekly clubs but she is refusing as my mum doesn’t think it’s ‘all that bad’.

I pointed out that many, many counties were on lock down and had banned travel, with a likely impact to their economies probably totaling billions, and that they wouldn’t do that unless it was very, very serious.

My gran says my mum says it’s a load of rubbish and those countries are all overreacting. And she knows this because ‘she’s done research on the Google’

Of course- Linda (66), a retired bank clerk from Surrey, knows more about all of this than most of the world leaders and leading scientists because of what she read on the internet

Jesus wept. You have to laugh otherwise you’d cry.

MauriceandAlec Mon 16-Mar-20 16:25:19
Why on Earth can people not go outside into their own gardens? Mine backs onto forest. I can walk to the end of it, climber of the fence (and stone wall) and be in the middle of nowhere.
..
I haven't heard that you can't go into your own garden.

I agree they don't think of themselves as elderly. One of my relatives who is 73 is saying she has nothing to worry about as she is healthy and doesn't drink or smoke.

I'm not in that bracket.

If my father was still alive I'm fairly sure he would also still be going out. As it happens he died the most lonely, brutal death imaginable, so it's far from the only way that death ends up being bad.

Its all well and good saying "If I get sick so be it" but you are putting more strain on the NHS and exposing health care workers to more cases of coronavirus.
The more patients there are the more likely HCPs are to contract the illness as workload increases and PPE stores are depleted.

I haven't heard that you can't go into your own garden.

On this thread along a poster wrote that her mother is afraid of her garden going to ruin if she has to self-isolate.

I'm not in that bracket either, and I think the tone of some of these posts is b ageist too. I hear SOME of my daughter's uni friends being equally gung-ho as anyone else - in gact the only person I know of that bracket, my dad, is being incredibly careful.

Bellyfullofbiscuits Mon 16-Mar-20 16:52:27
Why is it ageist ,I don't understand? Why do people in this bracket feel so offended,? We are trying to protect you , as you did for us ? It is only advice , you can still choose not to take it ?
......
I don't feel offended at being considered high risk at 70. It's just a fact. It makes no difference to my life, keeps me safe and means I won't infect anyone.

It's far more difficult for younger people especially those with children at home and most have jobs. I'm quite relieved to not be in that bracket and even though I am not going out or seeing anyone, I can still be of use to others.

I dont think it is ageism showing on this thread. I think on the whole people are right that older ones are not taking it as seriously as they should. Like the demographic who are so rude about Greta, generally it is the middle aged who did f all when they were young and now are so rude to younger ones who try.

(I say this as a middle-aged fart btw, who did f all about climate change in my younger days - actually I m older than middle-aged, unless I live to 110!!)

@userxx 'Karen' is a meme. knowyourmeme.com/memes/karen

Please don't join in with hideous misogynistic and ageist meme. And no, I'm not in that age bracket, it's just another way to belittle women.

This is so patronising, arrogant, ageist and bigoted.

Am I the only one who's totally shocked by the misogyny in the goodfellas clip of "Karen"? Thread derail but really why would any of us go for these sexist memes?

I think it is fairer to say that intransigence, selfishness and stupidity are straddling all generations at the moment, from young persons happily socialising, incubating and spreading, to at risk groups denying they are at risk groups and modifying their behaviours..

Rather than demonising whole demographics, it would be more constructive to focus in on the individual naysayers and work out just what will get them to comply, for all our safety.

I hope you have success in persuading your gran, kitkat.

You don't get to chose how someone else thinks

But you can ask them not to act on it. I can't believe how bloody selfish some people are. It isn't just HER life, it's the lives of other people too.

I have two family members ( different ages and generations) who yesterday attended communion at churches. One in this country- one abroad. Both drank from cups that were passed around up to 100 people. Despite continents apart the message was the same- no worries, god will save.

speakout

Jesus wept.

Literally.

We are planning to isolate from Sunday. I have a birthday lunch planned in a local restaurant (8 family members). I will be 76 and dh 83. There are 3 confirmed cases in our rural county. I may have to cancel but I hope not.

People need to start realising that older purple who catch coronavirus will not be admitted to hospital. They will not be put on ventilators. If they get pneumonia they will be cared for at home (hopefully), but there will be no medical treatment for them. Palliative care services are going to be very stretched. It's going to be shit.

The over 70s will be allowed out for walkies.

And it hasn't occurred to any of these elderly people who can bloody well live their lives as they jolly well like that if they do fall seriously ill from a contagion they might have avoided, other younger people- family, ambulance drivers, doctors, undertakers- will risk missing out on experiencing old age at all?

I agree with DeRigueurMortis,can these deniers somehow opt out of using NHS resources? Then it can be an informed choice.

My dm, 84, is meeting up with friends in M&S cafe tomorrow.

@thegreylady, cancel your lunch. Its not worth the risk.

@peakypolly they won't have to opt out of NHS services - there won't be NHS services for them.

My local sites are full of over-70s saying “like hell am I staying in my house for weeks on end”.

Meanwhile, I’m early 30s, have two primary-aged kids at school, am immunocompromised (nearly died last summer from sepsis), and can’t work from home. I have no choice.

The elderly’s desire for a pop to the shops or a pint in the local could see me dead. They can tell my kids why I couldn’t get a ventilator to try to save my life because they were already using it.

Both drank from cups that were passed around up to 100 people. Despite continents apart the message was the same- no worries, god will save
'or God will say 'come in number 9 your time is up'
things can get a bit 'old testament' when you put your fate in God's hands!