How will you behave after lockdown ends?

[Crazydiamond106]

I’ve been thinking about the profound effect lockdown / fear has had on (most) people’s behaviour. For example..me and my husband went from being very relaxed before lockdown began and thinking the media was over-hyping everything, to washing down the shopping and crossing the road to keep a distance from people on our walks.

When lockdown ends / is relaxed will we all just go back to normal, despite the risk still being there? We have a 3 month old baby and I guess I was thinking we’ll be going from actively keeping 2 metres away from people straight back to family and friends hugging and kissing within a day...but we’ve had that fear and change of mentality the past few weeks. It seems like it will be a strange transition!

Will you go back to your old life completely or be more cautious and avoid certain situations? It’s a tough one as we have to carry on to some extent if a vaccine is 1+ years away and when everyone’s back at school and work I guess any other distancing is futile.

[TheThingWithFeathers]

I will go to see family and friends as soon as I can but will still be cautious. My family are not huggers anyway! I've been sticking to one supermarket for shopping so might vary that and start going to different shops again.
But I can't see myself getting on a plane or going to the theatre for a very long time.

[WTFdidwedo]

I'm not sure that this tightening and loosening could realistically happen from a business perspective. If the restaurant I manage reopens it will need to either reopen for good or not at all. There's a lot of work involved in ensuring staffing pars and stock control are correct and this would be almost impossible if we were told to open for three weeks then told to close again. We can't furlough indefinitely so we would either need to lay people off for good or not.

[NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite]

When I read some speculation that coffee shops and hairdressers might open first, my immediate thought was that I wouldn't be using them.

I used to go every Sunday morning to a coffee shop before food shopping and then going to a pub for lunch. I go to the hairdressers every 6 weeks.

Now I can't honestly see me living very much differently to how I am at present. I'm going to be saving a lot more money.

[lazylinguist]

Back to normal for me, I think, but with careful handwashing, hand gel etc. I would never try to minimise the enormity of the impact of coronavirus on society and the world at large, but the fatal risk on an individual level is really very very small unless you are in a high-risk group. Most of us do things every day in normal life that carry a significant risk (driving, crossing roads, smoking, drinking etc). I follow the guidelines and will continue to do so - if lockdown ends I won't continue lockdown procedures.

[Yogawoogie]

I think it will be a very long time until I go back to feeling as safe as I did before lockdown.
I didn’t go out/socialise much anyway, I’m a bit of a hermit.
We were on holiday when everywhere started lock down and I can’t see us going abroad for a couple of years now. I’m grateful that we had that holiday and made the most out of relaxing on the beach.

[Remmy123]

I'll do what I did before all of this, I'll just wash my hands more. No mask, gloves etc .. just live my life not afraid. Could get knocked over by a bus, could get cancer and die, could have a heart attack ., who knows but live your life!!

[FaFoutis]

I would be straight back to normal, my way of thinking hasn't changed at all. My problem will be remembering that other people feel the need to behave differently so adjusting to that.

[Sosadandempty]

I think we have been so traumatised by all of this that I will find it difficult not to carry on as we are now with all the social distancing etc...

[LilacTree1]

WTF “ If the restaurant I manage reopens it will need to either reopen for good or not at all.“

I think this applies to a lot of businesses.

[BadlyAgedMemes]

I'm honestly worried that this will cause a resurgence of my social/agoraphobia. I'm starting to find it hard to go into the garden now, or to but the rubbish in the bin, and haven't been able to go out for the Thursday night clapping. It's nothing to do with any reasonable fear of getting sick. Just anxiety. I worry I'll have a hard time getting back to normal.

[Enchantmentz]

We are home bodies but if lockdown is lifted and the sun is shining will take dc to St Andrews beach and meet up with friends in the city park. Her dgp will want to get their hands on her too so she will do a stint there. She hasn't seen dgp since febuary.

[ladybee28]

@WTFdidwedo I hear you.

What this guy was saying was that those kinds of businesses would have to operate at a low capacity - diners at 6 feet apart, for example. Which sounds utterly nuts, but at least would allow for some continuity of service.

And I think actually a lot of businesses may have to shift like that –public transport, hairdressers, shopping centres...

Here's the link to what I was listening to, if it's of interest: www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/podcasts/the-daily/coronavirus-how-long-lockdowns.html

[WTFdidwedo]

Yes that's my point Lilac lots of people seem to be speculating whether we could reopen businesses then close them again but I really don't think that would happen.

[P1nkHeartLovesCake]

Well soon as my favourite restaurant is open I’m there! Mil will babysit and me and DH will enjoy a night out with good food & a couple of bottles of wine! ( the tables are spaced well in this restaurant so social distancing should be ok)

First sunny day I want the beach

I’d meet for coffee with my non vulnerable friends

My dc aren’t at school yet so I’m glad I won’t have to make the call of if I send them or not. I will however avoid places like soft play ( not that I believe they will open for a while yet) because dc are let’s face it germ ridden monsters and that makes soft play a bit grim

I still won’t be risking seeing my friend who are vulnerable or have vulnerable dc.
I won’t be able to see my parents as they retired abroad and I wouldn’t risk flying to another country until next year at the very earliest

Will keep up the hand washing but we aren’t manky in this house and practice good hygiene anyway so that’s not a change for us really.

[Users3987782375]

We have already discussed various things:

•we won’t be flying (recirculated air, no thanks) so will holiday in the UK or ferry
•no public transport, we will bike or car rather than Tube or train
•unlikely to want to be in pubs/restaurants, no idea who has prepared the food or who is coughing behind me - more home cooking/dinner parties.
•no theatre or cinema (as before) more live streaming.
•wont be using hairdressers or nail techs/masseurs/PT’s other people that are in close proximity to lots of other people without PPE. Upping my own skills, Zoom classes and FaceTime for specific interventions.
•don’t want to send children back to primary school that has families where vomiting bugs seems to be shrug shoulders moment rather than a hand hygiene lightbulb - even my 7 year old is disgusted by the number of people who don’t wash their hands after using the toilet. Thinking about homeschooling.
•won’t be shopping in shopping malls/centres.

And I know lots of people will think I’m OTT but as an asthmatic with children to protect and none of the scientists having long term data on this virus, I like being able to breathe and can only control my own behaviour.

[nuitdesetoiles]

I will try to do as normal as possible. And go to bars, restaurants and theatres when they reopen. Hopefully abroad somewhere too within a reasonable time frame.


Very fortunate whole family is in a low risk group. I will be trying to use local shops like the greengrocer and swerving the supermarket as much as possible.

Im hoping my employer will realise the pointlessness and futility of all the commuting and travelling we did previously and promote home working where they can.

I also hope some of the fitness classes I've been doing will continue online, I've realised although I love yoga, barre and pilates the reason I don't go is the faff of getting to them and messing about in a changing room/making pointless small talk.

I'm going to be pruning my social circle been a relief not to see some people.I'll try to keep on top of my garden....prior to this was totally neglected!!

[Actionhasmagic]

We will continue to stay at home mostly and only go out if really necessary

[choosecan]

I'll be more open to everyone. Friendlier. Help when I see someone in need. No need to fear. I think living in fear is the only thing to fear.

[timeforawine]

I'll go back to normal. I'm not very touchy so rarely hug anyone, i wash my hands a lot anyway, i wipe down the gym equipment before use anyway and we only shop once a week in a small market town.
I work in a city for a very large company so i think the only change will be them not letting us back into the office for quite some time to be safe.
My daughter will go back to nursery when she's allowed, small nursery in a small town.
When it comes to beaches/hotel pools i like to sit away from others anyway so social distancing is something i practice anyway 😄

[puffinandkoala]

Family a low risk group but not massively sociable anyway so not worried about not going to pubs etc. I am due a birthday meal but maybe we can go somewhere where you can sit outside.

I work from home anyway, DH needs to go into office on occasion, but he could potentially get train at non busy times and do long walk instead of getting tube. He could just go in one day a week to start with.

I am not a big shopper, I was already trying not to buy new, so I buy clothes from ebay.

I used to swim once a week, not sure when that will resume!

[TheGinGenie]

I'll be back to normal as much as possible. I am following all the rules and will continue to do so but I don't think this will have a big impact on my lifestyle once we've cracked it

[RingtheBells]

Back to normal for some things like shopping and going out but exercising care. I won’t be going abroad on holiday for ages though as I would worry about getting stuck there or catching it abroad and insurance wouldn’t give proper cover as CV would be excluded.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

I'll be at the front of the queue for the hairdressers - I'm hoping people are cautious so I can get an appointment. I'm happy to carry on doing my own nails but there's no way I can cut my own hair.

I'll probably avoid theatres and concerts for a while, but I've been doing my best to keep our local Indian going with takeaways so I'll be back there when it opens.

[WanderingMilly]

I shall be cautious. Desperately want to visit friends and family and go out for coffee, but will keep my distance. Keep shopping down to a minimum, probably carry on wearing gloves when out, washing hands, sanitising shopping.

Also want to give up my job...probably will do that too!

[MinesaPinot]

We will be going back to normal within guidelines at the time. Can see work encouraging more WFH so possibly that might be a change but am looking forward to travel, seeing family and friends, just being able to walk up the road for a pint. We'd already been using our local village shops and farm shops with a trip to Aldi every couple of weeks for groceries.