So, when was the last time ...

[BrexpatInSwitzerland]

... that you have met a friend in person?
A family member?
A work colleague?
An acquaintance?

... and when have you last touched another human?

... and does it bother you?

FWIW, for me personally, it's "not since February" to the first four. "Last touched" was literally a client of mine the day before "no handshakes" stopped being a joke and reality hit hard.

And, yes, it bothers me! So much so that I'm sometimes wondering if I live in a computer simulation or some "Truman Show - NEW!!! Now with a global pandemic!" tag line. Or if I'm the last human alive and our hyper-intelligent lizard overlords get some sort of benefit from me believing there are still others.

(And, no, of course this is not what I genuinely believe - but being on your own for over 2 months results in a lot of time to ponder utterly pointless questions.)

...

So, out of sheer curiosity and/or boredom: what about you?

A family member? outside my household, before lockdown
A work colleague? Today
An acquaintance? before lockdown

... and when have you last touched another human? besides my household, today. A six year old was crying, I put my arm around him.

About 10 minutes ago. I work with friends.

Should add I'm a teacher, it wasn't a random six year old

1. beginning of March (excluding colleagues). We’ve opened the window to say hi to kids friends walking past the end of the front garden - so several metres away.
2. Beginning of March
3. the other day (nurse)
4. regularly at work I guess
5. I don’t touch colleagues but touch the patients (children) all the time at work. With gloves though of course.

It bothers me in that I miss my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews and my ‘hobby’ (sorry MN hobby haters ) but I’m a bit of an introvert and actually it doesn’t bother me hugely. I think it helps that me and dh are both working so there’s a lot of normality here although of course it’s worrying thinking we could be/ are exposing ourselves to covid at work.

It must be so tough being on your own. There are 5 of us in the house, so I can still get cuddles from my family which helps enormously.
Other than them, the only two people I have seen in the flesh since mid March is our postman and a nurse who gave me an injection at the GP.

friend - I see my best friend at a distance every time I drop off her shopping (every week)
work colleague - not since beginning March
aquaintance - I have to go to the shops, and I have seen neighbours and school mums etc. I also see nieghbours at 8 pm thursday.

hug - I live with dh and 3 kids, so about 2 hours ago when dd asked for a neck massage!

Family: I live with my immediate family and others live in another country, so New Years Eve for outside my household.
Work colleague (employee): I spoke to the guy who came to take care of my pool yesterday.
Acquaintance: ran into one in the shop about three weeks ago. We chatted about ten feet apart for a few minutes.
Touched: hugged my teenagers yesterday.

I'm not a touchy feely person at the best of times. I do have a virtual coffee morning three times a week with several friends and also online yoga, pilates and personal training. So still feel in touch with people. In fact a few friends that I don't see often at all have reached out.

... that you have met a friend in person?
Bumped into a friend whilst dog walking yesterday. We had a socially distanced chat for a couple of minutes.

A family member?
Sunday when I dropped my dads shopping round.

A work colleague?
I work from home anyway, so not since about December.

An acquaintance? Just now I saw my neighbour whilst putting out the bin.

... and when have you last touched another human?
Other than my 14yo son that I live with, probably not since February.

... and does it bother you?
It bothers me that I can’t have my dad round for dinner, or meet my friend for lunch once a week. I’m not the most sociable person at the best of times though, so it’s not bothering me as much as I thought it would.

It must be so tough being on your own. There are 5 of us in the house, so I can still get cuddles from my family which helps enormously.

I've been wondering about that. I.e. if it's better or worse to be stuck without your family.

I've a DD (4) who normally lives with me but is with her dad at the moment and, all things considered, is better off and hence staying with him, his wife and her half-siblings for the time being.

And while I can't imagine getting sick and tired of my own child if she were here (annoying though she can be), I think I've yet to meet a bloke whom I wouldn't have attempted to murder and bury under the patio at this point ...

I saw a family member on 1st Jan, other than that the answer to them all is last year

I have DS so get hugs from him daily.

Last time I saw friends and family was the weekend before lockdown. Last time I saw colleagues was the end of March.

definitely better being with family.

really glad I am with dh. We both work from home anyway, so used to being round each other. Not that I don't wish for a few days on my own right now, but that is also because I am very busy, working and getting teens to do work.

My heart really goes out to anyone who has had no physical contact for weeks.

My heart really goes out to anyone who has had no physical contact for weeks.

Yup. Can confirm that it's pretty crap. And starts to get to you after a while, even if you think you're coping.

How do I know? I've been dreaming that I was sharing loving hugs with my fucking boss! Now, I'm lucky to have a brilliant boss. Also, we are (well, used to be ... who knows now) on "air kisses as a greeting" terms. But he's still my 12 years my senior, love him but not that way, don't find him physically attractive, also I like his wife a lot, boss.

You know your brain is fucking with you when it makes you do that in your dreams.

Family member: my mum dropped something g off about an hour ago and said hello from the end of our drive. She only literally said hello though 😂

Friends: the weekend before lockdown.

Acquaintance: we’ve seen a few people we know on our walks, which isn’t surprising as we live by the sea so everyone walks in the same places. We’ve only said hello from a distance though.

Work colleagues: the Wednesday before lockdown.

Last touched another person: (outside of the immediate family) I guess a child I worked with on the Tuesday before lockdown (as part of my job, I’m not some weirdo!).

Do I care: no, I do not like to be touched at the best of times. I’m hoping that the legacy of all this will be the death of hugging and kissing people that’s aren’t immediate family 😂

Friend - yesterday,, did some volunteering together

Family member (that I don’t live with) - Sunday, I visited my elderly parents (stayed in the garden).

Work colleague - last week, I live quite near a few work colleagues and meet occasionally on walks

Acquaintance- met two this morning in the supermarket.

Hugs - I am not a hugger by nature so that is the one positive thing about this situation

I haven't seen a work colleague in person since 19 March - have had a few chats on Teams though.

I live with my DH and DC so get lots of hugs etc. But I haven't seen my parents since 20 Feb as they were isolating before lockdown.

Saw some friends to shout hello at while out on a family bike ride on Sunday.

... that you have met a friend in person?

17 March - met a friend who lives nearby for a walk

A family member?

20 March

A work colleague?

25 March

An acquaintance?

Don’t remember

... and when have you last touched another human?

I live with my husband, so not really an issue for me.

... and does it bother you?

Yes, very much. I miss my family terribly.

Met a friend - last week a friend dropped some stuff off and I spoke her through the window. Also been shopping for (older) friends down the road, so I spoke to them (2m away) when I last dropped off their shopping on Saturday.
A family member? January maybe? I don't remember... DH's family were meant to visit over the Easter weekend :(
A work colleague? we started WFH a week before lockdown, so about the 12th April.
An acquaintance? when we met our new tenants to give them the keys to our house, just a couple of days before lockdown!

Touched another human DH thankfully - glad to have him here, even though he's very annoying wfh (likes loud music lol)

My husband and children live with me and I am lucky that family are all close by. I see my parents who live a few doors away about twice a week when I drop off their shopping - from a safe distance! I see my inlaws once a week when I drop off their shopping - again from a safe distance! I had a chat with my brother a few days ago, he was in his front garden as I was driving home from the shops so I stopped for a quick chat - me in the car, him in his front garden.
Met a school mum friends in Lidl last week and we had a chat in the car park. I see various neighbours regularly and we exchange a few words.

Friend - end of March, plans to meet up with a different friend in a couple of weeks
Family member- today
Colleague ages ago (have been of a period of leave)
Acquaintance - ran into one the weekend before lockdown
Touched - I’m married with children so constantly
I was all alone for the first time since February today. It was fantastic!

My heart really goes out to anyone who has had no physical contact for weeks.

Weeks is nothing. Probably four months for me.

friend - 7 March
Went out for a meal with friends. We went into self isolation on the 15th March as DD had a cough. We saw DD's boyfriend - from a social distancing point of view on the birthday on 5 April when he dropped of a birthday present for her 18th.

A family member - 9 April

MIL moved in with us, for the lockdown duration, on 28th March (delayed as needed to wit til out of 14 day self isolation to be safe); she moved in as FIL was serious ill in hospital. Other than that it has been BIL on 1 April as he came and stayed her the day their dad died, then we saw BIL, SIL and nieces (with social distancing) at FIL's funeral on 9 April.

work colleague today
Last time I was at work proper was 16 March then sent home to self isolate. I am not allowed on the school rota due to my own health condition but I popped in to drop some stuff off today so saw 4 work colleagues earlier this afternoon.

acquaintance - 25 April

Seen people we know from a distance on our walks every so often. Thank last time we spotted someone we knew was last weekend.

last touched another human today

Dh and DD today, this afternoon

During this lockdown I have some days where I am perfectly fine and other days were I feel pretty down and fed up. I want to visit my parents and also my sister and nephew who all live about 3 hours away. My nana is seriously ill in hospital and not being able to give my mum a hug about it is pretty rubbish. Having a funeral with only immediate family for FIL is not great. Their close friends and neighbours all took their daily walks at the time they knew the funeral cars would be leaving the house and stood in silence, spaced apart down the road. That was lovely but very emotional, knowing they would have been there properly if they could. Work wise I would much rather be at work with the children in normal circumstances - and because Id be working less hours than I am currently doing!

But overall I am lucky - I have dh who sits opposite me each day as we both work from home, and I have an 18y DD who is just getting on with it and keeping her nana company each afternoon as they work their way through the films on Disney Plus , Netflix and Sky!

A friend in person?
A couple of days ago.

A family member?
November.

A work colleague?
Last week.

An acquaintance?
This morning

... and when have you last touched another human?
A few minutes ago.

... and does it bother you?
A little. Those interactions (apart from the last) haven't been as frequent, intense, or as casual since this started.

A friend - early March
Family member - mid February, I’m a 3 hour drive away from parents and siblings and delayed a visit in early March as I wasn’t well. Then lockdown happened and my parents are both shielded.
Colleague - mid March, last day in the office was 12th
Acquaintance - mid March I guess, I’m only going out to shop and run very early in the morning and so far haven’t bumped into anyone I know. Or does my neighbour count at the clap?
Touch - I live with my partner so today
Does it bother me - not being able to see my family really does, the rest I can handle so far.

OP I live alone too, only physical contact with another living being in 6 weeks is my cat

Yes it bothers me, very much. I miss my BF and would find lockdown much easier if we were together. Solitary confinement is is a cruel punishment.