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Original poster

Still in shock

291 replies

KayEngel · 13/07/2020 18:45

Is it just me? I still can't quite believe what has happened and is still going to happen for the foreseeable. I've stopped going out, not because I'm worried about getting Covid, but because the whole face mask, social distancing, queuing, booking ahead, craziness is just too upsetting.

OP posts:
randomer · 13/07/2020 20:53

@Senga, harsh though it is, I agree with your post.

Napqueen1234 · 13/07/2020 20:53

Completely understand how you feel but I do think it’s important that we start living life a bit so the ‘new normal’ is bearable. My DDs are in nursery, we go to the park and meet friends for distanced picnics, me and DH went for a date night of dinner and drinks the other day and we have been going to friends houses for tea. All safely, distanced and within the rules but it’s been fun. Socialising, going out, enjoying life. Life with v small kids is rarely spontaneous so I suppose that doesn’t affect us as much. But you are now allowed within reason to ‘potter’ around non essential shops and to socialise. If we continue with self imposed restrictions then life will be miserable. I miss the old way of life but trying to be as positive as possible.

beatrixpotterspencil · 13/07/2020 20:54

@TwentyViginti

With any luck Philip Green will be destitute

Ah! a silver lining!

he really is a colossal cunt.
SengaStrawberry · 13/07/2020 20:54

Honestly this won’t be it. There will be a vaccine or it will fall back so outbreaks can be contained. All the respected scientists have said that the virus will be defeated and it will come to an end. Right now we don’t know when but it will. All other pandemics came to an end at some point and normal life came back. It will after this too. We’ll have gigs and clubs and crowded places and all the fun we enjoyed again. We will x

VerbenaGirl · 13/07/2020 20:55

No, it’s not just you. Like another poster mentioned, it is a bit like grief - that so many of the nice things in life that have just dissipated.

AmICrazyorWhat2 · 13/07/2020 20:58

Things are crappy atm, but I'm trying to appreciate that other people in the world endure lives FAR worse than I have. I've never lived in a war zone or wondered where my next meal is coming from. I can't imagine how frightening the pandemic must be for people living in poverty in second or third-world countries without access to proper medical treatment.

We'll get through this and out the other side. Perhaps it'll make us realise that we shouldn't take our first world privileges/freedoms for granted? Probably not!

99victoria · 13/07/2020 20:59

I don't understand why people are saying that their social lives are gone and there is no normality anymore. I am not a fan of masks but if required I will wear one in shops. I don't really go into shops much - my OH still goes once a week for food and I've been to the pharmacy and the off-licence.

I am mixing regularly with my family, looking after my grand-children and so not social distancing with them. I am also seeing lots of friends. We can meet outside in the garden or at a country pub and there is no need to wear a mask. I have something in my diary for every day this week. Today I took a friend out in my car (with the top down to get rid of all the covidness) and we had a walk and some lunch at a lovely little outside cafe where everything seemed normal. Tomorrow I am meeting another friend and later in the week I am going for a reflexology appointment. All this is perfectly achievable within the current guidelines and without wearing a mask. Yes, I should be on holiday in Greece at the moment, but apart from that, I am making the most of the summer with my friends and family as I would normally do

SengaStrawberry · 13/07/2020 20:59

I think I’ve gone through the initial grief stages and moved onto acceptance. A lot of shit happened to us as a family early on so I’ve had a while to have to adapt to that along with the shit that befell us all collectively x

GabsAlot · 13/07/2020 20:59

at first every day i felt panicky but now i feel life has to go on-we can take precautions of course but you cant just lock yourself away forever

JassyRadlett · 13/07/2020 21:00

@SengaStrawberry Thank you for being a total voice of reason and sanity.

We do have choices here - to focus on how different this is from normal, and how much we wish normal was back, or find the small improvements and good moments and make the most of them.

I went shopping - not for food, not for essentials or something that I knew exactly what I needed - for the first time since lockdown yesterday. And yes it was weird, and a bit tiring (masks make me quite tired quite quickly.) But! I impulse bought a few small things. I sat and had a coffee in a cafe. I chatted to people at the tills and enjoyed the small interactions.

Is it normal? No. Is it better than not being able to do those things? Yes.

Things are better than they were. And that will keep happening. It’s so hard not knowing when, or how, especially for those of us with family in other countries separated by strict border controls.

But it will keep getting better.

zen1 · 13/07/2020 21:00

I feel like I’m stuck in a dystopian nightmare. Can’t believe it’s only taken four months for things to change so drastically. What I’m worried about is the “new normal” becoming normal even if Covid goes away (by whatever means) and people will accept control more easily.

Mascotte · 13/07/2020 21:01

It's all shite here in Scotland but as long as you're enjoying yourself @99victoria I don't k is gray I'm worrying about

Mascotte · 13/07/2020 21:01

Know

TellingBone · 13/07/2020 21:02

This situation has given us some very limited insight into what our parents, grandparents, great grandparents might have experienced in wartime. Can you imagine? Only newspapers and radio for news, lack of many food and goods, the blackout, not knowing whether relatives were alive or dead, thinking at any time a bomb might drop on one, not knowing how long it would go on for, thinking that we might be ruled by another country at the end of it all.

It must have been a thousand times worse than this. It's shit. It could be much worse.

rainbowstardrops · 13/07/2020 21:02

I honestly don't know what to think anymore if I'm honest. One thing I read says it's all hype and then another says it's still rampant ......
I work in a school and have been working from home since March, partly because I'm in the vulnerable category.
I had to go into school today to pick some things up because I'm going back to be in a yr2 transmission pod next week and apart from the different 'pods', there was absolutely no social distancing or any kind or precautions!
So I've just pretty much stayed away from everyone else since March and yet next week and in September, it's all 'back to normal people'!!!
I honestly don't know what to think

rainbowstardrops · 13/07/2020 21:03

I honestly don't know what to think anymore if I'm honest. One thing I read says it's all hype and then another says it's still rampant ......
I work in a school and have been working from home since March, partly because I'm in the vulnerable category.
I had to go into school today to pick some things up because I'm going back to be in a yr2 transmission pod next week and apart from the different 'pods', there was absolutely no social distancing or any kind or precautions!
So I've just pretty much stayed away from everyone else since March and yet next week and in September, it's all 'back to normal people'!!!
I honestly don't know what to think

AnyFucker · 13/07/2020 21:03

It's not just about masks though, is it ?

Notfeelinggreattoday · 13/07/2020 21:03

Yes agree , nothing is normal and i dont like the so called new normal .
I cant enjoy my life at present and just hope we can get back to the real normal as soon as possible , but unfortunately its not looking like that for a long time

annabel85 · 13/07/2020 21:05

@SengaStrawberry

Honestly this won’t be it. There will be a vaccine or it will fall back so outbreaks can be contained. All the respected scientists have said that the virus will be defeated and it will come to an end. Right now we don’t know when but it will. All other pandemics came to an end at some point and normal life came back. It will after this too. We’ll have gigs and clubs and crowded places and all the fun we enjoyed again. We will x
Yes, it'll come to an end eventually but the repercussions will be vast with the economy for a long time and many businesses will close.
IAintentDead · 13/07/2020 21:05

[quote AmelieTaylor]@IAintentDead

They do make a difference when (almost) everyone wears them.

Do you need pictures?![/quote]
Nope - replace masks with wire fencing and breath with sand you will get a more realistic result.

I've seen the evidence I need, have you?

DuineArBith · 13/07/2020 21:05

@Spinakker

I know how you feel. I've felt panicky today as well about the "new normal" but now I've just seen the news that only 11 people have died from Covid today. Let's just hope things will continue to improve.
That's one of the things that worries me. If there were, say, a terrorist atrocity or train crash in which eleven people died, it would be massive headline news. Yet we've been conditioned to think that that number of deaths is relatively trivial.
CountreeGurl · 13/07/2020 21:06

I imagine it's like living through a World War, having to quickly adjust to fear and restrictions. But ultimately it will end. It would have ended a lot quicker had we not had the highest rate in Europe. Some countries are back to normal already

TwentyViginti · 13/07/2020 21:07

he really is a colossal cunt

Nah, he lacks the warmth and depth Grin

SengaStrawberry · 13/07/2020 21:12

@annabel85 having lost my own job I’m only too well aware of that.

Mascotte · 13/07/2020 21:13

But many more people than eleven die of other illnesses every day!