If you are upset/frustrated about restrictions, why? anyone else not bothered or become numb to it?

[grette]

I get some restrictions are a bit rubbish. Can’t travel, limited numbers to places etc.

But people saying they can’t cops? They’re upset? I don’t get it and starting to worry maybe I’ve become numb to life?

I suspect it’s because I haven’t really felt the impact of say, not seeing an elderly relative for example (none in close family anymore).

But aside from that, I’ve enjoyed working from home, the quieter roads and traffic, the limited drinking hours and even the restrictions on big groups when at dinner! I say this as an employee of the corporate world and who spent lots of time in bars and restaurants and socialising...and I enjoyed it very much but I don’t yearn for it back. Maybe I’ve forgotten what it was like? I read posts saying people are at breaking point and it just seems like a quieter way of life with small inconveniences? Am I some numb shell of who I was and have forgotten life pre covid?!

Can't visit family, no support, no toddler groups, no soft play, no theatre, no choir, no group dancing, feels like a gamble using public transport, not happy to sit inside pubs/restaurants/cafes because of aerosol spread risk, winter is looming. Yes, life has changed a lot.

People unable to visit people in care homes is very sad. The old person probably can’t understand why no one visits them. Most people I know have loved furlough and not having to commute. I think schools closing wasn’t great but had to be done. It’s more the social aspect of school that my kids missed, not the learning!

I'm suffering now tbh.

I'm in a local lockdown area and run a leisure business. Current guidelines mean I can open at 25% capacity which covers rent and bills but nothing else. I'm having to manage customers expectations and plan for next year without any knowledge of how or if my business if going to be able to operate next year.
I've worked every day since March for almost no pay and it doesn't look like I'm going to get a break any time soon.
I've had to basically pull another business model out of my arse to keep everything going and it's been really tough.

On top of this I cannot see my friends or family, there's no going for walks or lunch or cups of tea. I miss my mam and my sister and my friends.

A close relative died of cancer at the beginning of lockdown and we couldn't see her on her death bed, go to the funeral or mourn properly with the family, my mil is very very depressed and there's nothing we can do to comfort her.

I'm really tired and I just want a break and to see my family but it doesn't look like that's going to be happening this winter.

I feel like it's the lack of knowing that's squeezing the life out of me.

If the government said 'we're going to close hospitality' then I could plan for that and it be ok. But at the minute I'm having to plan for two opposing outcomes.
I'm taking bookings for next year with absolutely no idea if they're going to go ahead or not.

I'm not upset by the restrictions. But in the context that since lockdown my dad died (the first day), mum had to go into a care home that day that we couldn't see, no funeral for him, then not seeing mum in her last 2 weeks of life, no funeral for her, and MIL is dying and not able to access lots of support that would be normally available.
My tolerance for people whinging about birthday parties is very, very low tbh

I hate the restrictions. No theatre, no singing group which I'm struggling without. To be honest I'm on the verge of depression because of not being able to do what I love.

@CMOTDibbler

I'm not upset by the restrictions. But in the context that since lockdown my dad died (the first day), mum had to go into a care home that day that we couldn't see, no funeral for him, then not seeing mum in her last 2 weeks of life, no funeral for her, and MIL is dying and not able to access lots of support that would be normally available. My tolerance for people whinging about birthday parties is very, very low tbh

I'm so sorry for your losses, that is truly terrible

Yes, this is why I'm not complaining about birthday parties. So many people have lost so much.

This is actually the worrying thing. That our freedoms have been taken away slowly that we don't really think that they are that bad. When in actually fact if you think about it there are so many restrictions. It's the whole frog in a pot of boiling water scenario. Chuck it in a pan of boiling water and it will jump out. Where as heat it up slowly until its boiling and it will happily sit in there until it cooks to death.

Rule of six
Schools off for 4 months
School run changes to pick up and drop off
Face masks
Isolating with symptoms
Restrictions on holidays
Not seeing elderly relatives
No live sporting events
No music events.
Social distancing
Work from home
Contactless food deliveries
Card only payments
Sheilding for vulnerable
Furlough
Student digs isolated - (whole Blocks)
Not coming home for Christmas (students)
No family gatherings at christmas
No work Christmas parties
Limited guests at weddings
Wash hands befor ring exchange in weddings
Limited funeral guests
Delayed cancer treatments
Limited face to face gp surgeries
No visiting in care homes

And many more that I can't be bothered to write...

See when you think of it as a whole it's not always that bad but when you list each individual thing you realise how much we have given up... We just need to make sure we're not the frog that sits in the pan until its dead.

I completely sympothise with people that can't cope.

All of them have been fine for me until my relative died suddenly and it's looking unlikely I can go to their funeral because of number restrictions. It will be streamed, but while the service is part of that goodbye process what's always seemed more important to me was the wake and getting to spend time with other people who loved the person. I won't get to do that and that has upset me (of course in addition to them dying!)

I’ve always loved parties and fun and getting big groups of people together. That makes me happy. It’s very hard. I get that if you’re the sort of person who was never into that sort of thing, the restrictions are a minor thing, but - honestly - use your imaginations a bit and see that for a lot of people this is absolutely miserable.

If I did not have small children I wouldn’t give a shiny shit. As it is I am caught in the hell that is bubbles bursting and trying to teach small, disinterested children whilst trapped in a house all day everyday. Yes I am cracking up.

Schools/childcare being closed has also had a huge effect on a lot of people so I can sympathise with that. We were lucky with that as I was still on maternity leave so we just extended that set up.

CMOTDibbler, I am so sorry.

but - honestly - use your imaginations a bit and see that for a lot of people this is absolutely miserable.

Exactly.

I really don't understand these wide eyed 'but why are people finding it hard when I am totally fine being able to work from home, in fact I like the 'slower pace of life'.'

Does it really take much imagination to see that not everyone is in the same boat.

We don't even have the same restrictions ffs, some of us can't see ANYBODY outside our household socially.

I'm not bothered at all. I loved the break during lockdown and wouldn't be bothered if we had to lock down again. I'm not particularly social though and like being with my kids and/or dog more than anyone else. I think those who are struggling must have a big circle of friends and busy social life so it's a big change for them.

Exactly, @Snoringferret. Lots of people cheerfully going, “honestly, never seeing anyone and sitting at home on my laptop day in day out ROCKS MY WORLD.” Yeah, fabulous for you. For the rest of us, it feels like a totally pointless waste of life.

@CMOTDibbler So sorry for your losses

Let’s see... I’ve lost my job; I can’t see my lovely in laws, my children’s education is compromised; my children’s development and mental health is compromised; I can’t travel to visit my ageing parents; and we are going into a dark cold winter with no theatre, no pantomime, no live music, no parties.

I’d like more explanation and convincing that all this is proportionate.

Also as a 5 person family my parents can’t visit together, which is shit.

I would just do the visit together tbh. That's ridiculous.

Some of it seems very first-world problems to me.

Not all of it – people who have genuinely lost livelihoods or family members, or who are battling real mental health challenges, I have all the time for in the world.

But "I can't have dinner with my whole extended family at once" or "We haven't been able to go to museums for six whole months", or "Masks make my face sweaty so I don't like going to the shops anymore" makes me want to scream. It's not ideal, no. But it's hardly suffering.

Maybe a perspective thing – volunteering in refugee camps where families have been separated for years, with GENUINELY no light at the end of the tunnel and no idea if their loved ones are even alive, made me a LOT less tolerant of Western whinging.

What’s that saying? In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king? Well, in the land of corona, the person who never left their house unless they had to and didn’t really like talking to anyone anyway is king. I could not be more over it.

Every day I get up, wander down to my work desk, work the day, count down to Friday. My life feels like some kind of weird limbo.
Yes, this. I'm a single parent and I can't see my family because of the rule of 6. I hate talking on the phone/zoom, find it hard to focus. Work is impossible. I'm lonely at home. My world is getting smaller and smaller, I don't even have anything to say to anyone so whats the point in calling them. I'm very very very fedup with it. And fed up with introverts in happy marriages (presumably with plenty of garden space etc) telling me not much has changed.
Yes it has and I am struggling to cope

We have adjusted knowing the reason she why restrictions were imposed. We are very fortunate that so much technology exists that mean more people can stay in touch etc.

We aren’t focusing on what we can’t do but remembering the fact we have lots of things to be thankful for and that others have lost people and their jobs. Forgoing a holiday or shopping seems very little to give up compared to that.

Snoringferret, but that's the point, some can and some can't. We are just expressing our thought. There's no fake innocent wide eyed comment on this thread.

@Bouncycastle12

Exactly, *@Snoringferret*. Lots of people cheerfully going, “honestly, never seeing anyone and sitting at home on my laptop day in day out ROCKS MY WORLD.” Yeah, fabulous for you. For the rest of us, it feels like a totally pointless waste of life.

Agreed. Sick of people throwing around terms like "be more resilient". I couldn't have my mam with my when I was in labour earlier in the year (my DP is worse than useless in labour), then my parents met my daughter through a window for 4 weeks. Now I am back to not being able to see them at all again unless it's in a park, but strangely not my own garden. Sick of it.