How long until we forget?

[Twizbe]

I've been having this debate with my MiL. She is convinced that social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing etc will continue forever. She says that people will never return to before and that it will stay in the forefront of people's minds forever.

I think people have short memories and once we get a vaccine things will quickly return to how they were before.

My son is almost 4 and knows about the virus, but I predict that by the time he has children it will be a distant memory for his generation. He might still be paying for it but a lot of the restrictions will be forgotten.

What do you all think?

But distancing isn’t low level for a lot of businesses. Every other chair not in use at a hairdresser, fewer tables in restaurants, fewer people allowed in to cinemas/theatres, small shops only allowed one or two people in. Those restrictions won’t stay in place forever. Unless you meant the more “informal” distancing, like not reaching over someone at the supermarket, standing a little further back in a queue?

I'm sure cinemas, theatres, transport, hairdressers etc will all need a certain number of customers to break even. Either they will close (in transport cases, cut services), put prices up or have to go back to the less distanced way of operating.

A lot of banks and building societies already had screens up for security. Some of the refurbed barclays didnt. And then had to put temporary screens up.

I think the economic impact will be felt especially in certain industries for a long time after mask wearing and hand sanitiser in the street is forgotten.

Judging by the rampant "rule breaking" going on, it's already been forgotten by some.

I’m another who used to only wash hands if preparing food or after going to the toilet, now I wash them after opening the post, or touching anything outside my home...so my hand washing has increased a lot!

We won't "forget". But we will all process and life will return with crowds, options, spontaneity, choices, just a little while longer.

As with everything with people some people will insist you "stay away" from them, some will hug you and it will feel like they will never let you go!

I'm scared of the long term repercussions if over sanitising so I hope it goes back to normal pretty quickly.

I've embraced every freedom as it was given back to me, mourned it as it was taken away and will not hesitate to dispense with this abnormal way of living the very second that I can.

Absolutely this, I will invite all my friends over with no social distancing whatsoever and have a mask burning ceremony, I will use the hand sanitizer as lighter fuel.

@CovidPostingName

Well considering it's likely to take 12-18 months too get everyone fully vaccinated that pendant means masks being around next winter as well. Two winters of masking means it's more likely to stick perhaps, especially if vaccines end up having to be annual (not sure about the data on this yet). So I'm not sure overall, I certainly don't think we'll be living like currently forever, but I do think there will be certain things that hang on and mask wearing in certain conditions is likely to be one of them.

(Very frequent hand washing should be normal good hygiene anyway, I've never understood why people day they're washing more than normal - what on earth were they doing before?!)

I wonder too what on earth people were doing before, with the handwashing. It's as if it's a new thing for some people! I was brought up to wash my hands as soon as I came home, and we do that now in our house too. It's the first thing DD does when she comes home from school and she always has. DH and I always do as well when we come home from anywhere.

I had a friend who used to drum into her young kids "cold water doesn't kill germs" but she never encouraged frequent handwashing at all, they never washed their hands on returning home, and her kids have constant sickness bugs all winter.

When FIL got his house near us after MIL passed away, and we were helping him kit it out, he couldn't understand why I'd bought him a handwash for the kitchen sink!

@userxx can I come? Sounds like it will be a fab party!

@CovidPostingName I never used to wash my hands after picking up the post/taking in a parcel or after shopping/generally every time I get home which I do now

I’m hoping that employers will have had their eyes opened to the benefits of allowing staff to wfh so people will have more choice about where they work in future.
I’m also hoping it’s now become socially unacceptable to go out with an infectious illness including colds and spread them around to everyone. I have always hated people who come into the office with a cold.

I’ve never sanitised my hands so much.
I used to grab coffees and food on the go, eat them without sanitiser.
I never sanitised my hands on the way into a shop or restaurant.
On set (I’m a producer) we work really long hours, grabbing drinks or tools or physically moving stuff without ever sanitising.

Who are these people who did this before Covid?

Life will go back to normal very quickly. Maybe a bit more handwashing. I don't think shaking hands will be a thing of the past, I think we'll be thrilled to embrace these human connections again.

I look forward to having a clear out in years to come and finding a mask in the pocket of an old jacket. It'll be a moment in time, like finding an old ration book.

I don't think OP meant literally forget COVID ever happened

Like a PP I hope a bit more germ awareness sticks around. When I last had an office job no more than 6-7 years ago it was a badge of honour to be at work in spite of being visibly unwell. It was the worst part of the 'presenteeism' thing which I think will be decidedly thrown out now - at least for many years to come. (I wouldn't rule out a revival of the self-flagellating Protestant work ethic in subsequent generations, but I think it'll be very different for now.)

@HelloMissus I’ve always cleaned my hands before eating food with them, especially at work/on the go! Not so much with drinks because you don’t touch them, but food and cutlery, of course. Communal cutlery racks in cafes, with everyone reaching in with their germy hands... urgh. No way.

And before anyone says that’s too much and you need some exposure to bugs, I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve had an upset stomach in my life!

Where I am, pretty much as soon as the first lockdown ended most people seemed to forget about social distancing etc and very few wore masks until it became mandatory in shops. As soon as schools started to re-open to some year groups there were groups of parents gathering to chat a drop off etc and in coffee shops just as they had done before. On that basis, I think most people will go back to behaving exactly as they did before as soon as all official restrictions go.

However, I think there are some (especially the most vulnerable) who will be cautious/worried about interactions for the rest if their lives.

I suspect that by the time my DC are parents this crisis will be taught in history in schools and things like face masks/government advice videos will be historic items (just as I remember looking at ration books/WW2 recipes etc). But my parents (if they are still alive) will still avoid crowded places and panic if a stranger comes too close.

and then the next virus will come along and we'll have to do it all again

I can't wear a mask anyway, and I can't cope with direct face contact with other people because of the loss of 2/3s of facial expression plus the incoherent muffling. So I stare at the floor so I can focus my attention on what is left of speech without the added confusion of deciphering what's going on behind the handkerchief wrapped around their face.

I can not wait for the day when all the face masks and visors end up where they belong... in landfill.

Humans are sociable. We need facial expressions, physical contact, proximity.

I look forwards to the day that I have friends in my home again.
When my children can have parties.
When they can reliably rejoin their sports and societies.
When they are not excluded because they can't cope with the 2 dimensional world of zoom when they need to interract with their peers and leaders in person.

I look forwards to natural human interractions and when all this is a distant disuptopian nightmare of the memory.

Children, do you remember when we banned you from playing with friends, sports and playgrounds to keep you "healthy".

About the only positive legacy of this would be greater flexibility to work from home, balanced between presenteeism and enforced isolation. People WFH would be more effective at managing regular infections than turning up wearing your handkerchief anyway.

@BogRollBOGOF ffs its not that bad - talk about an over reaction about how crap masks are

you only have them on in the shop or in cafe's briefly

[quote Heyahun]@BogRollBOGOF ffs its not that bad - talk about an over reaction about how crap masks are

you only have them on in the shop or in cafe's briefly[/quote]
Who on earth are you to tell someone how had masks are for them?

I think if the vaccine is produced and given to most people, by summer 2021 we will have mostly forgotten and people will be ‘back to normal’ it was like that in August never mind another year on...

I think it will obviously stay in our collective memory and it will come to the fore quickly should we ever be in this situation again but day to day we’ll forget v quickly and that’s a good thing. I noticed the other day that the 2 meter distancing stickers are already fading and peeling away on the tube platforms, a metaphor perhaps

Sadly I think high unemployment, higher suicides, higher taxes and lower public services, damaged education will all be a constant reminder for a ver very long time to come.

[quote Heyahun]@BogRollBOGOF ffs its not that bad - talk about an over reaction about how crap masks are

you only have them on in the shop or in cafe's briefly[/quote]
I have to wear one all day and on my commute so can’t wait to Chuck my last one in the Covid mask bin

@1dayatatime

Sadly I think high unemployment, higher suicides, higher taxes and lower public services, damaged education will all be a constant reminder for a ver very long time to come.

You’re spot on, things won’t ever get back to normal.

Lots of business will shut over the winter and millions will be made unemployed this’ll have a lasting effect on society for a generation