Older people booking holidays

[Doffodils]

I've been away from MN for a few days so apologies if this was done.

Following the news that the vaccination programme is in full swing, apparently travel companies have had a rush of older people booking holidays for this summer.

We're being told that behaviour will need to carry on with social distancing, restricting travel etc despite some people having the vaccine.

Young people have been disproportionately affected by the restrictions and been reminded often of their duty to protect the more vulnerable, but apparently those vulnerable people aren't going to give a second thought for the youngsters once they've had the vaccine.

Is this a common view among the, say, 60+ people you know?

Or is it OK, or even good, that some people can start getting back to normal/supporting the economy etc?

How will this kind of 2 tier society operate?

We undertook lockdowns to protect them, we will suffer for decades rebuilding the economy and the addressing the mental health and educational impact, meanwhile they will return to normal more quickly and put pressure on us to provide services like normal for them. It makes me angry and yet I expect our generation would do the same in their shoes, it’s human nature.

We undertook lockdown to protect the NHS.

Im a teacher, there won’t be a lasting educational impact. It’s just a blip.

@ancientgran I've often wondered the same thing, people are completely fixated on hugging.

I gte the impression that many MN are considerably more well off than the average person. I hope they think they should 'put back into the pot' too.

For the record, not a single old person that I know has a cast iron pension or a large house. I have no idea why this has become a 'thing' on this thread. Some might own their home, but I'm not sure how they're meant to do anything about that. It will either pay for future care so that the taxpayer doesn't have to fund it, or be handed down as an inheritance, so helping the next generation, either way.

@StepOutOfLine

The point of this thread , like the identical one yesterday, is so the ageist frothers can come and vent their spleen. As you can see, despite being told about 17 times that all the bloody article said was 50% of their bookings are over 50s, once they've decided the witch must burn, then burn she will.

Sorry - which article?

@CloudPop so glad it isn't just me. I sometimes wonder what is wrong with me, during the summer I saw my younger GC and was so happy to talk to them, watch them play etc and not once did I agonise that I couldn't hug them.

@CoronaBurana if your husband was born before the end of WW2 then that cannot make him a boomer. But maybe you are talking about post war army service, in which case ignore me. Complicated as it is neither of those, his mother and father got back together in 1946, he was injured in France not long after the DDay landings but it didn't appear that serious so he carried on with his unit. Shortly after they got back together 2 things happened, MIL found she was pregnant and he was given a date for surgery to deal with the lasting effects of his injury. He died. She was classed as a war widow, DH was born almost 2 years after the end of the war. Life gets complicated sometimes.

Couldn’t you also argue that the majority of elderly have lived a very good life already? Whereas youngsters are losing their youth because of this that they won’t get back?

@BeeDavis WTF???

Sorry had a bold fail - the first para below was quoting another post NOT my words!

‘Whereas youngsters are losing their youth because of this that they won’t get back?’

Older people when younger were involved in
WW2
Korean War
Northern Ireland
Severe recessions and high unemployment in the 80’s and 90’s
70’s endless stagnation.

It’s called life. It’s only very recently that young people have lived in an Utopia of ‘nothing going wrong to upset them’

ODFO

The ageism on this thread is appalling. People have forgotten the elderly were born during the war, so had their childhood affected. Plus they’ve lived through recessions. Also, the war debt was only paid in 2006, so they’ve been paying all their life also.

Yes appalling and just plain ignorant.

If “elderly” people go on holiday when vaccinated it will mean that guidance says they can 🙄.

It is of note that older people have been booking holidays alongside younger people because it is the first time older people will have been allowed some freedom.

Why is there resentment about this?

Socrates said that envy is the ulcer of the soul; it eats away your peace of mind and causes you numerous pains and ailments.
It's apparent that it's eating away at the souls of some MN'ers.
Sad.

As morbid as this may seem, younger people will have more chances in years to come to go on holidays and enjoy themselves (obviously there's exceptions but on average)

Yes, but young people have also "lost" things that they will never get back and can't be done at a later date. Particularly amongst 16-20 year olds. They are going through life milestones that are one offs. e.g. they won't leave school again or start university again or even have a long summer after exams to go to a festival/ go travelling/get a summer job. DS spent a lot of last summer hanging out on (an empty) top of a multi story car park with his friends (only up to 6 of them, obviously) because so many places were shut and families with younger children didn't want teens hanging around in parks. By next summer his life will have moved on in such a way that he won't have the same opportunities so he literally has missed the experiences he would have had. A person's life does not change in the same way between (e.g.) 75 and 76.

Restorationandredecoration
This pattern will be wider than just holidays. Over the next few months the old will begin returning to normal life while the young will stay in limbo.

We undertook lockdowns to protect them, we will suffer for decades rebuilding the economy and the addressing the mental health and educational impact, meanwhile they will return to normal more quickly and put pressure on us to provide services like normal for them. It makes me angry and yet I expect our generation would do the same in their shoes, it’s human nature.

So what would YOUR solution be?

I’m 57. I’ve put lots of money, and time into building an equal society. I’ve worked in a job where I’ve ‘given something back’ all my life.

I can’t wait for my jab. Stop moaning and get on with it like we’ve all had to do. Including those of my age who had to battle highest youth unemployment ever and years and years of Thatcher. Society was terrible for young people then.

This is not a fight between old and young obviously. Or a who is anf had it harder competition.
We all have a cross to bear and all that. All generations.
And we will all come out of it.
Lucky those who get the vaccine a few months ahead!
But we are still under lockdown and SD anyway.
And to be honest, most people are doing what is best for the nation.
We should focus on sticking to the rules, the present rules.
And hopefully, we can start lifting those as more and more people get vaccinated. Including holidays (which is not the same as international travelling, this later one is a high high risk presently). And which is the point of begrudging those who are safe enough a bit of normality if the data and rules allow for it?
Also, as previous poster has said, money coming in from the bookings will help the travel agencies to keep people employed at the moment, which is something to consider indeed.

@Myalternate

Socrates said that envy is the ulcer of the soul; it eats away your peace of mind and causes you numerous pains and ailments. It's apparent that it's eating away at the souls of some MN'ers. Sad.

This is so true!

@RedskyBynight

As morbid as this may seem, younger people will have more chances in years to come to go on holidays and enjoy themselves (obviously there's exceptions but on average)

Yes, but young people have also "lost" things that they will never get back and can't be done at a later date. Particularly amongst 16-20 year olds. They are going through life milestones that are one offs. e.g. they won't leave school again or start university again or even have a long summer after exams to go to a festival/ go travelling/get a summer job. DS spent a lot of last summer hanging out on (an empty) top of a multi story car park with his friends (only up to 6 of them, obviously) because so many places were shut and families with younger children didn't want teens hanging around in parks. By next summer his life will have moved on in such a way that he won't have the same opportunities so he literally has missed the experiences he would have had. A person's life does not change in the same way between (e.g.) 75 and 76.

And I feel so sorry for them, genuinely. But resentment of older people going on holiday isn't going to fix this is it? Or should they just stay home to make everyone feel better? Younger people won't have to wait for ever to be able to book on holidays. Whilst there are many people of all ages who can't afford holidays at any time - nothing to do with the Coronavirus situation. Must be heartbreaking for them reading this thread

Including those of my age who had to battle highest youth unemployment ever and years and years of Thatcher. Society was terrible for young people then.

Yep. When I left university, I was the only one of my group of nine friends who found a job. I had to move to a completely new area of the country to do so (the govt told us we had to ' get on our bikes') even though my qualification was in a so called shortage subject.

I could go on but it would ruin people's picture of us boomers living through some kind of golden age.

I have young adult kids. Of course I'm worried about them and their future. I'm helping them as much as I can, as are many boomers. But I don't blame my generation for their situation. We just lived our lives as they were dealt to us, just as their generation is now. We didn't have some crystal ball telling us what was ahead.

Saraclara, yep, being unemployed almost became a career.

Youth Opportunity Programmes
‘Set up your own business’
Other community programmes for young people that hid the high unemployment rate and led nowhere.

I remember the 80’s as dark and depressing. A real feeling of despair. And ‘on yer bike’ Tebbit🤮.

Anything but a golden time.

What many are missing here is that the vaccines protect the recipient against severe disease, but DO NOT stop them contracting or transmitting the infection to someone else.

The reason some are angry is that these vaccinated people will go abroad, potentially contract covid, not get that ill, but transmit it to others. This will keep the spread going at a high level for longer and ensure that restrictions continue for longer - thereby continuing to greatly impact the young.

Piscinred. They don’t know yet if they will not protect against transmission.

That count is out until more people have been vaccinated. Then they can evaluate.

There won't be a two tier system between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Having the vaccine just means that older people feel more comfortable to plan to do things that younger people probably already felt comfortable doing (eg booking holidays, going to the supermarket). The rules apply to us all equally until the government lifts them. The vaccinated do not get a return to normality, and if they are gathering etc they are breaking the rules just as a young healthy person who would be at low risk of severe disease would be.

I would book holidays if I had any confidence they would be allowed to go ahead! The only difference between me and an older vaccinated person booking a trip is that level of confidence.

@PicsInRed

What many are missing here is that the vaccines protect the recipient against severe disease, but DO NOT stop them contracting or transmitting the infection to someone else.

The reason some are angry is that these vaccinated people will go abroad, potentially contract covid, not get that ill, but transmit it to others. This will keep the spread going at a high level for longer and ensure that restrictions continue for longer - thereby continuing to greatly impact the young.

Actually that is not proven yet - though in the meantime we have to assume worst case scenarios.

But I think the majority of people objecting to older people booking travelling haven't mentioned this aspect - more the resentment that older people will get some of their lives back before younger people.
I do understand the annoyance but some of the comments in this thread are ageist and appalling.

I can’t believe MNHQ are allowing this blatant ageism.
The fact is that every generation thinks they are hard done by . My DD feels that 1 year Mat Leave is not enough , I pointed out that when she and her DB were born , I had 3 months leave ! My then H and I had a house where interest rates were double digits for a long time .
Then I was reminded that my DM had to give up her career when she married !
I am a Boomer ( hate that term) but still pay Tax, provide free childcare and do voluntary work so I am not going to apologise for the fact that DH and I have booked a couple of holidays which we might not be able to go on .

On that I agree @PicsInRed
I think we have months ahead of social distancing.
And that the data on transmission studies needs to be complete before we can think of easing up on this.
In my head, maybe there will be some freedoms allowed between people who have been already vaccinated, but prevent mingling with those who have not.
And special emphasis on children, who have not even a licensed vaccine yet, and who are the group where this new variant shows more affinity by their ACE2 receptor. There are quite a few variants out there now.
In theory, if the vaccination program goes ahead as planned, all adults will be vaccinated by Autumn. And children's vaccine data should emerge by then. So it is a much more ositive situation than what we were in on 2020.