People who would like lockdown indefinitely

[PooRaulsRagDace]

Some of the threads on here have me thinking of my mother. She’s no longer with us but l know that if she were still alive then this pandemic would have been a gift from god.

Put bluntly she had no life, she never wanted to leave the house, go to work, learn to drive, she had no friends, no hobbies, no interest in anything at all except daytime TV and having a drink.

She knew that she was judged for her lifestyle and she knew she was very much in the minority and deep down it bothered her.

She loved snowy weather - snow days meant you couldn’t leave the house! No one judged you for staying in all day, you were fully expected to stay at home.

The pandemic has allowed people like this to relax and be safe in the knowledge that no one is expected to leave the home. All the people in my circle continually calling for further lockdown are people who don’t or don’t like working, never go anywhere, never do anything and have few friends and no outside interests.

People with young children who are not sending them back to school at all - I suspect so they don’t have to bother getting dressed to take them. It’s the same type of people!

No one that I know who is working, who has hobbies, friends, interests are calling for further lockdowns - only people with no lives anyway.

Anyone else notice this?

Leery beery males!!!! Ah, the memories.....

Have you never been young, @Twillow ? I’m sure your dcs want to stay at home forever with you. I’m sure they’ll never want to leave the house, let alone go to a sticky bar, shout nor have fun with leery beery males - or even be a leery beery male. No, they’ll be happy doing activities ad infinitum and possibly visiting some relatives. No mates or partners or families of their own for them. Just staying in Twillow’s little family bubble till the end of time...

Interesting, I can't remember seeing a single post saying any of these.
No one is saying that

• schools should shut for ever
• restaurants should never open

-football matches should never happen.

Pubs were having difficulties before all this started, which has been a shame.But again I haven't read anyone saying they should all shut up shop for good.

What people are saying is that we have a really good vaccination roll out, but most of the adult people - parents, teachers - in contact with school children haven't been vaccinated yet.

So waiting a bit longer - a few weeks till after Easter maybe - has some rationale to it.

Not indefinitely, but just till a logical starting point.

If we do go back from March 8th then we will need to be very robust about the masks and tests, because we are going back a bit early in the scheme of things.

@IrmaFayLear

Leery beery males!!!! Ah, the memories.....

Have you never been young, @Twillow ? I’m sure your dcs want to stay at home forever with you. I’m sure they’ll never want to leave the house, let alone go to a sticky bar, shout nor have fun with leery beery males - or even be a leery beery male. No, they’ll be happy doing activities ad infinitum and possibly visiting some relatives. No mates or partners or families of their own for them. Just staying in Twillow’s little family bubble till the end of time...

I'm not sure that you're not being a wee bit hard on @Twillow but I do think one of the best gifts we can give our children is a sense of fun and knowing how to enjoy themselves, including outside the family bubble and sometimes even with strangers. I have been through a lot in the last few years but sometimes what has kept me going is to step out of my lovely family and dear friends who know all about it and just go and dance my ass off or have a random chat with someone in a pub or to be part of a big crowd of people at a match or even at the cinema and realise that life is fascinating , that the world and most of the people in it are great. And that I want to be part of it and not just an observer. The kind of at-home life that some people seem to enjoy so much sounds quite worthy and stifling to me I'm afraid and crucially, I wouldn't want my children to grow up with what seems to me a very narrow and 'safe' view of how to live. It's all about choice of course and ones children will grow up with their own personalities and preferences. But I do have some relatives who in how they live, in their messaging to their children are almost setting their children up to live very small lives. That is a shame I think

I’m cautious, too, @herecomesthsun , and certainly not advocating a sudden free for all.

But as theleafandnotthetree observes, there are some very possessive people who are gleefully embracing lockdown as a way to incarcerate their dcs and adopt this holier than thou thing of sneering at people who enjoy social activities.

Fwiw my dm was 100% like this and said that wanting friends was “weak” . Even dsis said that she didn’t want anyone “stealing” her dds - although bil stealing her seemed to have been all right...

Before all this happened I spent an awful lot of time ferrying the kids to dance and theatre workshops, swimming lessons, parties, festivals, workshops, cinema etc. They loved going out to have lunch in cafes and browsing around markets. They have had a whole lifetime of that. I think that by the time they are teenagers (which is not very long) the social world of fun will largely be back again and that will be great. They won't have forgotten how to enjoy life. They love being with their friends.

We just need to get out of this current situation deftly so that we don't have another crisis before the end of the summer, we could do without any more set backs.

No. Lockdown is a necessary evil which has been difficult for pretty much everyone I know.
Many of these people aren't extroverts with great social lifes but it is still a struggle.
They have done it though either to protect themselves or their families or for the greater good.

I have a great life with lots of hobbies but they tend to be hobbies that are singular or can be done virtually. Ie reading, cross stick, cooking/baking, playing games.

Both DH and I can work from home, our children are happy, yes they miss football/scouts/guides but not enough it's bothering them.

I love the laid back life we have and the opportunity to spend more time together and to do by 'hobbies'.

I'm not saying I want lockdown to continue for forever but I'm more than happy while it is.

I think ops judgement of people like me is really judgemental and wrong!

I think there's an element of truth in it but then again the way you describe your mother op maybe she was also a bit depressed?
I do think some people who are being paid for not working are enjoying this obviously and there are certain situations which means life might be much easier for some people now.
If this had happened to my dh and I when we lived abroad in our early 20's in a hot country it would have been wonderful (not the pandemic and awful consequences) but the lovely relaxed time etc. We are mid thirties with primary and preschool age children and both trying to work and we have lost thousands and thousands as also had set up a small business reliant on tourism so its been absolutely exhausting and challenging.
Also we see the effects on our children, I'm not hugely socialble and tbh we rarely get to go put anyway as no babysitters and very tired but I would hate for my children to grow up in a world with constant restrictions and limitations, its already had some effect "don't touch this , don't go here" etc, I'm disgusted by certain peoples reactions to children throughout this pandemic.
I'm absolutely over the moon this whole thing will end. I notice the people who enjoy this in RL tend to be total control freaks anyway. I see a bit of it on here one half of a couple(usually without children) delighted that they are alone all the time and so happy not seeing anyone else ever or their blocked off inlaws!!

We’ll know things are back to normal when AIBU is once again filled with horrible mils having the audacity to want to visit three months after a gc is born or not accepting “she’s had her turn” when committing the crime of giving a gc an advent calendar....

I wonder what the correlation is between possessors of evil mils and lockdown lovers...?

@IrmaFayLear

We’ll know things are back to normal when AIBU is once again filled with horrible mils having the audacity to want to visit three months after a gc is born or not accepting “she’s had her turn” when committing the crime of giving a gc an advent calendar....

I wonder what the correlation is between possessors of evil mils and lockdown lovers...?

Yes, I knew things were out of kilter when there was no thread at Christmas about roast potatoes; cooked 'from scratch'/Aunt Bessie - and how many of them you can eat.

I look forward to that one every year, it's like the rubber stamp of Christmas on MN for me...

There are aspects of lockdown that I admit have been nice, but I'll be glad to return to normality. I've been furloughed but I'm scared the longer it goes on the less viable my job will be.
Weve had plenty of PJ days but my kids are looking forward to going back to school. (They do get dressed for online lessons!)

I haven't found any aspect of lockdown to be nice TBH. We didn't have a rushed lifestyle before lockdown though.

DD is a student and finding lockdown hard. DH and I haven't been able to see either family, who all live several hours away.

We miss simple things like going to the pub, seeing friends, going for a mooch round the shops etc.

Actually, I lie. I don't miss my commute to work, but I do miss my workmates.

Such a nasty judgmental post.
It's all very well sneering and looking down your nose at people who don't have as full a life as you do.
Has it ever occurred to you that having a full life costs money? Money that a lot of people don't have.
It costs money to go out to coffee shops, Go out for meals, go on holiday, go to concerts, the cinema, theatre., city breaks.
You have no idea.

@likeamillpond

Such a nasty judgmental post. It's all very well sneering and looking down your nose at people who don't have as full a life as you do. Has it ever occurred to you that having a full life costs money? Money that a lot of people don't have. It costs money to go out to coffee shops, Go out for meals, go on holiday, go to concerts, the cinema, theatre., city breaks. You have no idea.

Not sure who you are responding too but living a 'full' life does of course require money to an extent, of course it does, and I don't think anyone would look down on someone living a very home-bound or constrained life purely because of money, that would make them an asshole. But it is also a state of mind in some ways, it doesn't cost much if anything to pack up the lunch you would be having anyway and go to the park or the playground and watch the world go by and have your kids play with other kids. There are so many good things to do that cost little or no money that can bring you out into the world - off the top of my head; street festivals, free concerts in summer, libraries, parks, the beach if close enough, visiting friends and relations, having your children's friends over. It is also about making choices in terms of how you spend the money you do have. Some people. for example, prioritise having nice clothes or tech or toys for their children whereas as a single parent with a very limited discretionary budget, I'd rather spend money on things that are more (without wanting to sound an asshole) experiential. When I was really on my uppers a few years ago, I happily went without buying new clothes for a long time but my weekly salsa class and dance afterwards were sacrocant because the high I got from it lasted me half the week. One thing I find a bit sad where I live is that nearly every house has expensive play equipment in the garden yet the village playground is rarely used in recent years. It would surely be better and more fun for children to be together in the playground and more social for the parents too, especially if they are feeling isolated. I just think this drift into people living in their own little family bubbles is bad for mental health and bad for society. And yes, I know there are people who naturally are true introverts and for whom some of what I have described is a horror, but surely they are a very small minority. What worries me is that this pandemic will reinforce the drift in society towards increasing individualisation and isolation and I can't imagine too many think that is a good idea overall, even those for whom it is personally a good fit.

I don’t think this is about people who don’t have a lot of money. Being poor makes lockdown harder - having to stay at home when you live somewhere that isn’t nice is awful. The people I know who are not well off still do things and meet people.

I know the people the OP means.

I have been surprised by a lot of the posts during the last year that have wanted lockdown to continue or be more like China (whatever that means). The issue is that for most people staying in your home needs facilitating by others going out of the home eg to ensure you have water, heating, food etc. that never seems to be addressed.

Has it ever occurred to you that having a full life costs money? Money that a lot of people don't have.

As a pp said I would argue that those who "enjoyed" lockdown were not poor.

I agree. I pass a house on a walk and they have a tennis court, swimming pool, extensive grounds (I’m not really peering in through a hole in their wall!) , a paddock or two and a view to die for from the (gorgeous) house. Now, I think I could lockdown for ever in there given that there were enough plebs to run around facilitating food deliveries/utilities etc. And if I had a young family. The best billet in the world doesn’t make up for teens and young people being isolated from the world.

Maybe lazy isn't such a bad thing? I'm loving the slower less busy pace of life now. My dh is at home contributing to family life instead of whizzing around the world on a polluting planet.
I have so much more time not spent arranging play dates party's drop offs etc.
I get to spend loads of time with my dc.
I feel so much better. I've only worn wellies since December. Love it all.
However I'm locked down in a massive house with loads of private land. So maybe I'm lazy and lucky to have a life I adore without needing to go far.
Saying that if I had a teenager I'm pretty sure I'd have loved out by now and tbh I absolutely sympathise with those who are missing out on stuff but I personally love lockdown and am going to miss it when life starts to get really busy again.

Moved out not loved out

It’s fine to find lockdown tolerable or even to love it.

It is not fine to demand it continues ad infinitum because it suits you and to ignore lockdown’s impact on others.

agree

This thread is so far removed from real life to me. I dont know anyone at all who wants lockdown to last forever. I dont know anyone like that at all. Who are these people? I dont believe they even exist
Exactly this. This thread is just pointless. I have not come across one single person who wants lockdown to continue indefinitely. Even on here where there are some pretty extreme views compared to the general population .
There are people who have benefitted personally and financially from lockdown, people who are resilient and just get on with it as a means to an end, people who are more cautious and would like to move out of lockdown slower, but last forever? What bullshit. The OP just seems to be an attempt to be snidey to certain population groups.
If you want lockdown to go on indefinitely when this is over then you can decide to live like that. Lots of people live off grid but don't expect the rest of the population to do so. Its not mandatory to all of a sudden go to nightclubs, football matches and festivals. We all just want the freedom to live life as we wish.