Sunday Times Poll/research shows that high percentage of people have enjoyed lockdown and embrace the new normal

[User135644]

twitter.com/thesundaytimes/status/1381190111631712256

This is surprising. While there's aspects of the last year that may be preferable, you wouldn't expect those figures.

It looks like a lot of people are in no rush to go back to normal.

Well, no one is forcing them. They're free to live like this if they want to.

I am one of those people

I've loved spending more time with my family - fortunate because I've had a baby bubble. I've also loved working from home. I think I will cry when the time comes to go back into the office. The thought of air con, uncomfortable chairs, small talk with colleagues I don't really like, being crammed into meeting rooms with strangers... No thanks!

I've very much enjoyed the slower pace of life but I totally understand that there are thousands of people who have been massively knocked by this whole thing and seriously struggling. It's a shit time for a lot of people and the above moans and groans are nothing in comparison to some peoples worries!

@IHTC

I am one of those people

I've loved spending more time with my family - fortunate because I've had a baby bubble. I've also loved working from home. I think I will cry when the time comes to go back into the office. The thought of air con, uncomfortable chairs, small talk with colleagues I don't really like, being crammed into meeting rooms with strangers... No thanks!

I've very much enjoyed the slower pace of life but I totally understand that there are thousands of people who have been massively knocked by this whole thing and seriously struggling. It's a shit time for a lot of people and the above moans and groans are nothing in comparison to some peoples worries!

Yeah, I think a lot more people have preferred it than are prepared to let on tbh.

If you have not had to sit on a Southern train for the last year, I can understand why you would not want to do so in future.

If you have not had to sit on a Southern train for the last year, I can understand why you would not want to do so in future.

Not a majority liked it though.

I don't follow @thesundaytimes on Twitter & would not have answered their poll otherwise.

I wonder how enjoyable that high % would have found Lockdown without furlough, EO2HO, grants galore, contract tracing and 360 million vaccine doses on order. I wonder if the high % would be happy to pay the bill for all those things so I don't have to help fund them...
·

@ragged

Not a majority liked it though.

I don't follow @thesundaytimes on Twitter & would not have answered their poll otherwise.

I wonder how enjoyable that high % would have found Lockdown without furlough, EO2HO, grants galore, contract tracing and 360 million vaccine doses on order. I wonder if the high % would be happy to pay the bill for all those things so I don't have to help fund them...
·

The majority of people who I have seen say they enjoyed lockdown aren't the ones who are furloughed or receiving grants. It's people who have now moved to working from home so less commuting, more family time, etc.

Me and dp have both enjoyed it - kids have had so much time with their dad for one thing and no commuting

Ah, but Waxonwaxoff0, we all benefited from successful Lockdown because many people could stop work, stay home successfully, due to grants & furlough. There weren't people rifling thru dumpsters or mass riots because folk had zero money for rent. Social services weren't inundated with the suddenly homeless. We didn't hear about mass outbreaks among the homeless for that matter due to huge effort to provide them free safe accommodation.

There were evacuations of British nationals in Hebei province, not left there for nobody knew what fate. So many expensive measures that shaped Lockdown into being safe & stable experience, but we haven't begun to pay for.

@ragged

Ah, but Waxonwaxoff0, we all benefited from successful Lockdown because many people could stop work, stay home successfully, due to grants & furlough. There weren't people rifling thru dumpsters or mass riots because folk had zero money for rent. Social services weren't inundated with the suddenly homeless. We didn't hear about mass outbreaks among the homeless for that matter due to huge effort to provide them free safe accommodation.

There were evacuations of British nationals in Hebei province, not left there for nobody knew what fate. So many expensive measures that shaped Lockdown into being safe & stable experience, but we haven't begun to pay for.

Yes. What alternative would you have liked?

I couldn't "enjoy" lockdown for many reasons, not least due to knowing what a huge bill was to come. Maybe I admire people who can live more in the moment.

They just have had pretty shitty lives before if lockdown was an improvement.

Must*

Fuck that. They're unhinged.

@ragged

Not a majority liked it though.

I don't follow @thesundaytimes on Twitter & would not have answered their poll otherwise.

I wonder how enjoyable that high % would have found Lockdown without furlough, EO2HO, grants galore, contract tracing and 360 million vaccine doses on order. I wonder if the high % would be happy to pay the bill for all those things so I don't have to help fund them...
·

Without the furlough finding etc I’d imagine the poll would be very different.

It doesn’t outweigh the severe loss of lives, health and economic fallout of the pandemic, but one upside is that some office based companies have seen that work doesn’t stop just because someone is wfh - people can be just as productive (though granted not everyone). I hope this means there may be more flexibility for employees in the future. Commuting only 3 days per week would reduce congestion, packed trains etc and allow more time to do other stuff.

Instead of being scathing perhaps posters might think about the reasons why lockdown has been a reprieve for some. Maybe spare a thought for those who have found the daily grind as difficult as you find lockdown, and perhaps for decades, without any choice in the matter. Single parents doing double duty every day with a full time job and commute, introverts who've been forced to be in a packed office all day. Perhaps lockdown has been restorative in some ways for people who found aspects of pre-lockdown life hard and were able to work from home and see a bit more of their loved ones. The normal pace of life many people are forced to lead is not natural for everyone, even if the posters above think it should be. Everyone will experience this differently and nobody needs sneering at for that really, do they?

I've enjoyed it. I've finally focused on what I want to do; spending time with family, gardening, walking, reading and baking instead of endless socialising!

I do miss friends but like seeing people less frequently and having less time with colleagues, commuting and mindless small talk at work.

Hmmm, not sure it's a complete surprise. A life of commuting and working out of the house, with all the stuff that comes with that isn't exactly utopia.

I can appreciate that some people want to get back to work. But I can also appreciate that some people enjoyed casting off the trappings of a so called successful/'normal' life.

Those trapped in abusive homes must have suffered horribly thorough all of this. But, let's be honest, most of us lead mediocre lives, nose to the grind stone style and the chance to get off the roller-coaster will have been welcome.

Sunday Times is read by very affluent people. Cushioned from the harsh aspects of lockdown that have affected thousands of others less fortunate.

I've been baffled by so many people saying they loved the way of life during lockdown and want to keep it.
Not baffled that they love the way of life - baffled that if that's the sort of life they wanted, they didn't strive to make their life that way originally. Yes- it's not possible to change your life overnight, but if you, for example want to spend more time with your family rather than rushing from one club to another, there's actually a simple solution.

Lockdown lovers are free to continue if they wish. The rest of us would like our civil rights back please.

@HermioneWeasley

Lockdown lovers are free to continue if they wish. The rest of us would like our civil rights back please.

Hear hear.

Twitter polls seem like a good way to get an audience skewed toward overly-online, indoor-type people who prefer the virtual world to the real one. I'm not surprised by that result. I wonder what result they'd get if they did the same poll for people attending an event?

I've definitely enjoyed some aspects of it - no commuting (on Southern trains...), my own peaceful home office rather than my usual open plan one, more time with my daughter, enjoying nature and exploring the local area rather than going to another play farm or attraction.

But I've missed the social aspects of my work, eating out, friends, family, haircuts... And probably most of all travel. I live for holidays and have felt very confined on this small island for the past year.

I've had a relatively easy lockdown - a nice home with outside space, plenty of green areas nearby, a job I could do from home and childcare. I am still looking forward to getting back to some form of normality, hopefully with less commuting.