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Original poster

Hoping that we won't go back to the "old" normal?

168 replies

MakkaPakka84 · 21/04/2021 07:36

I have been chatting to people and by what they are saying it seems the good resolutions made in the last two years are already fading away.

Limiting the amount of unnecessary travel, to save the environment? Some of my colleagues are already planning hop-in hop-out vacations for the whole of next year (20 > air travel trips per year).

Healthy work-life balance, more WFH? The return to the office is already underway and everyone is eager to be back.

I know the past two years have been shit, but I was hoping the pandemic would be a catalyst for positive change in some way. Now even those feeble positives are fading away.

OP posts:
Original poster
MakkaPakka84 · 21/04/2021 08:21

@osbertthesyrianhamster

I was just talking about being more conscious when travelling (I do know people who use planes like buses)

So what? It's an efficient and often cheaper to travel.

Look, having low-cost flights as cheap as 5-10 pounds strongly encourages unnecessary travelling. I have younger relatives who didn't think anything of just going to Berlin for a club night and coming back the next morning. Or colleagues who would commute every week from their second home in Europe.

I love travelling and visiting new countries, I have travelled all over the world myself. I am just saying that the way many people did it, with the super cheap flights, was starting to become quite irresponsible.

OP posts:
PiccallilliCircus · 21/04/2021 08:26

I cannot wait to go abroad again. There is a whole wide world to see and yes, planes get us there quickly. My old habits were one bucket and spade holiday and one city break abroad each year. I want to go back to that as soon as I can.

I can't WFH given the nature of my job so no changes there. I used to Hmm at the tourists but I actually miss them now. I don't drive (no reason to) but I definitely want to learn. I'd buy a duel-fuel car.

People I know who are WFH especially women have told me there can be too much blurring between home life and work life ie expectation that because they are home they can also do all the housework, cooking and childcare at the same time as working. I'm glad I can separate the two by actually leaving for work each day.

poppycat10 · 21/04/2021 08:27

I think everything is just going to go back to normal despite the talk during the first lockdown about how lovely it was for people to be able to cycle. We could have taken this as a catalyst to reclaim the streets from cars but it won't happen - the car driver lobby is just too strong.

Ditto travel - people should be doing more travel by train/ferry and less by air, but that won't happen either.

I do think people will spend less time in offices in general so there may be less travelling to work (or using local co-working hubs that they can perhaps walk or cycle to) and maybe more spending locally.

And yes, we were getting somewhere with single use plastic and that has been set back. Hopefully we'll be able to use our own coffee cups again soon.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 21/04/2021 08:28

Look, having low-cost flights as cheap as 5-10 pounds strongly encourages unnecessary travelling. I have younger relatives who didn't think anything of just going to Berlin for a club night and coming back the next morning. Or colleagues who would commute every week from their second home in Europe.

So what? It'll come back and people will use it. So they're supposed to do it your way or stay home? No, thanks.

I love travelling and visiting new countries, I have travelled all over the world myself. I am just saying that the way many people did it, with the super cheap flights, was starting to become quite irresponsible.

After you took off all over the world, now everyone else is supposed to do it your way or they're irresponsible?

How hypocritical.

I'll join 'em as soon as possible. Love weekend breaks. Great way to see Europe fast.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 21/04/2021 08:30

Ditto travel - people should be doing more travel by train/ferry and less by air, but that won't happen either.

Of course. Train travel in the UK sucks. It's expensive AF, it's inefficient, ditto ferries.

OloBo · 21/04/2021 08:34

I totally get the point you’re making. Society has been forced to disrupt the status quo. Obviously the reason behind that was awful, but there have been both positives and negatives tk the changes in the way we live.

Reduced travel has been better for the planet, for air pollution and lots of other things.

More WFH, for those that can, has made us all question the need to go into an office full time. Those changes make differences to work/life balance, demand for business premises etc.

We’ve tended to spend less money on things we don’t need. We’ve lived a simpler life.

Many of us have lived without foreign travel for a couple of years.

Now of course, all of these has an economic impact, but it is our opportunity to question the way we live and weigh up the pros and cons. I think we all struggle with moderation though, and it’s so easy to just fall back into old habits.

I also have a tiny hope that the WFH thing and the fact it’s been so obvious that women tend to carry far more of the burden of childcare might make employers realise that actually, providing equality isn’t enough to enable women to be equal in the workplace. Offering greater flexibility will give them access to a much wider talent pool.

Doghead · 21/04/2021 08:39

I really hope we DO get back to the old normal. Nothing positive has come out of this past year for me. No working from home, work's been busier than ever, I've missed friends, holidays and family....and I've lost very close people to this damn virus. The sooner we're back to normal the better.

TheKeatingFive · 21/04/2021 08:40

I don’t think widespread wfh is good for many people actually and particularly not women.

Many people love travel and are keen to get back to it. I do t know why that would be a surprise. The environmental impact is a different conversation to the COVID one. Are we prepared to give up things we love for the sake of the future of the planet? To put it bluntly, many aren’t.

Bluntness100 · 21/04/2021 08:42

What? You’ve traveled all over the world but have now seen the error of your ways and want everyone else to not do as you did?

osbertthesyrianhamster · 21/04/2021 08:45

@Bluntness100

What? You’ve traveled all over the world but have now seen the error of your ways and want everyone else to not do as you did?
Quite! Or do it via trains and ferries. Right. No.
Waxonwaxoff0 · 21/04/2021 08:48

People want changes to stay that have benefited THEM.

Everyone who can WFH now is suddenly telling us to embrace the positives and want these changes to stay. Meanwhile those of us in low paid jobs and keyworkers who can't work from home - for whom nothing has changed during this time and have probably seen less of our families due to working so much overtime - are being lectured at by the home workers about living a "simpler life."

Fuck right off is what I say to that.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 21/04/2021 08:50

Amen, Wax! And those who are WFH in shit conditions. Friend of mine's been in the dining area of an open plan living room. He's bloody sick of it and is glad to be going back to the office.

SiobhanInnerWings · 21/04/2021 08:54

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Waxonwaxoff0 · 21/04/2021 08:58

@osbertthesyrianhamster

Amen, Wax! And those who are WFH in shit conditions. Friend of mine's been in the dining area of an open plan living room. He's bloody sick of it and is glad to be going back to the office.
Yes!

I work in a factory that manufactures for online retailers. The sanctimony of a lot of people working from home has pissed me off to no end, moaning about people going to Costa and "unnecessary" shopping. Hasn't stopped people ordering unnecessary things online though, we have never been so busy at work so if I want to get a takeaway coffee I bloody well will. And I'll be going on holiday as soon as I can.

Sparklingbrook · 21/04/2021 09:04

A friend WFH and takes the baby to nursery every morning. She says it’s the weirdest feeling to come home and he’s not there. ☹️

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 21/04/2021 09:11

@osbertthesyrianhamster

Amen, Wax! And those who are WFH in shit conditions. Friend of mine's been in the dining area of an open plan living room. He's bloody sick of it and is glad to be going back to the office.
I've been working in the corner of the living room for the last year and I'm sick of it, it's like living in the bloody office! DH has converted the shed so I can work from there so we can have our life back - he feels as though he can't even sit in the living room as I'm on calls. That's only a temporary measure as far as I'm concerned though, if I can't go back I'll be looking for something else.
rookiemere · 21/04/2021 09:12

I didn't make any promises to reduce my travel or embrace wfh thank you very much.
I can see that global travel is a concern but fret yea not, the way things are going I doubt we'll be flying anywhere much in 2021, never mind 2022.
For WFH I actually had a much better work life balance when I was in the office. Now I have a horrible 24/7 mish mash of the least fun aspect of both, so yes as soon as the office opens I'll be hot footing it back so my home life becomes just that again.

savethegrannies · 21/04/2021 09:23

If anybody seriously wants this to remain the new normal, I seriously pity them. Their life pre-Covid must have been grim!

Original poster
MakkaPakka84 · 21/04/2021 09:26

I can totally understand the points above. WFH all the time is awful.

But it doesn't all need to be black and white, like some of the posters above are implying. My commute is more than 1 hour each way for 5 miles due to awful traffic. Even having one day of WFH without being regarded with suspicion would make a massive difference (and ease up travel on the roads). It would be nice to keep having that option sporadically for those who would benefit from it.

As for travel: it's all about common sense. Family holidays? Fine. Going for a club night in a foreign country and coming back the next day, or commuting from abroad? A bit extra.

OP posts:
osbertthesyrianhamster · 21/04/2021 09:28

@rookiemere

I didn't make any promises to reduce my travel or embrace wfh thank you very much. I can see that global travel is a concern but fret yea not, the way things are going I doubt we'll be flying anywhere much in 2021, never mind 2022. For WFH I actually had a much better work life balance when I was in the office. Now I have a horrible 24/7 mish mash of the least fun aspect of both, so yes as soon as the office opens I'll be hot footing it back so my home life becomes just that again.
I've got tickets to see family abroad and attend to some probate matters in July. It's a long haul flight that we also did last year in July, only this time I'll be vaccinated twice and all my family already is.
osbertthesyrianhamster · 21/04/2021 09:32

Family holidays? Fine. Going for a club night in a foreign country and coming back the next day, or commuting from abroad? A bit extra.

So single people who don't have a family are morally inferior travellers to you Hmm? Funny that, they've reduced their carbon footprint by not having kids. And for plenty of people, it's commute from abroad or NO JOB, especially with Brexit.

Thankfully your morals don't rule the world.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 21/04/2021 09:35

@MakkaPakka84

I can totally understand the points above. WFH all the time is awful.

But it doesn't all need to be black and white, like some of the posters above are implying. My commute is more than 1 hour each way for 5 miles due to awful traffic. Even having one day of WFH without being regarded with suspicion would make a massive difference (and ease up travel on the roads). It would be nice to keep having that option sporadically for those who would benefit from it.

As for travel: it's all about common sense. Family holidays? Fine. Going for a club night in a foreign country and coming back the next day, or commuting from abroad? A bit extra.

Is it really so hard to understand that it will still be shit for some people if they have to work from home 1 day a week? I'll still have work stuff in the living room or sitting in the bloody shed.

Why are family holidays fine and other sorts of travel aren't? DH and I don't have children, are we allowed a holiday as a couple or should we just stay home for the good of the planet?

Original poster
MakkaPakka84 · 21/04/2021 09:35

@osbertthesyrianhamster as far as I am concerned you can have a family with or without kids, that's not the point of my argument

OP posts:
ChaToilLeam · 21/04/2021 09:38

YABVU. I used to work 50% from home, now it’s 100%. That means the dining table because we don’t have enough rooms in our small apartment for an office space. I’m sick of not seeing friends, family and colleagues. I’m sick of not being able to go to a bar or restaurant or beer garden because where we live, none of this is open yet.

And when flights resume, I will be getting on a plane to visit family because otherwise it’s a 36 hour train journey. I hope prices do not rise too much because that means I won’t be able to go at all. I want to be able to travel again.

I would like DP to be able to resume his job because he works in tourism and that is out of the question where we live at the moment. Fortunately he found another position but we had 6 months of struggle financially.

Simpler life? It was simple enough already, thanks. And I’d like it back.

worriedatthemoment · 21/04/2021 09:40

When people say wfh saves childcare do they mean as not paying fir the commute ? Or that they can have kids home and work as I can't see so many employers being ok with that once all childcare options are back.
Plus if your working 7/8 hrs you can't look after kids as well unless you have flexi hrs and can work when they are out / asleep etc
Most jobs don't have that flexibility though so most won't get this perk