What one moment will always stay with you from this?

[Ostryga]

Mine was realising panic shopping was everywhere, and that I needed to buy an entire food shop for Dd and I before lockdown.

I cried when I found a shop with chicken and milk.

The fear I felt of the virus at that time, and also not being able to make sure we had food is something I hope to never repeat.

Finding a job after 6 years unemployment, then losing it 2 weeks later. I allowed myself one sob and 2 tears.

I did cry on the phone when I phoned remove my toddler from preschool place as I couldn’t afford it without the job. Happily the 4 weeks notice pay was saved and is paying for this year preK 2 days a week, so she can have another crack at it. Just waiting for that to get all fucked up with our rising numbers

Going for a walk into Newcastle City Centre on a Saturday in April last year and it looked like this. Anyone who knows the Toon will understand how bonkers it would have felt to see it completely empty on a glorious warm Saturday afternoon. All the roads on the way in were totally empty too.

Also: The bananas posts on MN; BJ saying 'many would lose loved ones' (while proceeding to fuck up the covid response meaning more people lost loved ones than should have); that ridiculous competitive clapping nonsense; people on MN putting everything that came into the house in the oven; DH saying 'they'll never close the pubs, don't be daft' when I suggested they might because other countries had done so; seeing on the news on a Sunday morning that northern Italy had been put into lockdown - it seemed horrific and impossible but oddly far away, like it could never happen here. The day before me and DH had been to the theatre and then for cocktails and everything seemed fairly normal, despite there being 11 deaths already. We talked about it while we were having our cocktails (the last ones we'd have 'out' for 16 months but we didn't know that then!) and we thought it'd probably fizzle out. When Italy went into lockdown next day, I remember feeling the first real twinges of fear and unease.

Getting my first vaccination. I cried like a complete twat because I was so relieved and grateful.

I was proactively bulk purchasing (not known as panic buying yet!) grocery staples particularly long life items back in February 2020 wearing a makeshift hazmat suit complete with head gear, mask and gloves

In February 2020? When there were hardly any cases in the UK?

Boris being admitted to intensive care. Can't stand the man but the thought of the panic if he died was scary.

I was on maternity leave until April 2021, but I work with children in various settings, many of whom do not have happy home lives. I worried about children in this situation so much in successive lockdowns, and on my return to work I am sorry to say that I was right. Lockdowns were unimaginable horror.

@TheVampiresWife there were already thousands of cases in the UK in Feb, just most of us (including our fucking useless government) didnt realise it then.

If only on, it was the Friday before lockdown, popping into Waitrose with DH to pick up dinner on the way home from work and it had been cleared by locusts. I felt real fear.

The loveliness of the community coming together to help everyone.

The early "positive" threads on here - they really helped.

Someone organising a Christmas lights switch-on for our street which everyone agreed will become a new tradition.

The bloody BBC!

[quote Porcupineintherough]@TheVampiresWife there were already thousands of cases in the UK in Feb, just most of us (including our fucking useless government) didnt realise it then.[/quote]
True - but if we didn't realise it, why were people shopping in makeshift hazmat suits?!

Apparently so that a few weeks later they could laugh at all the people who weren’t as clever as them. Or because it didn’t really happen.

I was proactively bulk purchasing (not known as panic buying yet!) grocery staples particularly long life items back in February 2020 wearing a makeshift hazmat suit complete with head gear, mask and gloves

In Feb 2020 you wore mask and what a clear visor? Is that what you mean by headgear. Then all the rest.

In Feb you would have been a rare sight - (actually that level was rare throughout

Early March 202, I was recovering in hospital on the heart attack treatment ward and everyone was coughing. I remember really worrying because patients and the nurses were coughing, coughing, coughing. A week later on that ward, the HCPs were apologising for having to talk to us patients through masks. Masks became mandatory for HCPs but they didn't have enough to go around. The HCPs were struggling to wear the masks all the time, I remember. A couple of people on my ward tested positive and that was a bit of an 'oh shit' moment. I wasn't fully recovered but had to be discharged early because the heart attack treatment ward was turning into a covid ward. I remember the consultant telling me, "We won't recognise this place in two weeks. It will be completely different."

March 2020 that should read.

One of my early ones is on the day Wuhan locked down in January 2020 - was on a packed train and a pissed young bloke was saying 'I've got corona! I've got corona!', and everyone was looking at him slightly bemused. I remember thinking that it would never reach us in the UK, how wrong I was...

I was proactively bulk purchasing (not known as panic buying yet!) grocery staples particularly long life items back in February 2020 wearing a makeshift hazmat suit complete with head gear, mask and gloves

🤣🤣🤣

Honestly some of the worlds "preppers" must have shit their pants with excitement that the "thing" they'd been planning all their lives for had finally arrived!

@Amima

I remember the first time I went to the supermarket in about 10 months, to get a few Xmas bits that were missing from my online order. It was late at night and the one and only cashier didn’t have a mask on. I was so angry and terrified, I dumped my trolley and walked out. Like I couldn’t bring myself to approach her because she wasn’t wearing a mask. I thought how the fuck am I supposed to pay when I can’t go near her?! I sat in the car for ages just sobbing and hyperventilating. Then I made a formal complaint about her saying if she couldn’t wear a mask she shouldn’t be on the till because she was risking customers lives.

This is awful. You could have cost somebody their job.

@TheVampiresWife

I was proactively bulk purchasing (not known as panic buying yet!) grocery staples particularly long life items back in February 2020 wearing a makeshift hazmat suit complete with head gear, mask and gloves

In February 2020? When there were hardly any cases in the UK?

I started bulk buying bits and pieces again (had done so for Brexit) in Feb 2020.

Why?

Because it was already being said at that point that global supply chains were going to get stuffed due to factory closures and containers being stuck just with what was happening in China.

We also started to see cases appearing in the UK. Given that China had already struggled to contain things and it wasn't apparent we were detecting all cases immediately, it was pretty arrogant and naive to assume we weren't going to face a problem.

If things hadn't turned bad, I hadn't lost anything - it was a no risk sensible thing that I could do, so I did.

Trouble is people don't understand supply chains and production disruption (where is the cheap shit you buy produced? - theres no point in the uk being carbon neutral if all its doing is outsourcing production to china including the pollution being another good example of a lack of joined up thinking which is highly politically relevant atm).

As it goes there are currently warning going on about getting christmas presents early this year because of production and delivery issues in China and elsewhere being likely.

People can take the piss any raise eyebrows all they like about covid clairvoyants - all it does is highlight how people view the world and don't pay attention to things elsewhere and how that might affect them both directly and indirectly.

Until we get our heads around this, we just set ourselves up for the next crisis whatever it maybe.

Globalism is a bastard you can't pretend doesn't exist.

it was pretty arrogant and naive to assume we weren't going to face a problem.

The only thing there was a shortage in my part of London was flour.

@rottd

it was pretty arrogant and naive to assume we weren't going to face a problem.

The only thing there was a shortage in my part of London was flour.

Was plenty you couldn't get for a while around here.

I just was making the point that not buying 5000 loo rolls was naive.

For me I think its the things my son (who was in Y6 at the time) missed out on.
The residential trip was cancelled, no leavers disco, no proper leavers assembly. No transition visits to secondary school.

@rottd

I just was making the point that not buying 5000 loo rolls was naive.

How many fucking loo rolls do you get through in 6 months?

@RedToothBrush

As it goes there are currently warning going on about getting christmas presents early this year because of production and delivery issues in China and elsewhere being likely

This is certainly something I’ve taken note of. I wouldn’t be as worried if I had just adults to buy for but I do have two small kids so I’m making sure that things are bought well before Christmas (it also works out better for us financially splitting it over a couple of months).

Christmas this year could be completely fine. It could also end up being a bit of a disaster like last year with changes of plans and the like.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have another 2019 Christmas but I don’t think we’re out of the woods, yet. While I think another lockdown is unlikely, I do think if numbers climb enough and there’s a particularly bad year with other seasonal viruses, things may end up happening.

I’m sure lots of us really felt it last year with cancelled plans and movement limits being imposed. But we never thought it would happen last March, did we? Anything can happen.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that everything can change at a moment’s notice.

Nowhere near as much as these clever people 😆

I remember going onto flight radar and uk airspace was practically empty. Not a plane in the sky.

Trouble is people don't understand supply chains and production disruption (where is the cheap shit you buy produced?

I do understand, but cheers for being patronising. My solution is not to buy 'cheap shit'.