Those of us who were ‘cannon fodder’- how do you feel?

[Onandoff]

I went to a gathering the other day with people who were privileged enough to still be working from home in highly paid city jobs. Their experiences were a stark contrast with mine. It was interesting to hear how protected they’d been, many still getting shopping delivered and only just resuming socialising. They hadn’t been on public transport at all. There was a general air of resentment at being asked to go back to offices and commute. They’d all saved money and were very worried about covid exposure despite being vaccinated. Apparently many workers have completely refused to return.

DH and I were the only key workers there and it brought home how exposed we’d been. Literally all of our family and colleagues caught it and some died or were left disabled. My mum died. In the hospital where I work 80% caught it in the first wave alone.

It’s been interesting to see through this that the jobs essential to society are (generally, appreciate some exceptions like medics) the worst paid. If we’d refused to go in or been redeployed we’d have been sacked. While the privileged middle class are still being pandered to despite vaccination.

I feel that those who went out to work should be financially compensated for the risk we took. At the very least we should be given tax breaks and not be expected to cough up for furlough costs.

The moment for me that really cemented the divide was the utter callousness of the wfh people with regard to the Pret redundancy’s. No thought to how devastating it was, just how they don’t go anymore so it’s all ok because they can work from home in jammies.

Was this just your circle? DH has wfh since March 2020 & gets a pret twice a wk.

I'm puzzled at the notion that all jobs where people could work from home are 'middle class'. Do people see an average admin job as being 'middle class'? What makes a job 'middle class'?

My husband is a police officer and was working out and about throughout while I was working from home and homeschooling two infant primary age children (school wouldn't take them as were only taking children of two keyworkers). He definitely had it much easier and got to see other people which i was jealous of! I have loved my odd days in the office. The only time he worked from home was when we had to isolate while waiting for test results or pre op isolations for me.

I was part time furloughed in Jan for childcare which made things manageable for us.

It's not clear cut.

@shewalkslikerihanna

Homeopathy? 100 per cent 👍 That and herbs and decent supplements Colloidal silver

Finally feel free tonight of a really awful kidney infection and sore throat
That’s dogged me all week but I’ve thrown everything at it and all good 👍

It's obviously not working very well if you have 'several health issues'. Perhaps of you tried actual medicine you might be well enough to be able to deal with a sore arm.

I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
With two nd kids but no EHCP trying to home educate whilst after 1st lockdown WOH part time was a complete nightmare. Self employed with bugger all furlough duee to very recent workload increase.. DH was wfh but was not able to do much to help. Of course his hrt taxes will be funding furlough too.
I watch the vast number of families of key workers sending their kids off too school wishing that dh wasn't immunosupressed and I could get a job as a carer or something to escape the home.

@shinynewapple21

I'm puzzled at the notion that all jobs where people could work from home are 'middle class'. Do people see an average admin job as being 'middle class'? What makes a job 'middle class'?

I often see this and think that the people posting this nonsense just don't actually know many working class people and imagine we are all in factories or supermarkets. Both my dh and I are from very working class families and pretty much everyone we know could work from home except a few health care workers.

I'm puzzled at the notion that all jobs where people could work from home are 'middle class'. Do people see an average admin job as being 'middle class'? What makes a job 'middle class'?

Quite

@Lamentations PPE in the first instance would have been helpful.
And yes I'm fully prepared and accustomed to what my job in healthcare entails but no amount of horrific trauma/working in a military hospital could have prepared us for covid.
HIV etc are obviously an occupational hazard but again the comparison is futile as we are well versed on what contributes as a risk. This was and still is a novel virus and one that apologies if you think this is incorrect, but as a whole the world was unprepared for.
I went from carrying out CT and Ultrasound to caring for extremely unwell, ventilated patients on covid itu. Totally out of my scope of practice.

Interestingly those frontline who appear to be largely unaffected and unaware appear to be those who working in community generals with either no ITU or a 4 bed ITU for example.
Quite different to my acute trust with a massive ITU capacity (which incidentally still wasn't big enough)

The moment for me that really cemented the divide was the utter callousness of the wfh people with regard to the Pret redundancy’s. No thought to how devastating it was, just how they don’t go anymore so it’s all ok because they can work from home in jammies.

Obviously redundancies are devastating for the people involved, but it’s not as simple as wfh = always bad for all other businesses. I live on the outskirts of a large town and our area has its own little high street. The coffee shop there used to be open three days a week and was very quiet (I used to go frequently on mat leave which ended just before lockdown 1), it’s now open 6 days a week, and is a lot busier with takeaway coffees and people going in during the day. DH and I go there for lunch once a week which we couldn’t do if in the office. Obviously that’s no comfort to those working in similar places in city centres, but everyone going back to the office is something the staff in this coffee shop (and other shops on this street) certainly wouldn’t want.
I’m not saying I generously wfh solely for the benefit of this coffee shop, of course not, just that people being around their own local areas more and spending money there isn’t a bad thing.

You do understand how capitalism works? Top level elite who own the means of production and exploit the workers for profit? Workers who are individually replaceable but collectively essential? Hence the capitalists put betting shops in areas of deprivation to keep workers "happy", while individuals in that area suffer shit living conditions and life chances.

You are "cannon fodder". Pawns. Our whole culture is based on this model.

If you object to being cannon fodder the. capitalism's response is you should have worked harder at school, deferred life's gratification, and trampled on heads to rise up.

@shinynewapple21

I'm puzzled at the notion that all jobs where people could work from home are 'middle class'. Do people see an average admin job as being 'middle class'? What makes a job 'middle class'?

Exactly.

We live in a council flat and DH's salary is nowhere near MC money, and his team (who also wfh throughout) earn even less. They're all key workers too - not all key workers were going out to work.

@Knittingupastorm

The moment for me that really cemented the divide was the utter callousness of the wfh people with regard to the Pret redundancy’s. No thought to how devastating it was, just how they don’t go anymore so it’s all ok because they can work from home in jammies.

Obviously redundancies are devastating for the people involved, but it’s not as simple as wfh = always bad for all other businesses. I live on the outskirts of a large town and our area has its own little high street. The coffee shop there used to be open three days a week and was very quiet (I used to go frequently on mat leave which ended just before lockdown 1), it’s now open 6 days a week, and is a lot busier with takeaway coffees and people going in during the day. DH and I go there for lunch once a week which we couldn’t do if in the office. Obviously that’s no comfort to those working in similar places in city centres, but everyone going back to the office is something the staff in this coffee shop (and other shops on this street) certainly wouldn’t want.
I’m not saying I generously wfh solely for the benefit of this coffee shop, of course not, just that people being around their own local areas more and spending money there isn’t a bad thing.

I agree with this. Our local High Street is booming. Lots of people wfh have nipped over on their lunch breaks for a sandwich or a coffee or just to do a bit of shopping. A new barber's, two independent coffee shops and a cafe have opened in the last year and they're all doing a roaring trade on top of the same sort of outlets which were there already. There's a real community feel now which I've never seen before in all the years I've lived here. Our city centre is full of closed down shops - many of the big names have gone including all our Prets, Topshop, Debenhams, Thornton's and so on. But the local area is thriving. Nobody is denying it's a tragedy for those who have lost their jobs but don't blame those who were moved to homeworking at the start of the pandemic through no choice of their own, and have decided it works best for them (and their employers agree).

@Budsaway
Please keep your snarks to yourself
I’ve got a long term condition going back 50 years and I’m nearly 70
Don’t you think I’ve been through the system ... many times
And been spat out at the other end

I do what works for me.... okay
You do what works for you 😁

@GoldFrankensteinAndGrrr & @Knittingupastorm Pret itself are looking at expanding as branches in regional towns are busier than ever.

I also heard a good point yesterday on the radio during a remote working discussion. A young poster said that one benefit of wfh was they made connections in their local community. Working in the office was more social in theory but in reality friends were lost once you left that job as they were spread all over as were original friends so they didn't actually spend lots of time together. They had made friends in the local area & could meet for lunch etc

Yes a few of the Prets near my zone 1 office are shut but the new ones opened near my home in Zone 2 are thriving, with queues out the door (and not just due to social distancing) every lunchtime.

It's always sad when people lose jobs.

But my recollection of the Pret scenario was the BG seemingly trying to encourage folks back to the office when there was no vaccine and no real need to prop up the bank balances of their rich pal who owned Pret. It was a dangerous strategy and in retrospect was very misguided.

I actually think it's no bad thing if people realise they can bring in their own coffee and lunch rather than throwing away a huge chunk of income on takeaway food and drinks. Might help with the obesity crisis as well.

**I feel that those who went out to work should be financially compensated for the risk we took.

You did, by being paid.

Not everyone who went out to work is a key worker either. I work in manufacturing, not a key worker but I can't work from home. A lot on MN seem to think that working out of the home = key worker, working from home = not a key worker.

you're right @Waxonwaxoff0 DH is a key worker (not stepped foot in office for more than a yr). I am too & have periods of in & out.

People were told to wfh, only go out if absolutely necessary, have food delivered etc, if they possibly could, that it would save lives.
Would you rather they had not?

This thread being taken over by discussion on teaching is an example of privilege. We’ve - rightly - had numerous threads over the past 18 months on education and teaching, we don’t need this one too. There’s a lot less outrage and discussion about the care sector, for example. I’m not sure if the average person even realises what it’s been like for workers who earn a hell of a lot less than teachers and other professionals.

I don’t really understand the OP’s point about paying for furlough. The majority of furlough has been paid to workers who are not high earning, privileged professionals - retail and hospitality?!

I don’t really understand the OP’s point about paying for furlough. The majority of furlough has been paid to workers who are not high earning, privileged professionals - retail and hospitality?!

I don't get this thinking. Do people think those who lost jobs & income would just sit at home happily?

Excellent point @Mickarooni . I've seen very few threads where care workers feature and to me they have one of the hardest jobs as their clients can't in many cases be physically distant and the very low wages in no way compensate for the risks of the job.

Appreciate its not a race to the bottom so it does not mean that teachers have not been put in a difficult position.

@Mickarooni

This thread being taken over by discussion on teaching is an example of privilege. We’ve - rightly - had numerous threads over the past 18 months on education and teaching, we don’t need this one too. There’s a lot less outrage and discussion about the care sector, for example. I’m not sure if the average person even realises what it’s been like for workers who earn a hell of a lot less than teachers and other professionals.

I don’t really understand the OP’s point about paying for furlough. The majority of furlough has been paid to workers who are not high earning, privileged professionals - retail and hospitality?!

Yes, it has been hijacked by a group that is statistically far less at risk of dying from Covid, i.e. being canon fodder, than the health care and social care sector. These people were the real canon fodder, looking after the sickest and most infectious without adequate PPE and dying in relatively huge numbers, 1200 is a conservative figure, other figures are nearer 1500. Children are not plague-carrying rats, but childless teaching union reps would have children treated like this for ever more. However, NHS staff treating Covid patients in hospital are at very high risk of infection, as well as social care staff treating care home residents with Covid.

yep care workers, women in manufacturing etc all high rates from death but very few threads.