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.

And no, people who went out to work should not have tax breaks.

But I feel that vaccinated people whinging now about going back to workplaces are insensitive to those of us who took all the risks.

But some of those people will be genuinely scared. It’s hard to blame them for that. I’m back in the office part time as per my company’s policy but on our first day back in, my manager was absolutely terrified. She’s fully vaccinated but that day in the office was the first time she’d been around anyone other than her household (and the vaccine centre staff), for a year. Do I personally share her fears, no. But she’s not trying be insensitive. I’m sure she’s well aware that there are many people in far riskier situations but she can’t just stop herself being scared. And I don’t think she’s wrong to talk about that, and to want to reassure herself by asking what the “covid secure” protocols in the office are. It feels very harsh to blame her for this. And I doubt she’d say it directly to a nurse/dr/teacher/retail worker.

But I feel that vaccinated people whinging now about going back to workplaces are insensitive to those of us who took all the risks.

Yes, totally reasonable on that. Am somewhat about some of my colleagues who are now complaining about being asked to go back in because “it’s still risky.”

Our response to covid has absolutely prioritised the already-better-off, in nice houses and secure jobs, over others. And I’m one of the decently paid job WFH lot myself. Am reminded of someone on Twitter a while back sharing tips about how to shop for food safely (PPE! Quick in and out! FFP2 mask and sanitise everything and strip and shower as soon as you’re home!) who then followed up with “if I’m organised I’ll get click and collect.” Ah cool, I’m sure that’s just sorted by robots or trained woodland creatures or something…

That said, I got ill just before the first lockdown and if I ever had to make the choice between getting covid again and WFH with schools and nurseries closed again I would pick getting covid again every single time.

I kind of get what you are saying. I'm a key worker and was on the frontline til dec. Work in ICU and caught Covid, now long covid, will be going onto half pay next month. It's part and parcel of the job being exposed to viruses/ antibiotic resistant bacteria so I expected to catch Covid at some point tbh. I did resent the posts on here banging on about how amazing WFH was, baking, gardening, etc. What is ironic is that the many people enjoying lockdown are now the ones wanting 'to get on with it' and 'get our lives
back', refusing to wear masks and generally mocking those of us who did catch it and are still suffering.

I totally feel like this. I work in education and genuinely felt like cannon fodder
What made it worse was the media portraying us as lazy and wanting to stay at home when in reality we worked all the way through with key workers children at the scariest points. All whilst being told we couldn't have the vaccine.

I see the frustration, but what would the alternative have been?

Surely everyone wfh who could do so was a good thing?

Wfh and furlough were not put in place to benefit individuals, but for society as a whole.

Personally I would have preferred to have been going into the office as usual. I was never particularly scared of covid, being low risk. I hated wfh and doing longer hours than ever, with a 35% pay cut to keep the business afloat, with a two year old and six year to be home schooled nearly broke me.

I was absolutely delighted that I had to go into work. It was great to be out and about when everyone else was stuck at home (never admitted that to anyone in real life as it would seem a bit insensitive). I feel the total opposite to you-Grateful that people were willing to stay at home whilst I was was able to be out taking risks.

@Howshouldibehave

I agree, there is a stark divide.

The whole not wanting to end WFH thing is an interesting one as well. There are posters on MN who are gutted that their plans to sell up on London and indulge in a near-retirement style of living in the country have been ‘thwarted’ by horrid bosses who now want them to come back to the office! There are others WFH who even feel bullied by bosses who want them to turn their cameras on during work Zoom meetings because they don’t see why they should do their hair/wear make up any more.

There have some jaw-dropping comments!

yes, although i am not in that position, everyone is entitled to complain

i was glad to have to go to work, although in the beginning i felt snubbed
18 months later we can wfh ! it took them that long to consider how

I understand the reason for people needing to wfh and be furloughed and agree it was the best thing to do, but I am honestly getting sick of hearing how hard life has been for people wfh, with kids to homeschool and how much they've sacrificed not having holidays or days out and how it's all not fair, or how unreasonable it is they should go back to work and how scared they are and how affected they've been, and how much the young have sacrificed to protect the elderly, because I've seen exactly what the elderly have sacrificed.

I'm very grateful to the teachers who looked after my DD so I could work, but it wasn't because it was a favour to me, it was because there'd be thousands of elderly people who wouldn't have had care if people like me couldn't get to work, not to give me an easy life.

I am now caring for the second lot of positive cases in my home - first lot was after an emergency admission in first lockdown, and I don't think it's any coincidence that things have started opening up and unvaccinated people are allowed into homes now to visit their relatives, and we now have another lot gone down with it.

Ive read things like 'carers being allowed to kill our family members' because we needed to go to the fucking shop or our kids were at school so we could go to work, Boris trying to say that it spread through homes because carers don't wash their hands and not because they dumped untested people into environments where the most vulnerable live, I've done 80 hour weeks because others have tested positive, I've watched people die in ways I'll never forget, I've watched as the media and government have discredited us by basically saying we're all too selfish to get the vaccine so we have to be forced, before all carers had even had the chance to have it or been offered.
And I've done it for minimum wage and being added as an after thought for the clap for the NHS because we just don't feature highly enough in society to be thought about in our own right.

Now we're facing picking up the pieces of even worse staffing levels as people leave because they can get more in Aldi, because they've been traumatised by what they've had to see and do, without medical training or any support at all from anywhere for their mental health.

But my mc contacts are so hard done by having to not go on holiday or have a party or because they are being told they have to go back to work.
Cry me a fucking river.

I’m a privileged middle classer according to OP’s description although I only earn in the £30,000 so I’m def not rich. It’s not like I had a choice. It’s not our fault that the way life has fallen is that I work in an office & you work in a hospital. We can’t all work in the same job. I used to be a teacher & if the pandemic has been in 2017, I’d have been going to work & ‘risking my life’. But I quit as I hated it & happened to be an officer worker in 2020 🤷🏼‍♀️ I didn’t ask to WFH, we were in lockdown. Would you rather we were all forced into the office & let the NHS collapse? I didn’t want to WFH, I’d have happily gone in but I wasn’t allowed by law.

I mean, I didn’t risk my life no but the last 18 months has been incredibly difficult. I have young children & keeping a full time job, homeschooling, looking after a just gone one year old has been nearly impossible. I wished I could go to work so I was allowed a key worker place & be able to actually do my job. Rather than being a shit employee & a shit parent. I’ve never suffered with my MH before but I’m now on medication. That’s the how bad it got.

I think NHS workers & teachers are incredible. You all deserve to be paid more & be appreciated far more. What you do is the most important job there is. I wouldn’t begrudge you getting some kinda one off payment of appreciation at all.

But not because you’ve had it harder than us privileged home workers. That just makes you sound like a judgemental, not very nice person. We’ve all had a shit 18 months, some more than others. But no-ones had a nice time.

I get that not everyone can work from home however in lots of occupations working from home is possible. I believe in this type of flexibility (regardless of Covid) and think it should be actively encouraged as cutting down on commutes is better for the environment and often better for family life. I don't see why people should be forced into offices just because not everyone can work from home.

There's another way of looking at this.
DH & I were lucky to be able to work from home; we fully appreciate this and that our type of jobs allowed for this.

However, by continuing to work from home we are making it safer for the people who have to commute in or who cannot perform their jobs at home. Less bodies on the train / in the building = less risk of exposure for those who have to go in.

We are still limiting socialising - choosing outdoor locations, minimising contact for a couple of weeks before big events like a wedding, to minimise the risk of passing anything on. We're double vaccinated but not complacent.

I'd rather give up the dining room for a home office than commute in - not just for my benefit, but to help minimise transmissions.

Please sack them, I’ll happily take their overpaid jobs and they can train to do mine.

This is going to sound flippant but it isn’t, it’s genuine - why don’t you do that? DH told me yesterday that there was a record number of vacancies being advertised online on one of the job sites, so it’s at least worth a look.

I have one of those WFH jobs. I have enormous gratitude for all the key workers who kept the country running by working in person. I also have loads of sympathy for all those who lost their livelihoods. It's been a difficult time for just about everyone for a variety of reasons and putting others down for being in different circumstances than you is not the way forward.

And I’m asking that those of us who took all the significant health risks are financially compensated

How much do you want? Flat rate for all or a percentage of salary? More cash for anyone who actually caught covid?

It’s never going to happen

Yes I enjoyed the two free pizzas my team got while I was off sick with covid, then looking after my dying mother. Thanks.

I wasn't trying to be snarky! Of course that wouldn't compensate you for your grief and I'm not suggesting it does.

I agree.

I dislike the idea that we are " all in this together".

It's simply not true.

@Howshouldibehave

I agree, there is a stark divide.

The whole not wanting to end WFH thing is an interesting one as well. There are posters on MN who are gutted that their plans to sell up on London and indulge in a near-retirement style of living in the country have been ‘thwarted’ by horrid bosses who now want them to come back to the office! There are others WFH who even feel bullied by bosses who want them to turn their cameras on during work Zoom meetings because they don’t see why they should do their hair/wear make up any more.

There have some jaw-dropping comments!

I know.

The one post that stays with me from here was a want for children to go back to school and staff risks were irrelevant as long as that happened.

Many not wanting to return to their workplace as it was unsafe yet wanted schools and other things open inc pubs and restaurants.

Furlough, ourselves and the next generation will be paying for this for a long time even though many tax payers didn’t benefit from it.

I’ve worked in a hospital, I’ve worked throughout and with some covid patients too. However I don’t hold this view. It was my job and still is my job. Also my partner continued work from home so we lost no pay and actually saved money. I certainly don’t think I need financial reimbursement!

Yes it was worrying in the first wave going to work when everyone was being told to stay home but to be honest I’d have hated furlough after the first couple of weeks. I’d have hated the risk of redundancy/losing my job. I’d have hated the not doing how my industry would survive if I was in hospitality/events/gigs etc.

@Endlesscleaning

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

We’re you not paid?

Exactly. What a bitter post from OP.

I just try my best to switch off when listening to anyone else moaning TBH (those who lost their jobs aside). I also appreciated being able to get out of the house, and my younger DC was very grateful to have a few days each fortnight in keyworker care.

I have a (non-vulnerable) family member who has mostly been on furlough with full pay, and who moans constantly about people coming inside of 2m of her. I CBA to fall out with her, so just let it wash over me.

I also gave up long ago highlighting to people that for 90% of the NHS the "full PPE" that other people say everyone should have in the workplace is a paper mask and a dinner lady plastic apron.

I have become very bitter too. I’m a secondary teacher and I think the worst thing for me was how my profession was - and still is - portrayed in the media. My brother was furloughed for over a year, he was loving life, whilst I was working closely with hundreds of people each day unvaccinated. I have now been vaccinated but will be in a unique position of working with the unvaccinated population with NO measures at all.

I think my lowest point was pairing on here around April last year and someone suggested I should take time off sick. Other posters jumped on and told me I would be abusing the system, that I should quit my job and I was a disgrace to the profession.

There's a lot of resentment on MN about people who are in jobs where WFH is possible.

In reality WFH is nothing new. The company I work for was set up like this from the beginning, long before covid.

Some jobs can't be done from home and everyone had a choice when choosing their career, and can change careers now. If you're a nurse or a plumber, you would have always known your work will be based in specific setting and not in an office or home office. Someone else who is a copy-writer or accountant on the other hand only needs a desk and a computer and can work anywhere.

On the other hand my private sector job is lower paid and much more vulnerable to redundancy compared to someone who works as a bin collector or teacher so there's that. It's not a race to the bottom though and a lot of the push to get people to return to offices is still rooted on old fashioned ideas about productivity being linked to the hours someone puts in and not the work they do within that time, and constantly monitoring people.

I think your lumping everyone together you know 1 person who’s been furlough for 18 months and some that are wfh and don’t want to back yes the not wanting to go back bit would annoy me but the fact that they are furlough or wfh I couldn’t get annoyed about because that’s there job . If you work for the nhs the fact that they were furlough or wfh was so the nhs didn’t get overwhelmed that was the whole point while industry were shut down not because they didn’t want to work . Admittedly for some it’s been a advantage but to be jealous of those just doing what they were told and to be compensated is quite frankly ridiculous. So many have lost during this pandemic financially and emotionally. Yes many have benefited but what your suggesting op is it’s not fair such and such has got to stay home for 18 months and I didn’t so I should be compensated.

It’s very sad but unfortunately in life there will always be a divide and resentment amongst people.
This last 18 months has certainly shown that.

I especially remember people praising the care home staff, all the good work they were doing last year despite being very low paid. Now there is a big divide, most of those who were praising them now want them hung drawn and quartered if any dare say they aren’t happy to have the injections. Why were they doing a brilliant job last year and now suddenly people think they aren’t.

Then teachers who lot’s were calling lazy last year yet expected to run normal lessons with inadequate resources a lot of the time.

People who were working from home (many Key workers also worked from home) complaining that everyone should stay the at home as some so beautifully put it yet expected others to do everything for them with deliveries etc

Anyone studying psychology can have a field day looking at people’s behaviour that has been shown in the last 18months.