If you are cancelling plans/think we should have another lockdown

[Maddymorphosis]

Would you be prepared to do the same next winter, and the one after that and so on?
Last December I heard a lot of "It's just one year"
People not seeing family for "just one Christmas".

Are you prepared to do it again, and going forward maybe every time there's a new variant in winter?

Cancelling or postponing plans now because I want Christmas with my family. After Xmas, it feels inevitable that everyone is going to get it at some point so I'll probably be a bit more relaxed into into January, though if scenes in hospital are horrific I suppose that might also have an effect on my behaviour.

OP are you in the UK?

We haven't had social events cancelled or been told we can't see people at Christmas. I was out last night at a huge Christmas Event - LFTs before going, and everyone had to show vaccination pass.

Or is this just a hypothetical thread?

I'm still going out to selected events, just with local friends, looking forward to all of them, no-one has cancelled (one big party cancelled a few weeks back). Have no desire to go back to sitting in my house, prepared to take my chances.

My family is fairly local, though, so I don't want to isolate for 10 days just to see them, if I get something we are quite relaxed and will do Christmas a few days late!

I feel I need social contact right now, and I know for sure my children do, both struggled hugely in lockdown, one is much better but says she can never live like that again, the other isn't fully better and still struggles. We are keeping some social activities in place and even if 'lockdown' was announced, would continue to see local family and friends, I'm just not prepared to risk everyone's mental health and that's that.

How many covid deaths are they predicting this winter? Something like 75,000? I love my parents and as much as I want to see them, I want them to live to see another Christmas, so we'll do it by Skype this year and hope that it isn't as bad as some are predicting.

We are being a bit more cautious. Not going on nights out but we have tickets booked for the local panto next week which we are planning to attend. Capacity is less than 500 and dh & i will wear masks. After that though we will keep low key until Xmas day is over

A class is closing at our school, meaning one doctor mum can't do 20 operations this week as she will have no childcare.

Closing schools and locking down has so so so so so many knock on effects that no one is thinking about. And all for what? A fucking sore throat.

I don’t think it is all or nothing - I’ve cancelled a day / evening out in a big city on the 23rd because I have family coming on Xmas day and would rather avoid being a close contact if I can.

I have DC at school though and no doubt that is just as risky. Although school are now back in class bubbles too to try and reduce the spread on the lead up to Christmas.

I am hosting Christmas this year - in addition to us 4 I have another 4 adults coming. On Boxing Day I have 2 adults and a child coming. We will ask them to do lateral flow tests.

So I think it’s about balance to allow some normality and avoid lock downs

@RedskyThisNight

I don't get the obsession with seeing people at Christmas being so much more important than seeing them rest of the year. So having to stop social events in December, whilst allowing them the rest of the year doesn't seem such a bad thing. For every person that love Christmas there seem to be 3 that find it a chore, so perhaps making Christmas less of a "thing" is a positive decision!

Because many people can't see their family throughout the rest of the year as everyone is working or at school, and seeing family often involves travelling several hundred miles, sleeping over etc.

And, like it or not, we live in a Western Society that puts a big emphasis on Christmas - bank holidays, time off work and time with family. People are allowed to be sad that they're missing out on that, especially if they have young children involved.

As I’m in the unfortunate position of having someone close to me take their own life because of the misery of repeated restrictions and then the lockdown last winter I may be biased but my sense of anger that these ‘necessary lockdowns’ save lives, except if you are a Tory having a good old jolly up at multiple parties is too strong to put my life on hold any more.
I’d rather have no life than a miserable, joyless, fear filled one. The fact the people making these rules were packed in a party, squaffing champagne while my loved one killed themselves last Christmas means that no, I will not be ok with any instructions from them ever ever again.

I'm cancelling some plans.
No to lockdown. I don't want to be forced into anything, I'll assess my and my families risk at every step, but I would like to avoid the feeling that I have no say at all- that's where a feeling of helplessness creeps in.

We've cancelled a trip to Orlando given that disneyworld doesn't allow for adequate social distancing over Christmas. Will likely cancel the summer and possibly next Christmas too.

There are family members who I will avoid at certain times given their particular risks- for example my father who believes he is no covid risk, because he only sees a few people- but the person he does see is a practising Heroin user, and he doesn't wash his hands and uses a mask when he attends medical appointments but not in taxis, and MIL and FIL who make up the rules as they wish, and cough and sneeze freely- without catching with a tissue etc, minimally sanitise and rarely wear masks.

I am careful, but I don't want restrictions imposed on me or my family so we can't freely make our choices.

Yes, because the purpose of reducing contacts this year is not for each of us to avoid ever getting covid (we’re all going to get it, it will be endemic) but because the nhs is not currently equipped for us all to get it at once in the next 2-3 months. That is not necessarily going to be the case next year, if the government follows through on its funding plans and the pressure on hospitals is lower. As someone who will be giving birth in a hospital in Feb I’m terrified that the staff i may need in an emergency will have been diverted elsewhere to manage the burden, it’s really frightening and I’m totally relying on others to reduce the chances this will happen.

Because many people can't see their family throughout the rest of the year as everyone is working or at school, and seeing family often involves travelling several hundred miles, sleeping over etc.

That's an excuse and not a reason though. There are many school holidays that aren't at Christmas. Working people have annual leave that they can book. For many people (e.g. retail and hospitality) it's harder to get holiday around Christmas than other times of the year!

@Maddymorphosis

Would you be prepared to do the same next winter, and the one after that and so on? Last December I heard a lot of "It's just one year" People not seeing family for "just one Christmas".

Are you prepared to do it again, and going forward maybe every time there's a new variant in winter?

Yes.

Have you imagined what hospitals would be like if we just ignore the virus and let it spread as it does. When there are literally no beds left in hospitals, where would you put people arriving in ambulances?

It's just Christmas, it happens every year, you can celebrate it on whatever day you want, it's really not that big a deal.

The fact the people making these rules were packed in a party, squaffing champagne while my loved one killed themselves last Christmas means that no, I will not be ok with any instructions from them ever ever again

I've lost family as well and I don't see how it helps remaining vulnerable members of my family, or others, to put them at risk in order to stick two fingers up at a bunch of charlatans. They don't give two hoots about me and mine or anything we might do.

We are not going to be in splendid isolation but are all avoiding crowded events and those who are out and about are testing regularly to reduce risk of passing anything on.

I don't think I can answer. At the moment I want to keep safe and be sure I can see my kids for Christmas so I'm going to lockdown as much as I can till Christmas.

Generally it is hard as my husband is mid 70s, not white, overweight and disabled so just a bit vulnerable and I don't want to kill him by bringing something home but I don't think we can live permanently in lockdown.

If this was going to happen forevermore, and I don't think it will, then yes I would be prepared to never see my parents for a few months of the year. My father has been told he should live another 10 years. But if he gets covid he will probably die. I would be happy to see him 10 months of the year, and not for a few months, rather than have him die.

@OlympicProcrastinator

As I’m in the unfortunate position of having someone close to me take their own life because of the misery of repeated restrictions and then the lockdown last winter I may be biased but my sense of anger that these ‘necessary lockdowns’ save lives, except if you are a Tory having a good old jolly up at multiple parties is too strong to put my life on hold any more. I’d rather have no life than a miserable, joyless, fear filled one. The fact the people making these rules were packed in a party, squaffing champagne while my loved one killed themselves last Christmas means that no, I will not be ok with any instructions from them ever ever again.

I am so sorry, that must be very hard to deal with. It is galling to think we did what was asked and they were partying like there's no tomorrow.

I think I will be sensible, I won't deliberately flout laws but I don't think I will feel the same pressure to follow their rules or laws to the letter.

@RedskyThisNight

Because many people can't see their family throughout the rest of the year as everyone is working or at school, and seeing family often involves travelling several hundred miles, sleeping over etc.

That's an excuse and not a reason though. There are many school holidays that aren't at Christmas. Working people have annual leave that they can book. For many people (e.g. retail and hospitality) it's harder to get holiday around Christmas than other times of the year!

Well, of course, but I hate how people are painted as selfish and wrong to want to see their family at Christmas.

It's such a weird thing to criticise people for IMO. We live in a Western country and we celebrate Christmas - most places close and people are given time off work for the purpose of celebrating and seeing their loved ones. It's really not selfish to actually want to do those things.

Your question is redundant as for now Christmas will go ahead as normal as no rules have been imposed.

You can’t berate people for making their own risk assessment, either this year or next year.

I've lost family as well and I don't see how it helps remaining vulnerable members of my family, or others, to put them at risk in order to stick two fingers up at a bunch of charlatans

I’m not ignoring them to stick two fingers up at them. If you read the first part of my post you’ll see that the very act of supposedly protecting my vulnerable loved one was the very thing that killed them. Some people don’t want to just exist.

@julieca

If this was going to happen forevermore, and I don't think it will, then yes I would be prepared to never see my parents for a few months of the year. My father has been told he should live another 10 years. But if he gets covid he will probably die. I would be happy to see him 10 months of the year, and not for a few months, rather than have him die.

That does seem a sensible way to look at it.

What can I say? Frankly I don't give a flying whatsa about people being cranky about missing out on a dinner with their family and friends. Family & friends they have had the chance to see a number of times over the last couple of years. Ok - so what if they couldn't get together on 25th Dec 2020? It's just a day.

I can't visit my mom who is dying. She's overseas and i can't travel there. I saw her last in Feb 2020 just prior to everything going toxic. I had hoped that things would be good enough for me to travel a year back, and 6 months back. But no. She'll be dead before I can get to see her. So, no, I couldn't care less if anyone is cranky about Christmas.

Just say Bah Humbug.

ancientgran Thank you. I won’t deliberately flout laws either. I am triple jabbed, mask wearing but, if I was ever told again I wasn’t allowed to see someone who I already had been told I wasn’t allowed to see for a long period of time, I would consider the wider picture and the persons MH. I so wish I could go back in time. It absolutely broke me when I found out the government was having multiple parties while imposing such harsh restrictions on certain people in our community.

FFS OP! Grow up.

Thank goodness people of my parents generation weren’t selfish fuckers during WW2 moaning about missing a proper Christmas for 6 years despite living with the risks of being killed and struggling with rationing.

I'm changing my plans because I'm not an arsehole and I want to see my family in a way thats as safe as possible.

It's exercising personal responsibility.

I don't want another lockdown. Sadly I think another lockdown could happen or tighter measures are imposed if the idiots refuse to realise that lots and lots of mixing spreads viruses. The idea that we avoid lockdown measures BecAUSe Th3 G0verNMenT cANT TeLl Me W0t 2 dO types want to pretend covid isn't a problem is laughable.