Guilt free railing

[WouldBeGood]

The place to vent, moan, rail, cheer: whatever you’re feeling about Covid, and the rules, and life and the universe.

I’ve started this as I’m feeling scared and fed up with increasing restrictions despite vaccines. I feel that what should be a more positive time is instead bringing more and more doom.

I want the simple pleasures of life back, as well as all the big stuff.

@MaxNormal

And if they do actually let people travel within Scotland, I can hear the howls of outrage from the rual areas already as the central belt, deprived of their usual two weeks in the sun and half deranged after a year of boredom and governent-sponsered emotional abuse, drive up north en masse and leave it under a sea of litter, Tennants cans, portable bbqs and dead sheep again. Fun times.

Yes, this. The Highlands are going to be the Cornwall of the North. But with shitter weather and more midges.

We booked a lodge in Aviemore last summer for July this year. We are going to be chased out!

Why might I be able to go to Inverness (4.5hrs drive) but couldn’t go to the Lake District (2hrs) what is going on? Also I feel like I’m completely missing something why are they suggesting this summer will be so much stricter than last despite the amazing vaccination progress. The lack of transparency is getting me down.

There is no acknowledgement of people’s mental health deteriorating and people needing hope now. What is being done to help with wellbeing. I very much dislike Boris Johnson but get the impression he does really want to open up but needs to be cautious. Maybe understanding the weariness of everyone. I don’t get that from
SG.

Last spring/summer they went at snail’s pace last time, when we had no vaccines, and cases still stayed really low until they started climbing end of September. Like the rest of Europe.

So the lesson they’ve taken from this now that we have vaccines is to go even slower? What?

Surely this should be part of the ‘grown up conversation’ they were talking about back in spring? Getting to leave the country shouldn’t be something that is ‘permitted’ if we’re really really good, it should be the basic expectation and restrictions on that need to come with exceptional justification and public support. It feels now like the default state is lockdown and we need to be oh so very grateful if we’re allowed a teensy bit of freedom.

I’m in favour of the lockdowns to cope with an emergency situation. But once we’ve vaccinated everybody we still won’t be allowed to see our families outside Scotland until... when? Fucking really?

@Chasingamy

There is no acknowledgement of people’s mental health deteriorating and people needing hope now. What is being done to help with wellbeing. I very much dislike Boris Johnson but get the impression he does really want to open up but needs to be cautious. Maybe understanding the weariness of everyone. I don’t get that from SG.

Totally agree. I also can't listen to her say the priority is education yet there's no guaranteed return date for the majority of pupils.

@anon444877

I tried to watch but I had to turn it off after 5 mins as too upsetting. Here's some god news - a small amount of kids will access their basic right that a decent education. And now here's a whole slew of bad news just in case you experience feelings of hope.

Have to say - yes, this is exactly it! I'm really happy that P1-3 and nurseries can go back - but really?? That is a symbol of our success and how well everything is going?

And how dare she talk about fucking tradeoffs. It is children's rights that have been taken away - but apparently no..We should recognise that we all have to sacrifice a bit more to get them back to school and they and their parents should be grateful for it. It is actually making me really angry that this is being sold to us as "yay - go Nicola".

I've been following this thread for a while now, enjoying all the balanced comments. One thing I couldn't understand in todays update was all the comments about travel abroad or within Scotland. Why no mention of the rest of the UK?

There is no acknowledgement of people’s mental health deteriorating and people needing hope now. What is being done to help with wellbeing.

Well there’s those Clear Your Head adverts they put on Twitter suggesting we’d all feel better if we go out for a walk. WON’T THAT BE NICE.

@rookiemere

Didn't we have a roadmap last time and the time before. Couldn't she just use one of those and stick new dates on it same as we do when project overruns?

I wonder if they'll relax the teens number outside. Even that would make a huge difference- to me - at Easter.

Ha! Yes...save some money on all these roadmaps and strategic frameworks and whoosits and try a blatant copy and paste of 2021 over 2020 on the last ones. Though, no - she said this one wouldn't have dates on it so we can't blame her when she changes them So it'll be 64 pages of numbered paragraphs of pointless waffle, with some little bits of graphic design to make it look all friendly and caring.

@EleanorShell

I've been following this thread for a while now, enjoying all the balanced comments. One thing I couldn't understand in todays update was all the comments about travel abroad or within Scotland. Why no mention of the rest of the UK?

Because the snp is an inwards looking govt.

@anon444877

agree rookie let's hope there is something different for teens and kids though as it's looking like we'll be spending easter like we did last year, learning too much about bloody snails, holding snails, admiring snails. Joy.

Snails are cool, though. Which is probably just as well as we'll be seeing a lot of them this year.

@Chasingamy

There is no acknowledgement of people’s mental health deteriorating and people needing hope now. What is being done to help with wellbeing. I very much dislike Boris Johnson but get the impression he does really want to open up but needs to be cautious. Maybe understanding the weariness of everyone. I don’t get that from SG.

I totally agree.

Goodness - this thread is cathartic. Today is a day for railing, as if we haven't had enough reasons this year so far...

Snails are cool in that they're super adaptive - they'll eat anything including each other, depending on the species @NotAnActualSheep. It was hard to find many other mini beasts as easily as the common park snail!

Well there’s those Clear Your Head adverts they put on Twitter suggesting we’d all feel better if we go out for a walk. WON’T THAT BE NICE.

I hate those adverts so much. Like that’s going to help one year one.

I don't know, I was surprised that NS came out very clearly and said no travel at all at easter, nothing in the summer except Scotland if you're lucky.

I know that was the general direction of travel but that was pretty clear today.

@EleanorShell cause the English are dirty disease spreading bastards, don't you know? And we have a border. Its invisible but its there!

Yes a border with many different ways in and out and a police force who don't particularly want to be policing it.

I totally get why now at this precise minute we'd be cautious, but when England numbers are dropping significantly as well, where's the justification to stop us travelling there during the summer ? It makes zero sense.

Last summer we were forced into crossing the border into England for a few days to a hotel with a swimming pool, just to be able to swim. My goodness - it was amazing. They had a theoretical limit on people, but it was actually really quiet. The rest of the holiday was a bit crap (loads of tourist stuff closed, and the bits that went had so many restrictions so as to make it not a pleasant experience) - but the pool was superb. Expensive, but superb. Haven't been able to go swimming since.

I assume that'll be off this summer, then

I'm going to the Lakes regardless. A week self catering with hopefully somewhere open to have a meal will do me fine.

@rookiemere

Yes a border with many different ways in and out and a police force who don't particularly want to be policing it.

I totally get why now at this precise minute we'd be cautious, but when England numbers are dropping significantly as well, where's the justification to stop us travelling there during the summer ? It makes zero sense.

There were times last summer when we were down to 5 cases a day. With eat out to help out and holidays and no vaccines.

I do not get why the plan would be now we have vaccines, we need to go even harder on restrictions over the summer when the virus will be at low levels anyway? And the people it might infect will have been vaccinated? So that we can maybe start loosening things up over autumn and winter when respiratory viruses including this one are always worse? What on earth?

I’m going to be sneaking over the border by July so my kids can hug their grandparents if this is really what they’re going for. Someone cause a distraction on the motorway and the rest of us can leg it down the backgrounds at Gretna disguised as sheep or something.

Any one else just sick to fucking death of zoom replacements for everything?
Was offered first steps group by HV.... Over zoom
Minister emailed me about Sunday school .... over zoom
Toddler groups .... zoom

I know they're trying but it's really not a replacement.

It's blowing a hoolie, I don't want to go for a fucking walk I want to have a bloody life. I've moved towns, don't really know anybody, over the years my friends have drifted, moved away etc. I want to get out and meet people and try to build up a new circle but instead it's more fucking stay inside and don't do anything.

Sorry. I'm normally quite stoical but I've just read that a young ex-colleague has terminal cancer. We weren't close at all, but it's really just made me think that life is too fucking short to keep living it like this.

Someone cause a distraction on the motorway and the rest of us can leg it down the backgrounds at Gretna disguised as sheep or something.

We just need the folk standing on the border with their placards telling English folk to go home, to be infiltrated by one person shouting that TWA not W and the police will be sent to deal with it pronto - Knowing my luck, we'll still be in the Melrose toffee shop at that point stocking up for the trip... :o

I have a meeting for work with someone who lives not that far away, i was tempted to say to him to meet in the local park and we could sit at either end of a bench and covertly pass briefcases across like the spies!