Corona Virus: How Are We Doing?

[Andy in Germany]

Tier 3 during Christmas and looming Tier 4 does have the feel of never seeing anyone outside your household ever again.

I'm fortunate: I'm not really feeling the lockdown, partly because it's not quite as severe here, but also because my employer provides an essential service so we've never really stopped or had furlough or similar.

Being an introvert helps, of course; in fact it is the first time I can remember that introversion is socially acceptable.

 

[marinyork]

I'm fortunate: I'm not really feeling the lockdown, partly because it's not quite as severe here, but also because my employer provides an essential service so we've never really stopped or had furlough or similar.

Being an introvert helps, of course; in fact it is the first time I can remember that introversion is socially acceptable.

National restrictions 2 aka lockdown 2 pretty much killed off many things here including voluntary sector stuff. How 'essential services' are treated here is very different. How some other essential services choose to behave is also different. It's kind of funny to think I did four short bursts of volunteering last Christmas and it wasn't like people were doing that well last year.

Many are hibernating and suffering.

One of my friends said the singleton line to me, but I said it wasn't that it's that everything has been killed off and people are doing their own thing, or paralysed unable to leave the house, or feel up to any interactions with others.

 

[Andy in Germany]

National restrictions 2 aka lockdown 2 pretty much killed off many things here including voluntary sector stuff. How 'essential services' are treated here is very different. How some other essential services choose to behave is also different. It's kind of funny to think I did four short bursts of volunteering last Christmas and it wasn't like people were doing that well last year.

Many are hibernating and suffering.

One of my friends said the singleton line to me, but I said it wasn't that it's that everything has been killed off and people are doing their own thing, or paralysed unable to leave the house, or feel up to any interactions with others.

That is the advantage here: psychological help is considered an essential service, so it doesn't rely on volunteers.

What's the "singleton line"?

 

[marinyork]

That is the advantage here: psychological help is considered an essential service, so it doesn't rely on volunteers.

What's the "singleton line"?

Someone I know who does a broadly similar role to yourself here, which btw that 'service' is not universal around the UK, they had their first day back not WFH, just ... before Christmas!

The singleton line is that, the great pandemic of 2020 ended things and so I'm single and has been the case for many other people. I think there's an assumption this year that it's a problem for people, which if it was any other year than 2020 would be interesting.

 

[Milzy]

My bro in law been going into Tier 2 with his g/f to use restaurants. Now his g/f & her mum got C19. The idiot is living with 2 brothers & one is self employed so no way is he isolating. I doubt the others will follow the rules. Covidiots everywhere. That’s why it will drag on into 2022.

 

[marinyork]

Being an introvert helps, of course; in fact it is the first time I can remember that introversion is socially acceptable.

I like the quiet aspects of it, it's just seeing two people from uni properly face to face since March and at times a whole week going by for even non-face comms such as phone or texts from friends, even before the extended Christmas shutdown of 2020. This is not quite enough stimulation/contact. That's a national restrictions 2 thing, it wasn't like that before then, which is why I said national lockdown two had changed/killed a lot of things off or had that feel, although it does seem a long time ago now when it was October.

Some public spaces are rammed, certain parks are very, very crowded every day.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I like the quiet aspects of it, it's just seeing two people from uni properly face to face since March and at times a whole week going by for even non-face comms such as phone or texts from friends, even before the extended Christmas shutdown of 2020. This is not quite enough stimulation/contact. That's a national restrictions 2 thing, it wasn't like that before then, which is why I said national lockdown two had changed/killed a lot of things off or had that feel, although it does seem a long time ago now when it was October.

Some public spaces are rammed, certain parks are very, very crowded every day.

I can see that: I guess that because I have lots of interaction at work, I'm very happy to vanish for the evenings and weekends. If I worked from home or had been in furlough it may have been different.

 

[marinyork]

I can see that: I guess that because I have lots of interaction at work, I'm very happy to vanish for the evenings and weekends. If I worked from home or had been in furlough it may have been different.

Sometimes the interactions thing in the UK makes me chuckle, I realised weeks later that what a lot of people call interactions, are for me big interactions and what I count, doesn't even register on the radar for other people sometimes.

I did try and make as much of the summer and early autumn as I could.

No venues are open, rightly, which makes some stay in understandably, but that's the really big problem in the UK with the voluntary sector, as all/most venues are closed you can't do any volunteering. There's actually a glut of volunteers at the moment, far too many wanting to volunteer and barely anything open.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Was out for a ride yesterday and some one I hadn’t seen for months caught me up. So we had a good natter for the next 30 mins before our paths diverged. It was nice to have a conversation as the vast majority of my rides have been solo since the pandemic hit.

You can tell many are craving fresh conversations and company from what happens in chance encounters, whether you know the person or not.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Sometimes the interactions thing in the UK makes me chuckle, I realised weeks later that what a lot of people call interactions, are for me big interactions and what I count, doesn't even register on the radar for other people sometimes.

Yup, same here...

 

[marinyork]

What's the "singleton line"?

I forgot to say there have been a few bits of coverage on this.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/articl...c-is-causing-spikes-in-break-ups-and-divorces one of the more recent and more broad looks with less personal stories on there.

 

[Milzy]

I forgot to say there have been a few bits of coverage on this.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/articl...c-is-causing-spikes-in-break-ups-and-divorces one of the more recent and more broad looks with less personal stories on there.

You can’t blame a virus for more divorces. You have to work at a marriage no matter what. The number one stress on marriage is kids & number 2 money problems. If anything you’d think COVID would bring couples closer together.

 

[marinyork]

You can’t blame a virus for more divorces. You have to work at a marriage no matter what. The number one stress on marriage is kids & number 2 money problems. If anything you’d think COVID would bring couples closer together.

Covid has caused a lot of people a lot of money problems.

I'm not sure couples are necessarily brought closer by separation, or conversely living in small pokey houses in each other's pockets.

 

[Milzy]

Covid has caused a lot of people a lot of money problems.

I'm not sure couples are necessarily brought closer by separation, or conversely living in small pokey houses in each other's pockets.

They can go out running or cycling. If they divorce because of this virus then they were never meant to be.

 

[marinyork]

They can go out running or cycling. If they divorce because of this virus then they were never meant to be.

The article is written after. They can exercise relatively freely now. In the first lockdowns depending on what country you lived in you couldn't necessarily do it as freely, or in England it was perceived to mean one short piece of exercise once a day by many.