Anyone missing the aul covid lockdowns?

Ham Grenade

A lot of people I talk to seem to have a bit of nostalgia for the time of the proper lockdown times. The 2km restrictions etc. anyone fee the same?

touts

I don't miss the restrictions but I do miss the benefits. There seemed to be a lot more things online. Interesting talks, training courses, meetups etc. Most of those seem to have gone back to in person. Now that works for some people but I was able to attend events that were happening around the country and even internationally. I'm not going to drive two or three hours to see someone give a talk about the History of Whatever. But I would log onto a zoom call for it. It's a pity we can't have more of a hybrid setup.

whisky_galore

No.

Fcuk all that sh1t.

Miss the old lockdowns? Barricade yourself into your own home if you're feeling nostalgic.

El_Duderino 09

Nope. Please god they never return.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119105434#Comment_119105434

It will not return we will die... we cannot afford it...

fryup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119105447#Comment_119105447

i wouldn't be too sure........monkeypox is on the horizon

growleaves

No but they were much more popular than anyone was prepared to admit.

A minority of asocial people wanted an excuse to stay in and got it.

Many people whose lives revolve around work, commuting, family were happier with WFH than with freedom.

Lots of people work themselves to the bone and their leisure time consists of ordering a pizza, eating it and falling asleep.

A friend of mine even went so far as to say "Covid has been good to me" in reference to the money he saved over 2 years.

FortuneChip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119106349#Comment_119106349

Think this is all pretty fair.

Definitely benefited me financially. I still spent money, and even bought more online than I would usually; but cutbacks on transport, holidays & nights out definitely benefitted by pocket more than not.

The WFH situation made it easier to eat better, exercise better and sleep better.

Wouldn't want to see a return to it, but I would be optimistic that I'd not take the few positives for granted.

em_cat

Honestly I loved lockdown only because the area we live in finally felt like a proper matured area, the community centre and the gym closed so overall the area was a lot quieter and peaceful although we are south city centre.

Didn’t like the 2km or not being able to go out for a coffee or meet up with friends.

yagan

Zero nostalgia for feeling restricted, but do miss the quieter roads and the fact that people didn't loiter when shopping. I'm a list shopper for I can go into Lidl/Aldi and have a trolley filled and out within 20 mins. When restrictions eased you started getting dawdling shoppers and coin fumblers at the till wanting to chat about nonsense while forgetting to social distance.

I probably enjoy outdoors a lot more again and everytime lockdown restrictions eased I made a point of visiting places I had been meaning to for years. I guess what I'm saying is that when the first lockdown happened there was zero about the preceding routine I missed.

We moved last year and where we bought was hugely influenced by outdoor amenities in the event of another pandemic.

CGI_Livia_Soprano

I think people developed a bit of Stockholm Syndrome about the lockdowns and feel a bit nostalgic about the early days of the pandemic.

It was absolutely a horrible and traumatising experience. We all heard stories about people not being able to visit their elderly parents in homes or worried about them catching the disease. Not being able to go to funerals or visit sick relatives in hospital. Trapped within a 2km radius. Prisoners in our homes.

I did laugh at the middle class social media types: moaning because they couldn’t go on weekends away to Porto every bank holiday or that they couldn’t get a Brazilian cleaner over to scrub their homes for them. Apart from that the lockdowns were mostly a negative experience.

EmmetSpiceland

Was it not 5km? Either way, I’m glad they’re over. Had it a lot better than some but still prefer when things are open up.

Would prefer if they’d kept the “mask mandate” for public transport and for grocery shopping but what can you do?

cuttingtimber22

I suspect some of the following miss it:

• workers who sat at home watching Netflix while getting paid for it.
• people who hate other people enjoying themselves, particularly where alcohol is involved.
• people who got paid more by the state than what they ordinarily earned.
• greedy people who wanted pets to keep them occupied during lock down and are now returning them because they cannot own up to their responsibilities.
• people who got better leaving cert results than they would ordinarily have got and are deferring by a year to get into a course they never could have dreamed of.

I think there will be some who will miss aspects of lock down:

• people with long office hours and commutes which meant they could not see their family.
• people who work in toxic office environments who had a degree of sanity through WFH.

I suspect the following will not miss it (unless in a category above):

• health care workers particularly at the early stages of the pandemic.
• families who could not grieve relatives.
• people who had close family die alone in hospitals and nursing homes.
• families with autistic children who will have gone backwards in the period.
• kids and students who will have missed part of three academic years of normal life.

I could go on but this is just a flavour.

cuttingtimber22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108251#Comment_119108251

2km in the first lock down. 5km afterwards.

Sugarlumps

Tend to agree, I'd miss it somewhat.

BurgerFace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108251#Comment_119108251

Why would you prefer if they kept the mask mandate? Were you one of those bellends who yelled at people in the street for not wearing a mask or scurried across the road if someone sniffled? Nobody's stopping you from wearing your mask 24/7. The rest of us don't need to.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119111240#Comment_119111240

What? No, of course not. No one was yelling at others in the street to wear a mask.

Oh, wait, are you confusing that with the, rabid, anti-mask covid deniers who march through the streets screaming at mask wearers, adhering to the “guidelines”, to take them off.

Weirdos, and oddballs, banging on about their “sybble libberdies” and how it’s a plandemic or scamdemic. The vocal minority. And what a minority too!

No, I just think public transport, at the best of times, it’s a disgusting petri dish of viruses and infections so would prefer that a small “precaution” be taken by all passengers to help ensure the health of those using the service. It’s hardly a big deal. We are, after all, all in this together.

shesty

I like the way life slowed way down for everyone.

I hated - loathed - despised - the 2km, 5km limits.Hated them.Hated the way clothes shops and shoe shops weren't open and that my kids lives were curtailed down to practically nothing and we had to make out like this was all an ok thing to do, nothing to see here, and try and manage what we could by way of birthday celebrations and the rest.Hated the amount of damage I could see it was doing to them, and the fear with each school holiday closure there wouldn't be a reopening. Hated not being able to go meet friends for meals and coffee.

On balance - no.I do not miss them.

Oh God I hated every second of the lockdowns and don't even have my usual rose tinted glasses to look through.

I worked all the way through thankfully but that meant the slow pace of life narrative didn't reach me. I'm also a firm believer in setting your own pace and not making a rod for your own back. As much as possible. All those social events you were glad to have an excuse not to attend? Why did you need a pandemic to give you a voice.

I missed all of the ordinary little things that we do. Walking in to the shops without having to queue, jumping in the car and heading off wherever. The curtailment on freedom upset me. Not just my freedom but knowing that collectively we were all stifled in ways.

Also I wondered about the elderly and their quality of life. At what point does keeping one alive trump contentment? I mean 80 year olds not being able to see family, residents in nursing homes being isolated from the outside world. It was dreadful.

Then there were the mad thought processes that some adopted. I recall returning clothes to Marks. Clothes that I had tried on, then took out of the bag and handed to the sales assistant. I asked if she would take the bag as well. 'Oh no we can't touch the bags but you can come around and put it in to the bin yourself'.

Absolutely bonkers stuff.

Or the time Myself and husband were up North for a little visit and we decided to get chips. Over we went. Place was empty but when we walked in the door we were asked to leave and ring them from outside to place the order 😂😂

We all tore each other asunder during it. My way is better than your way. I feel it brought out the worst in humanity as we each tried manage in incredible circumstances. Some were self righteous in their praying at the Church of Tony while others turned to Gemma O'Doherty and the like.

It was really sad how little understanding there was for other peoples circumstances and choices. I too was guilty of this as I bent the rules to fit my own needs.

I hope it's behind us all.

BurgerFace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119111462#Comment_119111462

I've witnessed mask wearing nutters berating people for not wearing a mask in public. I've seen people like you berating people for (God forbid) touching the pedestrian crossing button with their hand. I've seen people berating other for not coughing into their elbow. I've seen people berating others for walking side by side, even lovers arm in arm. And people like you call the recipients of this admonishment the CTers and selfish bastards.

You want to spend your life shielding yourself from every single possibility of a bug then go for it. But you are aware that your immune systems RELIES on germs to enter the body in order for that system to become strong and resilient. Go ahead disinfect everything. Scrub yourself 20 times a day. Then go to a farm where the kids are exposed to all manner of germs and bugs. They will never have had a sick day in their life whereas you'll probably drop dead from a midge bite.

EmmetSpiceland

Oh god, you’re not going to turn this into “another tax on rural Ireland”, are you?

BurgerFace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119111462#Comment_119111462

And how is public transport any more of a "petri dish" than a church, cinema, concert hall, bar, restaurant, nightclub, library, lecture theatre, convention centre, etc? But if one points out these inconsistencies and glaring contradictions then one is lambasted as being a "denier" by those who have taken a microsecond to think about the whole thing.

Say Your Number

I do have some fond memories of April/May 2020, the nice weather, going for walks and some good music released around that time, but as with any nostalgia I've nearly forgotten that it was a pretty boring time, no live sport on telly, not being able to go out for a meal or go to the cinema, couldn't even wander around a bookshop.

I'm glad I escaped the real horrors that some went through that time, but no way would I like to go back to it, we seem to be out the other end of it and I hope we never see anything like it again.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119112414#Comment_119112414

Look, I don’t see what the big deal is here. I think it would be a good idea to keep masks on public transport, going forward.

That’s it. Being on a Dublin Bus on a cold winter morning is a horrible experience. Commuters wearing masks would prevent colds and flus spreading.

If you’d prefer to catch colds and flus in winter or have mandatory handrail licking, to build up some sort of gross tolerance, that’s fine, you do you. Along with the other 4%.

sporina

I sometimes miss the slower pace of life we had during them... just a pity it took a deadly virus to create it...

Arghus

No, I can't say that I miss any of it.

It was a grim time.

Pussyhands

I certainly don't miss the people on tv talking about how covid has changed things forever, how we are caring less about work and more about what matters.

I remember this one on Claire Byrne Live saying she thinks people would never return to pubs like they did before, that the idea of being crammed into a pub was so unappealing. Things are back to normal

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119112618#Comment_119112618

I like the way media covid catchphrases have died out. "Unprecedented", "Now more than ever..", "New normal", "Cocooning"...

Fcuk right off and never come back.

Glaceon

I certainly don't miss it and never want to go back there, it really messed with my head. But there was a positive that I got out of it; I realised that I didn't need to be in the office 5 days a week. Much of what I do can be done from home and it still is.