So - now masks protect the wearer?

Yes I've family, I shielded my mum she had COPD but that had a terrible effect on her she had delirium and spent 3 months in hospital it took me forever to get any help for her, the only time I had any help was when the police found her wandering around a country lane in her slippers.
My children are all still at home some are still at school and it's just getting impossible now

Biscuitmuncher I do not know anyone who has had COVID, but I do know that DH was discharged early from hospital because of the demand for hospital beds. Half the ward he was in had been sealed off completely to house COVID patients and I am sure the ward, now, is probably entirely given to such patients.

And I really don't believe what I hear on the news What do you mean by that? Are you talking just about COVID or do you not believe that Trump supporters attacked The Capitol, I assume you no one who took part, ditto the severe earthquake on the Greece/Turkey which killed about 20 people. or do you just pick and choose what news to believe and what to not believe.

Biscuitmuncher

A years worth of empathy? And I really don't believe what I hear on the news

Sorry but that has been clear all along.
I’ll ask again. What should happen in your view ? No lockdown ? No masks ? No vaccine ?
How old are you by the way ?
Do you have family ?

I thought you didn’t. ‘Nuff said. Makes sense now.

A years worth of empathy? And I really don't believe what I hear on the news

I think it’s horrible to say that you don’t feel empathy for people you don’t know. Do the figures you see on the news mean nothing to you? Or don’t you believe them perhaps?

My whole point is, I don't know anyone who's been really ill with it, not even friends of friends. So it feels more than difficult to be so sad so miserable for the sake of people I don't know. I would never mention this in every day life. But it feels difficult to imprison myself for what feels nothing

Biscuitmuncher Other people's lives are on hold for your sake and the sake of those you care about.

If your behaviour affected only you and if anything happened only you would be affected, I would say 'go ahead, do what you like' but life isn't like that. Your actions will affect other people. This lockdown life is pretty depressing for everyone and we all want tit to end.

The end of lockdown will come when everyone just grits their teeth, obeys the rules and the vaccine becomes widely used.

Since when was a year temporary

Delayed gratification isn't your thing? Not even temporarily?

Whatever the logic whatever the reasoning, there's the part of me that isn't alteristic enough to willing give up everything that made my life enjoyable

Biscuitmuncher My whole life is on hold and has been for a year for the sack of others

I feel sorry for anyone who is miserable being at home right now but that sentence says it all really. You obviously feel this pandemic is nothing to do with you or yours.

Maybe you're right though, and the powers that be just have some vested interest in keeping you at home.

Biscuitmuncher: I do sympathise with you up to a point but I am shielding, not just for myself but to protect others. So to say your life is being made miserable ‘for the sake of others’ seems very uncaring. I’m shielding to protect you as well as myself. We’re all in this together: we’re only as safe as the weakest link. I do, however realise that my family are dealing well with the pandemic because our lifestyles lend themselves to isolation, home schooling, home working etc and I do try to think of people eg in flats, who are isolated etc. And the internet is a great source of comfort. Don’t you find being on gransnet helps you?

Biscuitmuncher

I'm miserable, I've never been more miserable in my life. I say this as a person who has never struggled with stress anxiety or any other mental health problems. I've just about had a gut full. I feel like everyday is just something to get through. My whole life is on hold and has been for a year for the sack of others

I do sympathise. These are really hard times

It will improve, though. Might it help to think of 5 things you are thankful for once a day? That makes me feel a bit better.

M0nica

I do not wear a seatbelt in the car because I am scared, with or without my wits, or even because it is required by law. I wear it as a safety precaution.

The reason I am able to contribute to GN is because my DH has always been safety conscious and we had car seat belts long before they were required and these saved the lives of DS and myself. When DH had to break hard and drive off the road when a car came out of a side turning without looking. Our seatbelts stopped me and the baby who might otherwise been on my lap, had he not been in a Britax car seat, from going through the windscreen.

It is the same with masks. They are a safety device, not a lucky charm to ward off evil. They reduce the risks of us catching COVID. Just do it and stop seeing problems where there are none.

I do agree with you. We just do what we can to cut down the risk, and carry on with life.

It’s like crossing the road. Looking both ways doesn’t mean you’re neurotic.

Who's been reading conspiracy writers? And get an interest that doesn't involve interaction with other people? I'll go into the west wing of my imaginary mansion then shall I

Biscuitmuncher

I'm miserable, I've never been more miserable in my life. I say this as a person who has never struggled with stress anxiety or any other mental health problems. I've just about had a gut full. I feel like everyday is just something to get through. My whole life is on hold and has been for a year for the sack of others

So get an interest which doesn't involve interacting with other people. You can always contact others by all sorts of technological means anyway. And stop reading lockdown conspiracy writers.

I'm miserable, I've never been more miserable in my life. I say this as a person who has never struggled with stress anxiety or any other mental health problems. I've just about had a gut full. I feel like everyday is just something to get through. My whole life is on hold and has been for a year for the sack of others

growstuff I agree wholeheartedly with your posts. I too live alone but, am not miserable and quaking (maybe a bit sad this week as it coincides with my wedding anniversary and birthday).

I keep busy, even if that only means watching Netflix. As a retired ward sister, I am probably slightly more aware of how infection spreads than some but, that does not make me a quivering wreck, just careful.

A good analogy, so why do so many of the people who deny that Covid is a serious problem claim that people who stay at home and wear masks, etc are quaking wrecks, terrified that the bogeyman will get them? I've lost count of the number of times people have said the same kind of thing as biscuitmuncher. It's almost as though there's some kind of handbook of arguments to make. Does anybody seriously think that if all restrictions were lifted, the whole country would suddenly have its mood lifted?

I do not wear a seatbelt in the car because I am scared, with or without my wits, or even because it is required by law. I wear it as a safety precaution.

The reason I am able to contribute to GN is because my DH has always been safety conscious and we had car seat belts long before they were required and these saved the lives of DS and myself. When DH had to break hard and drive off the road when a car came out of a side turning without looking. Our seatbelts stopped me and the baby who might otherwise been on my lap, had he not been in a Britax car seat, from going through the windscreen.

It is the same with masks. They are a safety device, not a lucky charm to ward off evil. They reduce the risks of us catching COVID. Just do it and stop seeing problems where there are none.

And why do some people keep saying that those who wear masks and/or stay at home as much as possible are scared witless? No, I'm not. I'm not even miserable. Like MOnica (and others), I decided what I needed to do to keep myself as safe as possible and I've stuck to it. I can't say it's fun, especially as I live on my own, but there are even advantages and I've rearranged parts of my life, so that it's all bearable.

M0nica

No, low education achievement by comparisons with other countries.

Children in many other countries don't start school until at least a year later than British children, but somehow manage to catch up by the age of about nine or ten. Secondary school pupils actually spend a high proportion of time in school working on their own anyway.

MayBee70

Children must have lost a lot of education during the war (sorry to bring up WWII) so what happened after 1945? I’m sure children will catch up if the resources are made available by the government, albeit that being a bit of a concern. But lost lives can’t be brought back.

They most certainly did. My mother was one of the ones who was evacuated at the age of nine to a village in the back of beyond, where she had a terrible time. It was the days before the 1944 Education Act (obviously) and the school only offered elementary education. My mother and her friend were moved to the "top class" with children four years older than she was. Despite spending nearly a year there, she still passed the exam to go to grammar school when she went home and I can't say that I ever noticed that my mother was behind educationally.

I'm in touch with quite a lot of children. Some miss their friends and others have home situations which make it difficult to work from home. However, there are many who actually enjoy working on their own without distractions. There is very little that couldn't be overcome with support (financial and emotional) for those who need it. It's strange that few people seemed that bothered about the underachievement of some pupils before the pandemic. I don't remember any outcry when government cuts meant that schools with some of the neediest children were struggling to provide what was needed.

I'm not for one moment claiming that education doesn't matter. The government could have done a lot to mitigate some of the problems. Listening to headteachers would have been a start. However, to use it as a political tool to argue against lockdowns is disingenuous at best.

Overthehill
Excellent!