Even that wouldn't be a problem if the lockdowners didn't try to force everybody else to accommodate their delusions and then call us names when we didn't.
"Anti-maskers" were only anti-mandate.
"Anti-vaxxers" were only anti-mandate.
But Harriet and her ilk just kept pumping out the hate 24/7 -- blaming us for the continuing lockdowns that were imposed by government in the face of literally all the real-world evidence.
Even now she can't admit that she was wrong, because that would be admitting that maybe us "anti-science idiots" were right about something.
when everyone else moves on, she'll be the first to complain that she got left behind & govt should interfere in our lives to assuage her feelings of leftbehindness
Joyous times! My daughter is getting married this weekend. Two beautiful, unvaccinated, non-woke young adults, unafraid of the challenges ahead. Not all is bleak. Don't let these cowards steal our joy and the sheer wonderfulness of life.
Thanks for sharing. It always lifts my heart when I see young people who are courageous and optimistic and who see clearly what is happening. On Hillside College's website, there's a video of Naomi Wolf presenting the pfizer docs. At the end was a question period and wonderful young people like I'm sure your kids are filled the lecture hall.
Lovely! Many blessings upon them! For decades and decades and decades (16 days until we reach 51 years of marriage...) And many offspring from their union!
My daughter, at 40, unvaxxed (like husband and two little ones) expects to give birth to TWINS next month.
I keep thinking of all of those women who took the jab, cannot conceive, cannot carry a babe to term, suffer stillbirth, or give birth and have an infant funeral soon after. That awareness makes me so thankful for this blessing-to-be (and I pray daily for the health of the babes in her womb.) Joyous times, indeed. I shall pray for your daughter and her betrothed.
Oh eleven! How wonderful! We never got beyond three, despite years of trying to increase the brood (and live in an old farmhouse with loads of room). Indeed, with the last child, I hoped she might be twins. Countdown to tomorrow, I guess, for you! Much joy! (and quiet nerves)
Congrats. I wonder how many people at the wedding party think Bobby Kennedy has a chance to win the presidency. At first, I thought he had virtually no chance ... but not anymore.
Imagine the levels of narcissism, obliviousness and ignorance required to say such a thing, when millions of people's lives and businesses were destroyed in the formerly free world, not to mention the catastrophic effects on poorer nations.
These people are beyond vile, and beyond depraved.
I've never held most of boobus Americanus in very high regard, but the last three years have engendered a deep-seated disgust of these moronic barbarian covidians that I would not have imagined possible.
She did mention that in her article. Here is the quote:
"It’s a privilege to think this way, I know. For those who lost relatives and livelihoods, lockdown was beyond awful. It sharpened lifestyle choices to their most intolerable: loneliness among single people; the claustrophobia of house shares; the frustrated exhaustion of trying to work and parent simultaneously."
The thing is, she says this as BS boilerplate, as if this makes what she says next "okay." Sorry but no. I have no nostalgia for lockdowns, for masks, for the vaccine, for any of the BS. When I have nostalgia for many of my unplanned moments, they were unenforced and designed (or not designed) by me.
You know who else didn't have to plan their daily events...those in the Gulag. I guess if the cage is gilded and everyone has to reside in it, that makes it okay?
I don't know for certain and don't have the interest to verify, but I would wager that this imbecile scrupulously complied (at least publicly, as usual with this lot) with every absurd "mitigation", was in favor of all of them, and demonized anyone displaying even an iota of skeptical sanity.
And, like so many of her fellow leftists, that she would be just fine throwing those she disagrees with into gulags.
Every one of them should be forced to read the Decameron. All except the dirty bits, which are kind of fun. It would show them how to spend time during an actual plague.
Imagine my surprise, years afterwards, discovering some of my favorite authors of fiction were regarded as moral philosophers. Maybe them not beating me over the head but just telling great stories was the secret...
Me too. Open roads with no one on them but basically me, everyone zooming visits and me the only one at the office...sweet. But I also realized that was just allowing me to hide from people, pretend they didn't exist, not live up to social obligations and such. I liked it, but it was not a thing I should have liked. I also liked the freedom I knew I had when others were afraid...HAHA! People are too afraid to do the thing I can do right now! Bad.
I think we needed to do some weird stuff, to keep us from banging our heads against the walls. Thankfully we were not the ones that went off the deep end it seems
This is me as well. I am lazy. I don't have a wife and kids though, and the consequences of my laziness are not without consequence. What she wants...is permission to cast off responsibility.
you were not alone SCA, it only recently dawned on me, that in these 2 years, I did little to uphold my yard, my house fared a bit better but not by much. And I gained some pounds I absolutely did not need. Luckily, they already start to go off now I started working again LOL
I've just spent a couple of days doing the most brutal pruning of my spider plants. The only thing that's saved me from feeling like a murderess is that I twice, over the past several years, potted and gave away as housewarming gifts to group homes around thirty of the infant spiderlings. I hope the good karma shall have outweighed the bad.
Actually it was a great lesson in taking care of ourselves, mind and body. Some people learn more when alone and are too busy with life to ever learn about themselves. Some people probably were glad to catch their breath. I mean who set the work week? Production speeds? School schedules to get more ‘working’ people out there. Crazy crazy busy business world......why? No wondered we’re so dumb.
I have a job where I only get set periods if leave. These leave periods are all in line with the uk school holidays. I’ve never had longer the 3 weeks off at once in 12 years.
In 2019 I was home a grand total of 40 days out of 365. When the covid lockdowns first happened I loved it. I got 4 months to be with my wife, I learned to bake (my wife told me I was making her put on weight lol), caught up on shows and films that I had missed. Books I hadn’t read. Video games I had yet to complete.
Do I miss those 4 months? Yes. Would I do it again knowing what I know now.? Hell no.
Why yes, the non-essentials. Now they know who they are, and that currently there is a reprieve, but no permanence for the non-essentials. Never codified into law, but the designation persists, waiting for a more coordinated elucidation. Enjoy the moment, but be mentally prepared for the next scenario.
It's interesting. 2020 and part of 21 were the proverbial best of times and worst of time's.
The loss of money was nothing compared to the loss of freedom. It was incredibly difficult to watch 99% of Americans walk around as zombies completely unaware they were ignoring the most profound wisdom the founders tried to convey:
Never trade freedom for safety.
That's where my despair came from.
You rarely get back freedoms relinquished to the government.
I'll admit that I didn't miss the commute and it was nice to be able to work at home with my cats, but we had recently moved across the country, so we were away from family and friends (seriously, we moved in late 2019). My husband was "essential personnel," so I essentially spent 18 months in the house by myself. Then I ran screaming for a red state that never had mandates of any sort.
Learning the cat language is time well spent. Did they tell you how they plan to take over the world? Or why they insist on knocking things off of shelves?
I was told they already own the world and that they never ever knock things over, except when something is in the way, or looks interesting, or because they can. . .the question is why don't humans knock more things over? 🤔
I totally understand too. For me it was something else entirely as I already had been working from home. The roads during were free for the first time ever during the daytime. The first month was especially surreal. So ironically the initial period of the lockdown was great for people who ignored it, flouting the demands to stay indoors and ignoring the hysteria of "keeping off the roads". It was the only timer ever I safely and comfortably hit triple digit mph speeds in the daytime on urban highways. The other place is usually out in the desert highways, but even then most counties out of town still setup speed traps for dependable revenue. During the first month or so of lockdown, even the traffic cops were noticeably pulled back.
- money quote: "All of the Karens had stayed home"
Like you, I don't ever wish for a repeat with all its disastrous effects everywhere else, the worst of which was really the vaccine hysteria and masking, but at the same time, I don't feel guilty about allowing my car to stretch its hp legs on the highway.
It's one of the things that has always struck me as terribly hard on mothers in the US - the extremely short maternity leave period. There are some views that it can go too far the other way in the UK (up to 52 weeks & I believe the notice period to your employer about whether or not you're coming back is 8 weeks before return date) especially for small business owners who can be significantly impacted, particularly by employees that take repeated maternity leave (with short periods of return) spanning multiple years. This leads to some saying they will not employ women of child bearing age. I honestly don't know what the best policy is - but the increasing view in some parts (interestingly from previously very left wing feminists) is that the sexual revolution and push to get women into the workplace & their babies into childcare has been very detrimental to women. Louise Perry & Mary Harrington write/podcast some very interesting articles on the subject.
It’s certainly a complicated concern. I could have taken more time off but it would have been unpaid and we aren’t in a position to afford that. I am lucky in that my husband is able to stay home with our kids so I’m not leaving them with a stranger. I think that it’s important for young women to understand that daycare isn’t a decision that should be made lightly and that it’s often extremely difficult to find and afford let alone finding someone you trust your babies with. Maybe encouraging young women to start maternity leave saving accounts is a good place to start so they can take advantage of existing maternity leave laws (12 weeks unpaid is required by law for almost all businesses except very small ones). Maybe some sort of maternity leave insurance or loan program could also work.
One giant problem in the US is student debt. In many families the new mom could take a few years out of the workforce if it weren’t for the student debt load of one or even both parents.
I think it’s important that young women understand the reality of being a working mom and not this rose colored picture they are often given. I suspect the explosion of women in the workforce hasn’t been particularly good for society across a multitude of levels. But being in the workforce has also been a benefit to many individual women. I’m not sure how one goes about creating a society and culture where motherhood is celebrated and extolled but yet there is enough flexibility that a woman can also pursue other avenues of success if that just isn’t in the cards for her or if she needs to contribute income to the family budget. Unfortunately we make decisions in our late teens and early twenties that haunt us well into our thirties and forties. It’s a little too late when you discover you really wanted to be a stay at home mom after a hundred thousand plus dollars in school debt and around a decade of professional education and training.
You raise some really good points. Student debt in the UK is not on the same magnitude as in the US, and is also structured differently. It eventually written off after 30 years and is only payable after earning above an (although not that high) minimum earnings level:
I was heavily influenced by my mother's attitudes & treatment of me as a child to regard my career/earning as the only and most important objective in my life - although ironically my parents failed miserably to support me in understanding even what university even really was, much less directly supporting me to be able to go. Although I have a very good career (by working 34 years in a very large global firm) and a fulfilled married life, I left it far too late for children and wish I hadn't. I find Louise Perry & Mary Harrington's work very worthy of listening to, even though Mary particularly hold some views (the pill has been very bad for women both health and societally) that are considered very radical.
Given the alarming drop in the birth rate (not even at replacement rate) in so many countries, this issue will continue to cause huge problems. Unlimited immigration will not solve it, despite politicians who think it will and ignore all the associated problems it can bring, especially as we see in the UK with huge pressure on limited infrastructure, plus the conflict that always happens between very groups of people that have very different cultural backgrounds and attitudes. The appalling so called "grooming" gangs scandal all over the UK bring just one of them.
Speaking of cultural differences I laughed a little at “… Mary particularly hold some views (the pill has been very bad for women both health and societally) that are considered very radical.” As a conservative (religiously not politically per se) Christian in rural America that’s a majority position in the circles I run in.
Yes of course! Although I'm English I have worked very closely with Americans for 20+ years, so I know exactly what you mean. I am a Conservative in the natural sense of the word (to conserve what is good & works for society) but sadly what we have had in power for the last 13 years in the UK are fake Conservatives who say some of the things the believe their base wants to hear - but do exactly the opposite and implement policies that combine cultural Marxism with the ruination of the economy, our energy security, family, and many 100s of years of culture. It's beyond frustrating - we are still considering whether we can work out some way of moving to a red state like Florida. We very much admire what De Santis has done with a lot of his policies, but are also aware of how very difficult the US is from the UK & how much of a culture shock it still would be for us. It's also very difficult to both get sponsored for a visa at the same time, sigh...
Being a Doctor must be awful for having time off. And even then I expect you probably have to take a work Mobile, sorry cell phone, home with you or something. Never truly able to relax. Awful.
I think it it’s fairly rare in the UK as well except a few jobs like mine. If a job does allow it, it’s usually the mother (shocker) who has to take the time off and the father just has to work continually.
I’m a veterinarian and yes I have to carry an on call phone 1/3 of every week and every 3rd weekend. However three weeks vacation time is fairly rare in the US for most vocations.
Also being a vet is awesome. Not sure I could be a vet or a doctor. Having to watch people cry over the death of a loved one or a loved pet who’s part of the family would just kill me.
I was against lockdowns before they started. As 2020 went on, I got more and more against them. And angrier with the politicians who inflicted them on us.
But, strangely enough, looking back at 2020, I do miss it. I spent a lot of time outside, mostly hiking, and greatly enjoyed it. A wonderful year.
It’s not weird. The western world is so.......fast paced it was nice to have it all slow down. Where I live, you could actually here the birds etc as there were basically no cars going about.
I also forgot to say I took a lot of time to take the dog on long walks that he wouldn’t normally get with me. He deffo over indulged in cheese with me.
“The sick individual finds himself at home with all other similarly sick individuals. The whole culture is geared to this kind of pathology. The result is that the average individual does not experience the separateness and isolation the fully schizophrenic person feels. He feels at ease among those who suffer from the same deformation; in fact, it is the fully sane person who feels isolated in the insane society.”
—Erich Fromm, “The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness”
——
PSA to the el gato malo tribe: Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi needs our support before his trial on May 23! Please consider participating in the #IStandWithSucharit campaign by sharing this article with that hashtag (I’ve also provided graphics at the end if you’d like to use those):
Of course, they have lockdown nostalgia. Lockdown had a great marketing team. Remember the Italians singing on their balconies and the videos showing how clear the skies were with very few people driving. People whose lives were crazy busy suddenly had time to hang out as a family and enjoy the more than ample free time. And the pinnacle of it all, being declared a hero for the selfless act of staying home and doing nothing.
I drove up on a flock of turkeys slowly crossing a major freeway during this time and it was not a fun experience - having to slow from 80-25mph in a few minutes. Thankfully everyone else was at home 😹
Yeah it was great if you sat around waiting for door dash and it didn’t impact your life you assface. I sent my “loving and compassionate” mom an article from the Guardian proving that millions of children would starve to death from the lockdowns. Her response “but that’s just the 3rd world”. I guess this pinhead feels the same.
On Twitter, there are groups of people who long for the salad days of masking. Now they are alone in their enlightened empathy for others. They even feel at times they are "shamed" or feel "ostracized" as they now continue not only to mask, but also to ask for interior building filtration. I wonder how that feels.
You saw this in the very very small window where the CDC said that vaccinated people could forgo the mask. Suddenly the maskers were in the minority -- and they HATED IT SO MUCH. Unsurprisingly, the CDC walked back this 'guidance' and gave the maskers their security blanket back.
Yes, and now they are feeling it again as all the mandates and regulations are being removed. Japan is having the hardest time, as someone over there is reporting, the society is so entrenched in conformity they can't get out of their own way. Here in the states, we claim we are more individualistic, but these last three years really showed how full of BS that is.
She can stay home forever. Nobody cares.
Just make sure you leave her with a jumbo bag of Dungbeetle Doritos before you slam the door behind you...these people need a real life.
You will never understand the glory of winning "Naked and Afraid" in your own home.
So stunning and brave!
TMI, Ryan. TMI!
😂😂😂
Well, I might not sleep right for a week now, with that image in my head.
*sigh*
I care--stay home forever, please!
^THIS
Okay, fine. It's scary out there amongst those Unvaxed Masses. I get it. So... DON'T GO.
Funny enough the soft skill workaholic types are the first to be replaced by AI and it's not gonna be pretty. Suicide pods are gonna be very busy.
Even that wouldn't be a problem if the lockdowners didn't try to force everybody else to accommodate their delusions and then call us names when we didn't.
"Anti-maskers" were only anti-mandate.
"Anti-vaxxers" were only anti-mandate.
But Harriet and her ilk just kept pumping out the hate 24/7 -- blaming us for the continuing lockdowns that were imposed by government in the face of literally all the real-world evidence.
Even now she can't admit that she was wrong, because that would be admitting that maybe us "anti-science idiots" were right about something.
Not only that, but to admit wrongdoing would begin to fire some other neurons on what else the government might have gotten wrong.
ERROR! ERROR! ERR--- *explode*
when everyone else moves on, she'll be the first to complain that she got left behind & govt should interfere in our lives to assuage her feelings of leftbehindness
Like the people who laid down for long covid in Germany recently...........
And they think WE’RE crazy
She's an idiot, and she's not alone.
But how we wish she were.
Hard to best your comment.
Joyous times! My daughter is getting married this weekend. Two beautiful, unvaccinated, non-woke young adults, unafraid of the challenges ahead. Not all is bleak. Don't let these cowards steal our joy and the sheer wonderfulness of life.
Thanks for sharing. It always lifts my heart when I see young people who are courageous and optimistic and who see clearly what is happening. On Hillside College's website, there's a video of Naomi Wolf presenting the pfizer docs. At the end was a question period and wonderful young people like I'm sure your kids are filled the lecture hall.
Vanda, Bet you're a reader of Imprimis
Lovely! Many blessings upon them! For decades and decades and decades (16 days until we reach 51 years of marriage...) And many offspring from their union!
My daughter, at 40, unvaxxed (like husband and two little ones) expects to give birth to TWINS next month.
I keep thinking of all of those women who took the jab, cannot conceive, cannot carry a babe to term, suffer stillbirth, or give birth and have an infant funeral soon after. That awareness makes me so thankful for this blessing-to-be (and I pray daily for the health of the babes in her womb.) Joyous times, indeed. I shall pray for your daughter and her betrothed.
Twins! My bride of 39 years and I have eleven children, but no twins. I always thought that would be cool.
Prayers always appreciated, thank you. We will return the favor.
Oh eleven! How wonderful! We never got beyond three, despite years of trying to increase the brood (and live in an old farmhouse with loads of room). Indeed, with the last child, I hoped she might be twins. Countdown to tomorrow, I guess, for you! Much joy! (and quiet nerves)
Thank you for sharing this bright sunshiney news. Best of luck to them!
That is wonderful and gives me hope!
Congrats. I wonder how many people at the wedding party think Bobby Kennedy has a chance to win the presidency. At first, I thought he had virtually no chance ... but not anymore.
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/bobby-kennedy-might-win
Imagine the levels of narcissism, obliviousness and ignorance required to say such a thing, when millions of people's lives and businesses were destroyed in the formerly free world, not to mention the catastrophic effects on poorer nations.
These people are beyond vile, and beyond depraved.
I've never held most of boobus Americanus in very high regard, but the last three years have engendered a deep-seated disgust of these moronic barbarian covidians that I would not have imagined possible.
Just despicable.
She did mention that in her article. Here is the quote:
"It’s a privilege to think this way, I know. For those who lost relatives and livelihoods, lockdown was beyond awful. It sharpened lifestyle choices to their most intolerable: loneliness among single people; the claustrophobia of house shares; the frustrated exhaustion of trying to work and parent simultaneously."
The thing is, she says this as BS boilerplate, as if this makes what she says next "okay." Sorry but no. I have no nostalgia for lockdowns, for masks, for the vaccine, for any of the BS. When I have nostalgia for many of my unplanned moments, they were unenforced and designed (or not designed) by me.
You know who else didn't have to plan their daily events...those in the Gulag. I guess if the cage is gilded and everyone has to reside in it, that makes it okay?
I don't know for certain and don't have the interest to verify, but I would wager that this imbecile scrupulously complied (at least publicly, as usual with this lot) with every absurd "mitigation", was in favor of all of them, and demonized anyone displaying even an iota of skeptical sanity.
And, like so many of her fellow leftists, that she would be just fine throwing those she disagrees with into gulags.
That's just how they roll.
"boobus Americanus"
And they say Latin is a Dead Language. Bravo!
Coined by H. L. Mencken, among the best political commentators in American history.
In this case, however, since Harriet the Harpy is likely a briton, I should perhaps have used the geographic variation boobus Britannicus...
Indeed. For a lot of people The Plague Era permitted indulgence of one's worst habits. I was not immune.
But at least I recognized they were my worst habits.
Every one of them should be forced to read the Decameron. All except the dirty bits, which are kind of fun. It would show them how to spend time during an actual plague.
They're busy reading official self-help books, not realizing that all of good literature are self-help books.
"not realizing that all of good literature are self-help books."
This is an astoundingly important secret to good life and happiness, I think.
Imagine my surprise, years afterwards, discovering some of my favorite authors of fiction were regarded as moral philosophers. Maybe them not beating me over the head but just telling great stories was the secret...
Me too. Open roads with no one on them but basically me, everyone zooming visits and me the only one at the office...sweet. But I also realized that was just allowing me to hide from people, pretend they didn't exist, not live up to social obligations and such. I liked it, but it was not a thing I should have liked. I also liked the freedom I knew I had when others were afraid...HAHA! People are too afraid to do the thing I can do right now! Bad.
I think we needed to do some weird stuff, to keep us from banging our heads against the walls. Thankfully we were not the ones that went off the deep end it seems
If only I could coat it in the glamour of "weird." I was just very very lazy.
This is me as well. I am lazy. I don't have a wife and kids though, and the consequences of my laziness are not without consequence. What she wants...is permission to cast off responsibility.
you were not alone SCA, it only recently dawned on me, that in these 2 years, I did little to uphold my yard, my house fared a bit better but not by much. And I gained some pounds I absolutely did not need. Luckily, they already start to go off now I started working again LOL
I've just spent a couple of days doing the most brutal pruning of my spider plants. The only thing that's saved me from feeling like a murderess is that I twice, over the past several years, potted and gave away as housewarming gifts to group homes around thirty of the infant spiderlings. I hope the good karma shall have outweighed the bad.
There were days when lazy didn't begin to cover it! 😂🤣😂🤣
I was trying to hide my shame...
Own it! Don't be ashamed. Lazy can be great for periods of time.
With time being a river I can assure you that my laziness visited all the headwaters of the earth in endless circles.
Lockdown was bad for me mentally. 2 years of stress I wasn't ready for. I hated it.
I wasn't prepared to see Good Germans everywhere, that's fer shure.
Actually it was a great lesson in taking care of ourselves, mind and body. Some people learn more when alone and are too busy with life to ever learn about themselves. Some people probably were glad to catch their breath. I mean who set the work week? Production speeds? School schedules to get more ‘working’ people out there. Crazy crazy busy business world......why? No wondered we’re so dumb.
I'll drink to that!
(I hope I haven't said too much...)
I have a job where I only get set periods if leave. These leave periods are all in line with the uk school holidays. I’ve never had longer the 3 weeks off at once in 12 years.
In 2019 I was home a grand total of 40 days out of 365. When the covid lockdowns first happened I loved it. I got 4 months to be with my wife, I learned to bake (my wife told me I was making her put on weight lol), caught up on shows and films that I had missed. Books I hadn’t read. Video games I had yet to complete.
Do I miss those 4 months? Yes. Would I do it again knowing what I know now.? Hell no.
Understandable. Please don't forget millions of people (in particular biz owners) were in the depths of despair during those times.
Why yes, the non-essentials. Now they know who they are, and that currently there is a reprieve, but no permanence for the non-essentials. Never codified into law, but the designation persists, waiting for a more coordinated elucidation. Enjoy the moment, but be mentally prepared for the next scenario.
Funny how the essentials lacked empathy for the non essentials.
"waiting for a more coordinated elucidation"
Purposely undefined, or poorly defined, so that they can reuse it for the next Crisis.
Oh I’ll never forget. I think I would have been in despair if 2019 hadn’t been the way it was.
It's interesting. 2020 and part of 21 were the proverbial best of times and worst of time's.
The loss of money was nothing compared to the loss of freedom. It was incredibly difficult to watch 99% of Americans walk around as zombies completely unaware they were ignoring the most profound wisdom the founders tried to convey:
Never trade freedom for safety.
That's where my despair came from.
You rarely get back freedoms relinquished to the government.
"You rarely get back freedoms relinquished to the government."
"The infringement of liberties only ratchets in one direction."
- Pi Guy, I think but feels stolen [unable to attribute at this time]
No you don’t.
I blame the media, politicians and all sorts for that. Plus the idiots who, once new evidence came out, chose to ignore it.
Some still do.
I have family members who still think the vaccine is amazing.
I'll admit that I didn't miss the commute and it was nice to be able to work at home with my cats, but we had recently moved across the country, so we were away from family and friends (seriously, we moved in late 2019). My husband was "essential personnel," so I essentially spent 18 months in the house by myself. Then I ran screaming for a red state that never had mandates of any sort.
We may be neighbors.
Jesus. 18 months effectively alone. Did the walls have the days spent in the home scratched into them lol.
Glad you did move to a red state though.
I had very in-depth conversations with my cats. 😀
Learning the cat language is time well spent. Did they tell you how they plan to take over the world? Or why they insist on knocking things off of shelves?
I was told they already own the world and that they never ever knock things over, except when something is in the way, or looks interesting, or because they can. . .the question is why don't humans knock more things over? 🤔
Humans do. But it’s only ever things that are tasty. The amount of times I’ve knocked a lasagne off the kitchen table.
Or a fruit smoothie.
Or a chocolate cake.
It makes me sad to think about
I totally understand too. For me it was something else entirely as I already had been working from home. The roads during were free for the first time ever during the daytime. The first month was especially surreal. So ironically the initial period of the lockdown was great for people who ignored it, flouting the demands to stay indoors and ignoring the hysteria of "keeping off the roads". It was the only timer ever I safely and comfortably hit triple digit mph speeds in the daytime on urban highways. The other place is usually out in the desert highways, but even then most counties out of town still setup speed traps for dependable revenue. During the first month or so of lockdown, even the traffic cops were noticeably pulled back.
And these banditos took it to another level:
https://gearjunkie.com/motors/cannonball-run-record
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOWn1WSYhVQ
- money quote: "All of the Karens had stayed home"
Like you, I don't ever wish for a repeat with all its disastrous effects everywhere else, the worst of which was really the vaccine hysteria and masking, but at the same time, I don't feel guilty about allowing my car to stretch its hp legs on the highway.
“I’ve never had longer than 3 weeks off at once in 12 years.”
Me: Cries in American. Only time I’ve had 3 weeks off a year let alone at once was maternity leave, which was six weeks.
It's one of the things that has always struck me as terribly hard on mothers in the US - the extremely short maternity leave period. There are some views that it can go too far the other way in the UK (up to 52 weeks & I believe the notice period to your employer about whether or not you're coming back is 8 weeks before return date) especially for small business owners who can be significantly impacted, particularly by employees that take repeated maternity leave (with short periods of return) spanning multiple years. This leads to some saying they will not employ women of child bearing age. I honestly don't know what the best policy is - but the increasing view in some parts (interestingly from previously very left wing feminists) is that the sexual revolution and push to get women into the workplace & their babies into childcare has been very detrimental to women. Louise Perry & Mary Harrington write/podcast some very interesting articles on the subject.
It’s certainly a complicated concern. I could have taken more time off but it would have been unpaid and we aren’t in a position to afford that. I am lucky in that my husband is able to stay home with our kids so I’m not leaving them with a stranger. I think that it’s important for young women to understand that daycare isn’t a decision that should be made lightly and that it’s often extremely difficult to find and afford let alone finding someone you trust your babies with. Maybe encouraging young women to start maternity leave saving accounts is a good place to start so they can take advantage of existing maternity leave laws (12 weeks unpaid is required by law for almost all businesses except very small ones). Maybe some sort of maternity leave insurance or loan program could also work.
One giant problem in the US is student debt. In many families the new mom could take a few years out of the workforce if it weren’t for the student debt load of one or even both parents.
I think it’s important that young women understand the reality of being a working mom and not this rose colored picture they are often given. I suspect the explosion of women in the workforce hasn’t been particularly good for society across a multitude of levels. But being in the workforce has also been a benefit to many individual women. I’m not sure how one goes about creating a society and culture where motherhood is celebrated and extolled but yet there is enough flexibility that a woman can also pursue other avenues of success if that just isn’t in the cards for her or if she needs to contribute income to the family budget. Unfortunately we make decisions in our late teens and early twenties that haunt us well into our thirties and forties. It’s a little too late when you discover you really wanted to be a stay at home mom after a hundred thousand plus dollars in school debt and around a decade of professional education and training.
You raise some really good points. Student debt in the UK is not on the same magnitude as in the US, and is also structured differently. It eventually written off after 30 years and is only payable after earning above an (although not that high) minimum earnings level:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loans-tuition-fees-changes/
I was heavily influenced by my mother's attitudes & treatment of me as a child to regard my career/earning as the only and most important objective in my life - although ironically my parents failed miserably to support me in understanding even what university even really was, much less directly supporting me to be able to go. Although I have a very good career (by working 34 years in a very large global firm) and a fulfilled married life, I left it far too late for children and wish I hadn't. I find Louise Perry & Mary Harrington's work very worthy of listening to, even though Mary particularly hold some views (the pill has been very bad for women both health and societally) that are considered very radical.
Given the alarming drop in the birth rate (not even at replacement rate) in so many countries, this issue will continue to cause huge problems. Unlimited immigration will not solve it, despite politicians who think it will and ignore all the associated problems it can bring, especially as we see in the UK with huge pressure on limited infrastructure, plus the conflict that always happens between very groups of people that have very different cultural backgrounds and attitudes. The appalling so called "grooming" gangs scandal all over the UK bring just one of them.
Speaking of cultural differences I laughed a little at “… Mary particularly hold some views (the pill has been very bad for women both health and societally) that are considered very radical.” As a conservative (religiously not politically per se) Christian in rural America that’s a majority position in the circles I run in.
Yes of course! Although I'm English I have worked very closely with Americans for 20+ years, so I know exactly what you mean. I am a Conservative in the natural sense of the word (to conserve what is good & works for society) but sadly what we have had in power for the last 13 years in the UK are fake Conservatives who say some of the things the believe their base wants to hear - but do exactly the opposite and implement policies that combine cultural Marxism with the ruination of the economy, our energy security, family, and many 100s of years of culture. It's beyond frustrating - we are still considering whether we can work out some way of moving to a red state like Florida. We very much admire what De Santis has done with a lot of his policies, but are also aware of how very difficult the US is from the UK & how much of a culture shock it still would be for us. It's also very difficult to both get sponsored for a visa at the same time, sigh...
Being a Doctor must be awful for having time off. And even then I expect you probably have to take a work Mobile, sorry cell phone, home with you or something. Never truly able to relax. Awful.
I think it it’s fairly rare in the UK as well except a few jobs like mine. If a job does allow it, it’s usually the mother (shocker) who has to take the time off and the father just has to work continually.
I’m a veterinarian and yes I have to carry an on call phone 1/3 of every week and every 3rd weekend. However three weeks vacation time is fairly rare in the US for most vocations.
Also being a vet is awesome. Not sure I could be a vet or a doctor. Having to watch people cry over the death of a loved one or a loved pet who’s part of the family would just kill me.
I was against lockdowns before they started. As 2020 went on, I got more and more against them. And angrier with the politicians who inflicted them on us.
But, strangely enough, looking back at 2020, I do miss it. I spent a lot of time outside, mostly hiking, and greatly enjoyed it. A wonderful year.
Weird, I know.
It’s not weird. The western world is so.......fast paced it was nice to have it all slow down. Where I live, you could actually here the birds etc as there were basically no cars going about.
I also forgot to say I took a lot of time to take the dog on long walks that he wouldn’t normally get with me. He deffo over indulged in cheese with me.
Lobster syndrome. Multiple lobsters in a pot will pull back the other lobsters that try to escape.
Same with crabs I believe.
and apparently leftist libtards.
Lockdown certainly made me crabby
Hey, Sweetie! You can lock yourself down all you want!
Just LEAVE ME OUT OF IT!
“The sick individual finds himself at home with all other similarly sick individuals. The whole culture is geared to this kind of pathology. The result is that the average individual does not experience the separateness and isolation the fully schizophrenic person feels. He feels at ease among those who suffer from the same deformation; in fact, it is the fully sane person who feels isolated in the insane society.”
—Erich Fromm, “The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness”
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PSA to the el gato malo tribe: Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi needs our support before his trial on May 23! Please consider participating in the #IStandWithSucharit campaign by sharing this article with that hashtag (I’ve also provided graphics at the end if you’d like to use those):
• Profiles in Courage: Prof. Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/profiles-in-courage-prof-dr-sucharit)
I just read your article...I had no idea this was happening. It is criminal. I'll share your post.
🙏💓🙌
Many still crave another bag of Huxley's® Delicious Moral Treats™.
Where’s Uncle Rico when you need him? “Back in '82, I used to be able to throw a pigskin a quarter mile.”
Of course, they have lockdown nostalgia. Lockdown had a great marketing team. Remember the Italians singing on their balconies and the videos showing how clear the skies were with very few people driving. People whose lives were crazy busy suddenly had time to hang out as a family and enjoy the more than ample free time. And the pinnacle of it all, being declared a hero for the selfless act of staying home and doing nothing.
Maybe misery really DOES love company.
I drove up on a flock of turkeys slowly crossing a major freeway during this time and it was not a fun experience - having to slow from 80-25mph in a few minutes. Thankfully everyone else was at home 😹
Good for her. Perhaps staying home is perfect for her.
I am not alone in hoping she stays home inside, ALONE, leaving other people free to think she is nutty, forever.
And I certainly hope she doesn’t forget to mask up while she’s at home, ALONE!
I still see the occasional driver, alone in the car, with a mask.
And we had dinner at a pretty nice restaurant this past Sunday and our waiter was wearing a mask.
*deep breath... sigh*
Yeah it was great if you sat around waiting for door dash and it didn’t impact your life you assface. I sent my “loving and compassionate” mom an article from the Guardian proving that millions of children would starve to death from the lockdowns. Her response “but that’s just the 3rd world”. I guess this pinhead feels the same.
Lockdown nostalgia?
What?
Fuck off.
On Twitter, there are groups of people who long for the salad days of masking. Now they are alone in their enlightened empathy for others. They even feel at times they are "shamed" or feel "ostracized" as they now continue not only to mask, but also to ask for interior building filtration. I wonder how that feels.
You saw this in the very very small window where the CDC said that vaccinated people could forgo the mask. Suddenly the maskers were in the minority -- and they HATED IT SO MUCH. Unsurprisingly, the CDC walked back this 'guidance' and gave the maskers their security blanket back.
Yes, and now they are feeling it again as all the mandates and regulations are being removed. Japan is having the hardest time, as someone over there is reporting, the society is so entrenched in conformity they can't get out of their own way. Here in the states, we claim we are more individualistic, but these last three years really showed how full of BS that is.