I think that most of us have had, or will have a major life event of some sort or another. I know We have, we’re still feeling the effects of it.
This is different in that it’s a major life event facing everyone, all at the same time. I do think it’s a time where change could be possible and you might bend things your way. You must have thought about this?
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I think a few will change their work life relationship but mainly I see things returning to pre corona ASAP.
I can’t say I’ve witnessed any desire for change from the public, they wouldn’t know what to change. There is no desire for change from our Gov other than their pre covid drive to turn us into an international trading and tax avoiding bazaar. I’m possibly slightly more unstable than pre lockdown but a lot of that is fuelled by the incompetence of National and local government in the managing of corona.
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Ultimate wisdom spoken just there.
Think quite a few who can work from home may choose to do so
Who in there right mind wants to be stuck in traffic, or dicking about on public transport
Also many might dump the need to keep that 2nd car
Don’t hold out much hope for big change though
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Seemingly online shopping has strengthened considerably. Working from home no longer means you are not a ‘team player’ so how people earn and how they spend have been affected whilst a lot of this will be revered as things open up but I do not think everything will go back as it was before completely. There are lots of variables in peoples experiences positive and negative. I do think health has come to the forefront of peoples thinking which is positive, I hope this is reflected in support for the NHS before Boris flogs it.
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I must be very lucky. I enjoy my job, the people I work for are decent and nobody gives me any shit about rules. To be fair, I’ve made it pretty clear that they can fuck all the way off with rules.
It’s weird though. Last year I did 21 overseas trips, this year I’ve done 1. I usually go in to the office a couple of times a week (been technically home based for the last12 years) but I haven’t been in since February. I have a trip to Germany scheduled in 5 weeks, no idea if I will be able to go. I’m not going if the quarantine is still on, as I live on my own and couldn’t do it. I spend a few hours a day on Teams calls, but it isn’t the same.
My role is Europe-wide (and increasingly global) and it’s clear that the UK is quite literally the sick man of Europe. We have had 5 times more deaths than Germany. They locked down early, and Germans generally do as they are told. Right now, they are rapidly getting back to normal, while the UK is a sales basket case.
At least they are still paying me.
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Kinda, but as I said, my main rethink came once I got ill. I was in the classic middle age trap of my job changing into something I disliked intensely (mainly once the firm got taken over by an utter bunch of cunts), but things had changed so much in my industry so getting out was tremendously risky. And my salary was what paid the mortgage and fed the kids.
Having had my ‘see the light’ event, I have often highlighted this to my friends and expressed my happiness with the status quo. It was fine, and I’m genuinely annoyed that it’s changed by this.
Ultimately what really gets to me are systemic issues with society:
- There is no system to ensure that people are enabled to find the right path in life. Both schools and universities are terrible for this. Most people fall into something, and then progress as much as they reasonably can. Often they do fairly well, only to find out that it doesn’t really suit them but any change is really hard to achieve for the reasons below.
- There is no easy system of adult education, so once you’re out of school/uni it’s up to you. You will be forgotten and ignored. Anything that you get will need you to be extremely motivated and you’ll be paying for it. My nephew is late 20s and his life is basically fucked; much of it is his fault, but how many people are that well adjusted this early in their lives? All ‘the system’ has done for him is kill his father, who died under police restraint. He’s got no education to speak of and nobody is interested in employing him.
- The distribution of wealth in this country means that you slog yourself to get a house, then you’re tied to the financial ladder trying to fucking pay for it. You can’t step back and rethink, you’ve just got to work. And it’s not going to get better, wages aren’t going to be going up any time soon.
I just hate the unfairness and waste in our society.
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Surprisingly lucid, for you.
Reflecting on my earlier post, am I the only one not wanting lockdown to end?
As things ease I am getting annoyed by too much traffic, too many people and nature already going back to hiding.
Perhaps I need to move to the middle of no where.
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I completely understand, and agree, with your viewpoint Dom.
It’s the no fucking money coming in or future business prospects that I am struggling with 
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The reduction in traffic has been great. My commute is only half an hour but I don’t miss it.
I have been thinking it would be good to have Sundays with shops shut like the old days. Just one quiet day a week would be an improvement.
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The opposite is more likely
Donna and I were discussing the merits of this just this morning 
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Bricks and mortar shops will be under pressure
“This report tells us that the change in consumer behavior that many expected to take three to four years is instead happening in a few months.”
I can see a case for it. But I hated it when we had it. I was trying to sort an old house out and the only time I had to do it was the weekends. Not being able to get a tin of paint or a bag of cement when I needed one was a complete arse. And the places I wanted to be quiet, e.g. the countryside/coast, weren’t because without shops/entertainments to occupy them everyone else, as well as me, ended up there. Mrs VB used to say that she would gladly have worked Sunday in return for having, say, Wednesday off so she could have her free time when the world wasn’t shut.
VB
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I have some sympathy with this. My shift work means that Sunday is effectively just another day. My mid-week days off are great because most people are at work and not clogging the supermarkets, pubs, etc.
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People used to be so bored they went out for a ‘Sunday drive’ 
When I was in my 20s Sundays were dreadful, the pub shut at 2.00 and didn’t open again until 7.00.
Used to go to the cinema for something to do.
Until we discovered an ‘iffy offie’ convenience store that used to sell booze and give you a brown paper bag to put it in.
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Thats me and the mrs in a nutshell. We’re both wfm now and will be indefinitely, 1 of the cars needs to go.
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Absolutely not. Very far from it.
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But why not have them shut, say Mondays and Tuesday, so people at work can shop when they are off and supermarket staff have a decent break? It would also mean corner shops get a bit more business for essentials.