Friday 17 April 2020

Enjoying the lockdown

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I must say I am being completely irresponsible and heartless and loving this lockdown. But the economic consequences of the lockdown do not bear thinking about and so I do not think about them.
"We have learnt no end of a lesson.
It will do us no end of good."

Will this be true of the lockdown? It may do us no end of harm.




Am I the only one who is secretly dreading the end of lockdown?

lists a lot of good things about the lockdown, including no journey to work, delicious food, time to read, conference calls in pyjamas, a valid excuse for avoiding people.







The first time I felt it - that thump of dread upon waking to a headline that suggested the end of lockdown was nigh - I assumed it was a thought malfunction. It happens sometimes when I watch Trump deliver a speech; he sounds like a moron and a lunatic, but occasionally I find myself agreeing with his policies.


As it transpires, these are not thought malfunctions. I do support some (not all) of Trump's initiatives and I am dreading the end of lockdown; nearly everything about it, in fact. All I really miss right now is travel.


I suspect that many of us will look back upon these strange times not with a jolt of PTSD but with a breeze of sweet nostalgia. Certainly, the introverts will. The ones that didn't lose their jobs or loved ones, that is.


This is not to say, despite how much I've come to enjoy this lockdown, that I think it's a good idea. Quarantining the elderly and those at risk obviously makes sense, but keeping the young and healthy behind closed doors for this long is simply not sustainable, nor will it be worth the profound economic hangover that awaits us once it's all over. I admire Sweden's bravery in refusing to follow the rest of Europe in its approach.
But we're not in Sweden, we're here, and we've got at least another three weeks of this. So rather than complain, let's take a moment to consider the things some of us will miss when normal life resumes.

4 comments:

  1. Saying that the lockdown is not so bad is a bit like saying that prison is not so bad - you have lots of time to read, you don't have to put up with crowded buses or heavy traffic on the way to work, you get regular meals, free healthcare, plenty of time to think.

    If I really thought the lockdown would destroy Hollywood then that would be one positive side to it. But I fear Hollywood will survive, which means there is no upside at all to being kept under house arrest.

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    Replies
    1. When I was a child I had a horror of prison because of the food. School is in many ways worse than prison and has equally bad food but at day school you are released late in the afternoon. Or were in my day. Now I think schools have become places where children are delayed till the evening while mothers work to add to the GDP.

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    2. Stone Walls do not a Prison make,
      Nor Iron bars a Cage;
      Minds innocent and quiet take
      That for an Hermitage.
      If I have freedom in my Love,
      And in my soul am free,
      Angels alone that soar above,
      Enjoy such Liberty.

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    3. When I was a child I had a horror of prison because of the food. School is in many ways worse than prison and has equally bad food

      Yes, I agree with that! I loathed school.

      but at day school you are released late in the afternoon.

      Yes. Being under house arrest these days we cannot even look forward to that release in the afternoon.

      Now I think schools have become places where children are delayed till the evening while mothers work to add to the GDP.

      I agree with you on that as well. Schools are now daycare centres rather than places of learning. I think it's bad for the children and bad for the mothers.

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