Enjoying the lockdown

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.

An article in the Daily Telegraph today headlined

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.