Quote Originally Posted by Pain View Post
Kind of unkind may be closer to the truth, in some respects. The many short and long-term negative impacts of lockdown should be discussed fully, because, as the folks in officialdom are so keen on saying (when it suits them), there are undoubtedly some very serious lessons to be learnt.

Before we embark on the same course of action in a future similar situation (and there are still, almost unbelievably, folks out there who think we should all be locked down and wearing masks right now!), maybe we should study the Swedish model (er, no, not that one!) which avoided many of the worst of the lockdown privations by allowing common sense to prevail instead of using the full-on authoritarian banning of almost all public daily life?
All in all, I think it's still very much a case of 'damned if do, damned if don't'.

Last night, me and my dad attended a Christmas bash (in a village hall) for the first time since 2019 and my immediate thought was how fab it is to be free and not constantly having to walk on eggshells anymore. Everyone else there was having a fab time seemingly without a care in the world, even though they were generally respectable folk at said event.

On the other hand, I still couldn't help feeling a little sense of guilt as for much of the past 4 years we've become accustomed to being mindful of all things Covid and having to have our wits about us, and probably even this time last year me and my dad probably would still have felt a bit jittery at the thought of attending said event (or any other 'gathering'), but again, for the first time since the end of 2019 we've felt far more relaxed.

Of course, the pro-lockdowners still have the prerogative to keep shutting themselves away if they so insist, but I personally want to move on now as best I can, but if we ever have to have any more 'restrictions' in the future for health-related 'emergencies' (heaven forbid), then so be it; we'll deal with it as and where necessary.