Will they talk about Covid shut down like the Great Depression

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A quick reminder for those of you bleating about teachers - the peak COVID period for Virginia was January 2021. If you think the teachers should have been back before the worst of the pandemic and before vaccines, then you are truly human trash.

European schools were open during that time. What makes teachers in the US so precious that they couldn't go back to work like their counterparts in places like France, the UK, Germany, the Nordic countries etc.?

It really is a weird thing, when you think about it. And it wasn't even just a handful of European countries. It was most of the world, including much of Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa. The US was the only place with protracted school shutdowns of a year or more, and it wasn't even the entire US -- much of the US opened with hybrid plans in the fall of 2020, within 5 months of the initial shut down.

The longer it went on, the more nonsensical it became. I remember being fully on board in spring of 2020, and then a little frustrated but understanding when they delayed re-opening in fall 2020. Then when vaccines came out, I was like "okay, soon." Then bars, restaurants, retail stores re-opened, people started traveling, etc. And our schools were still closed -- maybe a handful of in-person spots for high-risk kids but that's it.

Looking back, the idea that the first time my kids set foot in a classroom after March 2020 was the end of August 2021 is insane. And people keep talking about it like it was unavoidable and clearly worth it. It wasn't and it wasn't! We were part of a tiny minority of the globe that burdened kids and families in that way, and it wasn't even remotely worth it, but for some reason people are afraid to admit that. It's crazy.

Our private in Virginia went back in August 2020. Everyone was masked, windows were open, etc. Our kids had to quarantine twice (once for each kid but we kept them both home) due to a kid in their class testing positive. They did weekly tests of all kids, faculty, and staff, and some things were certainly different (no art classes, kids ate lunch in their classrooms, more PE outside), but they made it work just fine. I understand that private schools have resources that public schools may not, but I still think it's flabbergasting that public schools in the DMV didn't do a better job of opening up sooner.

It makes sense to me. Most of the school districts that were closed the longest are comprised of students from single parent homes with a parent with only a high school degree. Education likely isn’t as valued or understood. There is also likely less power to push for change or advocate for oneself. Wealthy, educated couples wouldn’t go along with their kids not attending in-person school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

Ok, that PP is tone deaf, obviously. But seriously OP, it's been over three years since COVID started around here. Move forward and stop being so angry at people who had it easy. If they had also suffered you wouldn't have suffered any less. You get that, right?[/quote]

No she doesn't. Sounds like if she is in therapy, she needs more of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

Ok, that PP is tone deaf, obviously. But seriously OP, it's been over three years since COVID started around here. Move forward and stop being so angry at people who had it easy. If they had also suffered you wouldn't have suffered any less. You get that, right?[/quote]

No she doesn't. Sounds like if she is in therapy, she needs more of it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

What were you afraid of dying from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

If you had downtime you obviously didn't have young kids with no childcare/ remote "school" and both parents working. There was no downtime at all. It was awful.

DP. I had kids under five with no childcare and both of parents working. I did virtually all the childcare, but I was able to get my work done with a combination of early mornings, late nights, and putting on a movie during the afternoon. Most of my daylight hours were spent exploring the woods with my kids, baking, and reading to them. It was genuinely a very positive time.

Obviously, lots of people had awful times, but in a country of hundreds of millions of people, virtually every experience imaginable was had.

That sounds like it would be nice, but some of us were busy sticking iPads in our kids’ faces while trying to call into meetings. Work and family were neglected and what childcare help we could find was astronomically expensive because demand had gone up so much. I would have loved the freedom to spend time baking with my kids but I couldn’t just not work in the middle of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

What were you afraid of dying from?

OP - I wasn't afraid of dying from COVID. No I wanted to commit suicide from horrible PPD. But thats my cross to bear I realize that. And yes I was in therapy.

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

Why are you so annoyed that someone else had a different experience than you? This doesn’t sound normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

What were you afraid of dying from?

OP - I wasn't afraid of dying from COVID. No I wanted to commit suicide from horrible PPD. But thats my cross to bear I realize that. And yes I was in therapy.

Sadly this pandemic highlighted how little we care about mental health. Depression, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, etc. linked to isolation were not counted in any of the stats. We tracked how many 80 year old dementia patients in nursing homes died but the people struggling with mental health issues were told to shut up and be glad they can stay home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

Ok, that PP is tone deaf, obviously. But seriously OP, it's been over three years since COVID started around here. Move forward and stop being so angry at people who had it easy. If they had also suffered you wouldn't have suffered any less. You get that, right?

Yes. This is it. We had an awful time. March 2020 was the starting gun for the marathon of awful that we are just now cooling down from. And I have been down the rabbit hole of why us, why are other families luckier? But I had a moment this weekend where I was watching my husband and kids play in the pool and I thought, who would look at us and know that happened unless I told them? Why do I need that story?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

If you had downtime you obviously didn't have young kids with no childcare/ remote "school" and both parents working. There was no downtime at all. It was awful.

DP. I had kids under five with no childcare and both of parents working. I did virtually all the childcare, but I was able to get my work done with a combination of early mornings, late nights, and putting on a movie during the afternoon. Most of my daylight hours were spent exploring the woods with my kids, baking, and reading to them. It was genuinely a very positive time.

Obviously, lots of people had awful times, but in a country of hundreds of millions of people, virtually every experience imaginable was had.

That sounds like it would be nice, but some of us were busy sticking iPads in our kids’ faces while trying to call into meetings. Work and family were neglected and what childcare help we could find was astronomically expensive because demand had gone up so much. I would have loved the freedom to spend time baking with my kids but I couldn’t just not work in the middle of the day.

I understand that. I'm not saying your experience didn't happen. I'm responding to a post claiming that my experience didn't happen because "If you had downtime you obviously didn't have young kids with no childcare/ remote "school" and both parents working." I had all those things, but I had the experience I described. My point was that lots of people had lots of different experiences, and we should all feel free to talk about them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

Ok, that PP is tone deaf, obviously. But seriously OP, it's been over three years since COVID started around here. Move forward and stop being so angry at people who had it easy. If they had also suffered you wouldn't have suffered any less. You get that, right?

Yes. This is it. We had an awful time. March 2020 was the starting gun for the marathon of awful that we are just now cooling down from. And I have been down the rabbit hole of why us, why are other families luckier? But I had a moment this weekend where I was watching my husband and kids play in the pool and I thought, who would look at us and know that happened unless I told them? Why do I need that story?

Plenty of families also had it much worse than you. They lost their jobs or even their lives. Some of us had to work in-person before any vaccines were even on the horizon. Interesting that you don’t acknowledge any of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A quick reminder for those of you bleating about teachers - the peak COVID period for Virginia was January 2021. If you think the teachers should have been back before the worst of the pandemic and before vaccines, then you are truly human trash.

European schools were open during that time. What makes teachers in the US so precious that they couldn't go back to work like their counterparts in places like France, the UK, Germany, the Nordic countries etc.?

It really is a weird thing, when you think about it. And it wasn't even just a handful of European countries. It was most of the world, including much of Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa. The US was the only place with protracted school shutdowns of a year or more, and it wasn't even the entire US -- much of the US opened with hybrid plans in the fall of 2020, within 5 months of the initial shut down.

The longer it went on, the more nonsensical it became. I remember being fully on board in spring of 2020, and then a little frustrated but understanding when they delayed re-opening in fall 2020. Then when vaccines came out, I was like "okay, soon." Then bars, restaurants, retail stores re-opened, people started traveling, etc. And our schools were still closed -- maybe a handful of in-person spots for high-risk kids but that's it.

Looking back, the idea that the first time my kids set foot in a classroom after March 2020 was the end of August 2021 is insane. And people keep talking about it like it was unavoidable and clearly worth it. It wasn't and it wasn't! We were part of a tiny minority of the globe that burdened kids and families in that way, and it wasn't even remotely worth it, but for some reason people are afraid to admit that. It's crazy.

In Europe, if someone get sicks, they have government sponsored health care. If they get disabled, there is a much better safety net for the disabled in terms of disability pay.

That is a huge difference. American workers were taking more risk.

This argument does not make sense for public school teachers, though. They may not make super high salaries, but they get great benefits, including guaranteed healthcare, and pensions (and often lifetime access to healthcare for them and their families even after retirement).

Public school teachers are one of a handful of groups in the US who actually enjoy a kind of European-style economic/social existence.

Your argument makes sense for people in the US working in retail, hospitality, food service, etc. Most of whom returned to in-person work before teachers!

[Anonymous]

When someone is reasonably upset about something, want to know how to make it extremely hard for them to move on from it?

Refuse to listen to them when they want to talk about why they are upset, the difficulties they faced, or how it's impacting them now. Gaslight them. Tell them it wasn't really a big deal and that they are overreacting and overemotional. Tell them whatever it was wasn't as bad as some things other people sometimes experience. Every time the express anger or frustration about it, tell them to "please just move on!"

I once read that the reason two people can experience the same thing and one will get through it okay and the other will wind up with PTSD is how much support they get for processing the event and moving through it. The less support you get, the harder it is to process it. The more people deny or minimize your experience, the harder it is to move on because you are having to justify your feelings of grief, anger, sadness, and loss over and over again, to yourself and others.

One group who has been told from the beginning of the pandemic to suck it up, not complain, and "move on"? The parents, and especially mothers, of young children who had to drop everything (sometimes including jobs or mental well being) in March 2020 and were last in line for getting some semblance of normalcy back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually enjoyed our downtime. No, don’t think you can compare to the Great Depression at all.

OP here - this is the sentiment that annoys me the most. You enjoyed your downtime? Great glad you had such a lovely time reconnecting and spending time together.

I was trying to literally survive every damn day. Thats it. Survival. There was no down time between work, virtual online school, no daycare, baby who never slept and a husband who was working 60+ hours a day.

Ok, that PP is tone deaf, obviously. But seriously OP, it's been over three years since COVID started around here. Move forward and stop being so angry at people who had it easy. If they had also suffered you wouldn't have suffered any less. You get that, right?

Yes. This is it. We had an awful time. March 2020 was the starting gun for the marathon of awful that we are just now cooling down from. And I have been down the rabbit hole of why us, why are other families luckier? But I had a moment this weekend where I was watching my husband and kids play in the pool and I thought, who would look at us and know that happened unless I told them? Why do I need that story?

Plenty of families also had it much worse than you. They lost their jobs or even their lives. Some of us had to work in-person before any vaccines were even on the horizon. Interesting that you don’t acknowledge any of that.

I'm the PP you just quoted, who posted in response to the OP. I purposely didn't elaborate on what we lost because I didn't want to participate in the suffering olympics, which was sort of the point of my post. But we lost a parent, a job, a house, and had a child diagnosed with a serious medical condition. And still, we are doing ok now, and know that others aren't, and had it worse.