Not going out (117/365)

[white_hart]

A colleague was saying to me last week how exhausting it was dealing with all the social things she suddenly had happening since lockdown started easing. I've seen lots of people on social media posting about the things they're doing now, too. Meanwhile, the only change that the easing of lockdown has made to me over the last few weeks is that, as of 29 March, I've been able to swim with both of my swimming friends at once*. I haven't been to shops, pubs or restaurants; none of my team are going back into the office on a regular basis just yet; and I haven't seen anyone apart from my swimming friends in person**.

I almost miss lockdown, when being a weird antisocial gremlin who never has weekend plans and uses pretty much all their social spoons for work was so much less detectably different from everyone else, and I didn't feel that I had to camouflage my lack of friends-I-see-in-person-on-a-regular-basis*** behind vague mutterings about people not living nearby (though that is also true for most of the people I'd really like to see in person, but I'm not sure the people who see lots of people find it that convincing. Or not just as weird as not wanting to rush out and see people after four months of lockdown).

*Although as one friend has just had surgery which had been put off several times due to COVID, for the next few weeks I'll only be swimming with the other friend anyway.

**Saying which, on Friday I will be going into the office and having an outdoor six-person leaving tea for a colleague who is retiring.

***And, indeed, interest in spending my weekends peopling when I could be sewing and recovering from another hard week on Teams and not having to navigate masks and social distancing arrangements and worrying about people getting too close.

Comments

[hilarita]

Yeah, I mean *technically* we're less locked down, but actually I haven't changed my behaviour at all. Mayyybe I'll go out more in August, a couple of weeks after being fully vaccinated.

[white_hart]

Maybe, once I'm fully vaccinated, and if the numbers stay low...

[hilarita]

Yeah.

[perennialanna]

I am not supposed to be relaxing at all. The government has emailed me to say that I am still clinically extremely vulnerable, even with one vaccine dose done. I'm just supposed to do it while the rest of the world acts as if all restrictions have been lifted already (and I have a job that can't really be done from home, trying to do so nearly broke both me and my colleagues).

We lost an entire year group last week. Child caught Covid from the hairdresser. But massive playdates and birthday sleepovers go ahead.

[white_hart]

Ugh. It's bad enough dealing with the rest of the world acting as if there were no restrictions when I'm staying at home from choice (and because I have a job that can be done remotely).

[lexin]

As another anti-social gremlin, I sympathise.

[white_hart]

*Anti-social gremlin solidarity fistbump*!

[girlyswot]

Since Christmas, with my new support bubble, I have felt as though I finally hit the sweet spot for the level of peopling I need in my life. I am pretty nervous about this creeping upwards any further.

[white_hart]

Yes, I find that T plus regular contact with two friends is plenty, and I do worry about my ability to cope with all the in-person peopling work normally involves. Though maybe it won't actually be that much worse than Teams peopling?

[mrs_redboots]

I am enjoying seeing my grandsons again and, to a certain extent, going to church in person and preaching in person, which is about as social as I get - but I am finding it incredibly tiring! My mother and sister had two different lots of family down last Sunday (they overlapped long enough to say "Hi", but that was all) and said that afterwards they just sat in their chairs, too exhausted even to turn the television on! Peopling is exhausting, who knew?! I have been going to the local supermarkets all along, but am struggling with the concept of going further, which I do need to do fairly soon.

[white_hart]

Peopling is definitely exhausting!

[fencesitting]

I had a "normal-ish" day on Saturday - B went to a club in the city centre, I mooched around playing location games while she was in it. We got sushi and ate on a bench in Broad Street, and went to the bookshop. It would have been completely like normal if we'd taken a bus!

Also I'm back to taking an art class again, which is odd. (Good, but odd, especially as it's in the evening and I've not NOT been home in the evening for FOREVER.)

[white_hart]

I haven't even been into the city centre since last March! (17 March 2020 - I went to Debenhams on the way back from a meeting to get a new battery fitted in my watch. And now Debenhams isn't even there any more.)

[cmcmck]

I admit to being a sociable sort and I'm beginning to find this very hard indeed especially now I've had both jabs and all I still hear is 'just a bit longer'........... :o(

[white_hart]

I would really like to see my parents, and there are friends I miss as well, but none of them are people I could see without significant travel!

[crinolinerobot]

Yeah, I'm not relishing things going back to 'normal'. I always found it weird that my mum had to physically *see* people, because for me the phone and social media do the job just as well in a lot of cases.

Hopefully post-lockdown the world will be a little better adapted to those of us with gremlin tendencies.

[white_hart]

I hate the phone, so I actually prefer Teams to that, but really, text-based interaction is absolutely fine most of the time!