Languish.org

durka

My routine is basically unchanged except for going to the basement to work instead of taking public transit. We can't take my son out to go do anything fun on the weekends (like the National Kite Festival or the cherry blossoms), but it's also been rainy most weekends.

That said, I voted "that ship has already sailed" because my son is a toddler.

Not so much crack up, staying at home is easy but if this lasts more than a couple months I worry about what will happen to our employees.

As far as day to day routines go, the current state of affairs is a big plus for me.  A lot more time to stay home and that's exactly the way I like it.  So from that point of view I am ok.

My biggest problem of course is that this is totally contrary to humanity's ultimate goal of endless GDP growth.  So from that point of view I do want things to go back to normal as soon as possible.

My second biggest concern is that this prevents me from going to other countries.  I do like to go elsewhere occasionally.  But I don't mind staying in Hong Kong for a while. 

I've basically been stuck at home for at least 5 weeks. Just leave every few days for a quick stop at the market down the street and that's it.  :homestar:

A little bit option 1, a little bit option 5.

I am stuck in a way too small flat with my gf. If only it had waited a few more weeks to get the move sorted into a new house with a garden it could have been more doable.
Like this isn't great.

I think the lack of social interaction with other humans is going to get to me. Skype etc will help keep that at bay but I like people, I like pubs, restaurants, theatres, cinemas, bookshops, busy parks in the summer with a big bag of cans - social spaces, even if I'm there on my own.

The other thing - after two weeks - that I think will get to me at some point is the inability to plan. So while I was injured and trapped in my house, I'd have friends visit which helped. But I'd also make plans - there were films I wanted to go and see in the cinema or little trips I wanted to make and even big holidays I was planning. And that kind of helped with not being able to leave my house and reduced mobility, I now find it kind of difficult that I can't even be thinking about or making those types of plans because I'm not sure when (or if) things will return to normal.

So the narrowing of my physical space to where I can walk on crutches and time to the next day (in my flat) is going to get to me.

Edit: Also because of my injury I have mainly been in my flat and not able to leave since early February. It's been a slightly different experience for the last 2-3 weeks. But not a world away from what I was already having to do.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 28, 2020, 08:17:33 AM
durka

Yi, I've worked from home for a while, and am pretty anti-social unlike Sheilbh; so under normal circumstances my closest answer would be, personally "I've never been happier, hope this goes on forever". However, as has been noted in the main Covid 19 thread my current circumstances are not normal.

Thanks for creating a poll where there is no option I can vote for - unless, of course, I declare myself to be already crackers, but that has nothing to do with the lockdown. :P

Some weeks I guess. After Easter...

I'm pretty much there.  :(

I was saying to someone the other day, just over a month ago I was looking forward to a vacation I had planned in Malta for June. In the heart of winter driving, I was picturing myself, my first evening there, sitting on the hotel balcony facing the Mediterranean, drinking a beer and enjoying life.
Now that's all come to shit. Not just the holiday. Looks like I'm losing my job soon. And no matter how long this virus lockdown lasts, what comes after it is going to be extremely difficult for most people. Lifes gonna be shit for several years.
A few years ago, my parents, who are elderly were having trouble going out, and i made the decision of moving into their home, it made more sense than me driving there every day to visit. So now, I'm stuck in a house with two elderly people, who are bored silly.
And yeah, I go through my days now, with a terrible knot in my stomach.

So far I'm holding up, but I'm a quite social person and I do sorely miss having a beer with my friends, lunch with my parents, going to the movies, walking on the street, the lot... I do skype meetings - tomorrow we're having lunch together with my parents and my brother, for example - but I'll go nuts if this lasts two months.

Also massively worried about my finances, since summer is usually a very dry season for me, and this is set up to end pretty much right before that.

I miss social life. Coffee breaks, eating out, going for some beers, that sort of thing. My flat is also way too small for this kind of thing.
As for how long, I'm afraid we will see. Even if general quarantine is lifted, I can't see myself working normally with the bug out there. I might have to go on medical leave and continued isolation. Which would suck balls.

Also worried about finances, of course. It was hard enough to win projects competing with Eastern Europe, and now this. I very much doubt cars are going to take off (haha!) until we get a working vaccine. So I could very possibly lose my job. And it's not the sort of job in abundance in Spain.

I worry about loved ones and, to a much lesser extent, my job.
Otherwise I'm perfectly happy, me and my gf like our alone time and we're getting it in spades.

I live with my girlfriend, her younger brother aged 19 and my son aged 17 who spends a few days each week at his moms house. I own the house its a decent size and has a nice yard. My girlfriend is studying and worked part time until her place shuttered. My son is in high school, now studying online. GF's brother had recently come to live with us to get a job, get a bit of money saved and get his life going - not going to be too easy to do that at the moment.I usually work a lot and I'm the breadwinner for this household. My work is closed for the forseeable.

All four of us a very quiet and rather introverted, we keep the house very clean. So it's perfectly pleasant in most respects.We have been fixing up the backyard.

I am concerned about money, that's for sure. Trying not to dwell on it too much - with the most recent rescue package I'll be able to survive in lockdown mode for a while. Im not enjoying not being able to travel, which I love to do. No trip to the UK, no Seattle, no NYC. It's an uneasy feeling not knowing whats coming up. It's also all very abrupt and rather disorienting, even though I started changing my plans in February as I thought this might get bad - no idea it would be this bad. I think I'll be losing my health insurance for me and my son shortly.

I have determined to accept what's happening and put the gift of time to the best use I can. I get a bit of exercise, much more than usual, try to spend a bit of time drawing, which I love but never have time for, try to read and just enjoy having nowhere to be.

I talk to family and friends a lot, try to take long breaks from the news, talk to my work colleagues. We all agree that our feet have stopped hurting.

I can do this for a month or two.

Still employed. Working from home now, but go in once a week. I'm slightly less worried about getting my job cut than some might be, but do forsee some kind of looming pay cut. Wife is also WFH now. Fortunately we have no kids and no debt other than a very tiny mortgage, so paying the bills is for now less of a concern for us than for some folks. We also have potentially formidable support networks on her side of the family should our luck change and if it comes to that (but hopefully it will not, obviously).

However, emotionally it's a burden. I worry about my parents who insisted for years on still living in a city where none of their kids live anymore and who are thus all alone. I'm not super social, but nor am I exceptionally introverted and miss bars, movie theaters, malls and the like. I find myself obsessing too much about wiping things down a lot, washing my hands more than is probably necessary even now, feeling anxiety about coming too close to people when going on my daily walks, etc.  All that is rather unpleasant.

I suppose we humans are adaptable and this may all become easier in the coming weeks. But at the current rate I suppose I could take this until after Easter or so.

I worry about my elderly family members and relatives. We've a pretty good setup at home with the boys, we'll muddle through. More optimistic the health care system won't blow up because our ramp-up capabilities seem to double every week. We were very lucky, the US shutting down early flights from China may have saved us, plus no superspreaders.

Quote from: Josephus on March 28, 2020, 09:04:22 AM
I'm pretty much there.  :(

I was saying to someone the other day, just over a month ago I was looking forward to a vacation I had planned in Malta for June. In the heart of winter driving, I was picturing myself, my first evening there, sitting on the hotel balcony facing the Mediterranean, drinking a beer and enjoying life.
Now that's all come to shit. Not just the holiday. Looks like I'm losing my job soon. And no matter how long this virus lockdown lasts, what comes after it is going to be extremely difficult for most people. Lifes gonna be shit for several years.
A few years ago, my parents, who are elderly were having trouble going out, and i made the decision of moving into their home, it made more sense than me driving there every day to visit. So now, I'm stuck in a house with two elderly people, who are bored silly.
And yeah, I go through my days now, with a terrible knot in my stomach.

Josq, that's hard, but you did the right thing for your parents. I'm halfway to your situation.

I know exactly what you mean about the knot in the stomach, I think fairly soon I'm going to have to stop caring and worrying and accept what will happen will happen. I've done the best I can and nature now will roll the dice.

Seedy has decided that I'm not going to last longer than a few weeks. He already thinks I'm losing my mind.  :P I'm convinced I'll be okay for at least a month or so more.

Motivation is pretty much gone. I have a lot of projects to work on and I just can't make myself do them. My friends are regularly checking in on me, and there are tons of online classes and meet ups. But I need physical connections.

I canceled all of my trips in 2020, which made me cry. Sorry, Syt, but Austria isn't going to happen this year.  :cry: I know that's all very trivial in the grand scheme, but it's not to me. My trips keep me sane.

Financially, I'm good. I'm saving what I can so that I can help the boys and my friends who are out of work over the next few months. Unemployment will help most of them, but not all.

A couple of months, I wager. It will get old very fast having to educate my children & also work full time without ever going anywhere.

Quote from: merithyn on March 28, 2020, 12:53:20 PMI canceled all of my trips in 2020, which made me cry. Sorry, Syt, but Austria isn't going to happen this year.  :cry: I know that's all very trivial in the grand scheme, but it's not to me. My trips keep me sane.

No worries, there will be other times. :hug:

I'm not going to crack from being at home, I am going to crack from having to go to work and try to make sure my workers in the Mail Services are as healthy and secure as I can make it.  I really figure in a week or so we will know the effects on me and my staff, corona-wise.

Quote from: Iormlund on March 28, 2020, 09:36:32 AM
I miss social life. Coffee breaks, eating out, going for some beers, that sort of thing. My flat is also way too small for this kind of thing.
As for how long, I'm afraid we will see. Even if general quarantine is lifted, I can't see myself working normally with the bug out there. I might have to go on medical leave and continued isolation. Which would suck balls.

Also worried about finances, of course. It was hard enough to win projects competing with Eastern Europe, and now this. I very much doubt cars are going to take off (haha!) until we get a working vaccine. So I could very possibly lose my job. And it's not the sort of job in abundance in Spain.

Yeah, pretty worried about my finances too. Even if the quarantine is lifted in May, the summer months are usually pretty dead for me. And by autumn my savings will run dry.

I've gone 20 years like this.  I bet I can do another 20.

Quote from: Razgovory on March 28, 2020, 05:02:39 PM
I've gone 20 years like this.  I bet I can do another 20.

:lol:

That's the spirit Raz. :cheers:

Because I'm the principal carer of someone with profound autism my movements have been circumscribed for years. The problem we do have here is preserving his mental health when he has no hope of understanding why everything has got weird. Perhaps paradoxically the work we are having to do to keep him entertained is helping to keep our morale high. My wife can do all her work from home so is incredibly busy.....her main risk is getting annoyed with all the people going on about how they don't know what to do with all the free time.

Yes. I've heard there's been a lot of trouble at shelters for autistic adults trying to keep people under control and explaining they can't go out anymore. They have no idea what to do if  there's an outbreak in one.

My girlfriend works at an autistic school. Since there's far fewer kids there these days normal class schedule doesn't apply. One kid was told he could use the computer as much as he wanted that day.
He wasn't having it. Threw a tantrum.
He had to do his maths and English and get rewarded with tokens before he could use the computer. :lol:

Sounds about right  :lol:

I'm not sure what will happen if we get completely confined to barracks; lobby for an exemption I guess. The problem is that if he loses it he will start smashing his head against the wall; a long walk precludes that.

I think for some people, those not as far-sighted/pessimistic as 'us', the weight and importance of the restrictions are really dawning now.

At least that's what I've learned from talking with family.

I feel like there was a baby-boom thread somewhere.

But just saw that Shanghai divorce lawyers are seeing a boom in demand since the lockdown's started easing :lol: :(

I think other family members are more likely to crack first before I do, but that'll be annoying as I'll have to deal with the consequences.  <_<

Though no immediate sign yet of dangerous or irrational behaviour.

I'm doing okay.  Work is the same for me as I've been doing the WFH thing since late 2015.  Kids are handling it fine, though Tommy and I are really missing baseball-- his season should have started a week and a half ago and there is no live MLB on TV.  My daughter misses her friends but otherwise seems to prefer doing her schoolwork from home.

Wife is not happy.  She got tired of working from the dining room table and moved up to where her makeup desk is in the bedroom.  She was complaining about that early this morning.  Funny thing is I have a desk with plenty of space right next to mine in the basement but she won't move there because we'd probably kill each other.  She misses her office interaction, and she misses her old routine including the hour it took every morning to get ready.  But all that said, she is handling it better than expected and only came close to losing it once.

I've been drinking more beer recently (I had cut way back in previous months).  I keep buying from 3 local breweries to help them out and I try to give away as much as I can to my neighbors and other friends.  But a lot of it ends up in my fridge, and most of it is in growlers so you gotta drink that stuff while it's fresh.  To add to that, there is an odd form of peer pressure that has popped up in the form of virtual happy hours via Zoom/Facebook. 

I'm fine, working from home works well. I don't mind so much the lack of places to go and things to do as I'm mostly a stay at home type anyway. Practicing my inner hermit.   :cool: That said, I do find that I try to get out into the neighborhood more to see and speak to people. And I keep in touch more with friends and relatives, especially the older ones, to see how things are going.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 28, 2020, 08:17:33 AM
durka

Ok, I answered the first as a joke.

But really, I am not making much (2000$/month), but I'm not spending much.  I am lucky that my mortgage and car payments are postponed until July, otherwise I'd be in deep shit with that few $$.

I miss my family and my friends.  And I need my physiotherapist to help me repair the damages from my last accident.

I'm used to go to a restaurant at least once a week, I quite enjoy eating outside the house, even at McD ;)  Taking a slow breakfast/lunch and reading the day's paper.  It's relaxing and I miss that.

Not being able to afford good wine too, I miss a lot.

And the empty beer bottles that no one wants to touch... I'll need a pick-up and a trailer to bring them to the store when they finally take it :P

You know. I think I'm kind of at cracking point. The same environment every day business is leaving me unable to get any work done.

Same here, this week my productivity has plummeted. I feel scatterbrained, which kinda feeds into a loop of making me more anxious because I'm not getting anything done.

Also, my family has began flooding our WhatsApp group with tiktok videos which feeds the madness of it tall.

My sleep cycle is totally fucked.

I had to do 14 days of self isolation with only leaving my house for fresh air in front yard. No one allowed inside either. So now that I'm on day six of actually getting out I'm fine. Along with spring finally hitting Alaska it's making the prospect of getting out and enjoying nature ( which the state mandates allow) look all that more attractive.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on April 17, 2020, 03:32:17 AM
My sleep cycle is totally fucked.

Why?

Not Yi but I have the same issue.

In my case if I don't have to go to work for over 2 weeks I tend to stay up all night. It's been like that for 20 years at least.

That.

Make it three, I think my sleep cycle, already quite messed up in regular circumstances, went completely bonkers after just a week or two.

Weaklings. :P

The solution is called an alarm clock. Smartphones work as well.

And I get the same environment bit but I have that with the office as well.

My 'natural' sleep period is 4am to noon, that's what I will revert to if I'm not held accountable.
It's hard enough getting up to go to the office, working from home it's even harder. The only way I manage is planning video meetings at 9am, I'll have to be there and look presentable.

Quote from: Tamas on April 17, 2020, 05:10:18 AM
Weaklings. :P

The solution is called an alarm clock. Smartphones work as well.

And I get the same environment bit but I have that with the office as well.

I can have several alarms sounding for hours and not wake up. Believe me, I've tried it.  :P

I have no sleeping issues at all.  My only issue is not being able to leave Hong Kong for vacations.  Otherwise I am perfectly fine. 

Personally, it's my work schedule that is fucked. Usually, I get interrupted once or twice a week to help put out a fire or 2 but now, no distraction from the rote work is happening and with it my motivation do it. And this is only week 5 of 25.

Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2020, 05:22:19 AM
I have no sleeping issues at all.  My only issue is not being able to leave Hong Kong for vacations.  Otherwise I am perfectly fine.

https://youtu.be/teD9t-lO_o0
(https://youtu.be/teD9t-lO_o0)

I am all fine even if I am alone at home (well, if I don't count my cat :wub:). Never was a big social guy. Sure, I miss a bit social interactions, but I do mostly what I was doing before.

RF! :hug:

Yeah, I'm fine, too. It's been two weeks since I left the building, and the main thing that was getting on my nerves was work and colleagues constantly reaching out. :D Fortunately I have next week off. :)

Quote from: Syt on April 17, 2020, 06:48:58 AM
RF! :hug:

Yeah, I'm fine, too. It's been two weeks since I left the building, and the main thing that was getting on my nerves was work and colleagues constantly reaching out. :D Fortunately I have next week off. :)

:lol:

I've been working from home the last several weeks. My motivation is obliterated, though I'm fortunate since the workload is also small. Being stuck in the same location--with no mental/physical separation between office and home--is doing a number on me. I find myself switching work locations at home from room to room just to get different surroundings, plus I take a lot of walks around the neighborhood to help.

I'm sleeping more than I should, yet am consistently tired despite that, to the point that my routine 2-3 days of the work-week is to get up, shower, check email, make tea/coffee, finish the drink within ~30 minutes, then take a 15-20 minute nap, followed by struggling to work for the next hour or so.

Quote from: Habbaku on April 17, 2020, 10:32:04 AMBeing stuck in the same location--with no mental/physical separation between office and home--is doing a number on me.

Same here. I mean, I've converted my dining table into my work desk, but it's still the same room, same office chair etc. <_<

Quote from: Syt on April 17, 2020, 11:24:38 AM
I've converted my dining table into my work desk

Worst thing about this is that now I can't use it for board games  :(

I think in the future there will be a trend in real estate for home offices the same way there has been one in recent years for mother-in-law suites.

I aten't dead.  Yet.

I remain sane.

For those working from home and not used to it, if possible try to separate each side of life, work and personal space. If possible, use a separate room that you can ignore when you're not working. I've always worked from my guest bedroom, for instance.

Quote from: The Larch on April 17, 2020, 12:30:57 PM
For those working from home and not used to it, if possible try to separate each side of life, work and personal space. If possible, use a separate room that you can ignore when you're not working. I've always worked from my guest bedroom, for instance.

How do you ignore it when you have a hot young houseguest?

I don't get to crack up that way.  I get to come into work and deal with mail, packages, freight, etc all day.  Luckily these are coming from all over handled in warehouses where people are getting sick...oh wait, maybe that's why I'm cracking up.

Quote from: The Brain on April 17, 2020, 12:34:50 PM

Quote from: The Larch on April 17, 2020, 12:30:57 PM
For those working from home and not used to it, if possible try to separate each side of life, work and personal space. If possible, use a separate room that you can ignore when you're not working. I've always worked from my guest bedroom, for instance.

How do you ignore it when you have a hot young houseguest?

When I have guests I work from the kitchen.  :P

By now I've worked in my garage for a week. My back is starting to hurt.

The Corona guy at the office is back at work and on Monday I'll go back to work also.

I'm still doing ok. I used to occasionally go out to eat but not that often, so I'm fine there. For those infrequent trips to coffee shop or pharmacy I wear a face mask. I'm skipping a week or so for grocery shopping. I have enough, had enough prior to the apocalypse for a good while. I think growing up with parents and grandparents who went through the depression they kept a stock of food and I've done the same. Grocery store trips are for the less needed or more perishable items like milk, fruit, etc.

I keep in touch with family and friends more often, especially elder ones. I take walks often and there are always a lot of people and families out and about.

I work at home and like it and when we go back to the office I'm going to request to work at home  a day a week. Most people were already doing so one or two days a week. Me being part time and a short hop to the office building I never bothered before.

So.... as an extroverty extrovert, this is really starting to get to me. I'm chatting with people all day, I'm on video chats regularly with friends and family, do a weekly "happy hour" with my brother, sister, and their families, etc.

I had plans to head out to see a friend that was stymied, and I'm not best pleased about that.

I miss going into a restaurant. I miss hugging my friends. I miss stitch and bitches. I miss SCA events. I miss hiking. I miss so damn much. I'm trying really hard not to focus on those things, though, and instead focus on worrying about my friends and kids who are still going to work every day (yes, PDH, this includes you). That's healthier, yes? :unsure:

It's becoming very clear that many of the things that I enjoy won't be possible until into 2021. It sucks and I'm not happy about it, but it's not like I can control any of that. So I'm plodding along and dealing with it.

Quote from: merithyn on April 17, 2020, 04:10:17 PM
So.... as an extroverty extrovert, this is really starting to get to me. I'm chatting with people all day, I'm on video chats regularly with friends and family, do a weekly "happy hour" with my brother, sister, and their families, etc.

I had plans to head out to see a friend that was stymied, and I'm not best pleased about that.

I miss going into a restaurant. I miss hugging my friends. I miss stitch and bitches. I miss SCA events. I miss hiking. I miss so damn much. I'm trying really hard not to focus on those things, though, and instead focus on worrying about my friends and kids who are still going to work every day (yes, PDH, this includes you). That's healthier, yes? :unsure:

It's becoming very clear that many of the things that I enjoy won't be possible until into 2021. It sucks and I'm not happy about it, but it's not like I can control any of that. So I'm plodding along and dealing with it.

:(

I guess many of us have or need to come to this realisation.

Hang in there Meri. :hug:

Have you thought of taking up computer games?  :P

Quote from: PDH on April 17, 2020, 12:35:52 PM
I don't get to crack up that way.  I get to come into work and deal with mail, packages, freight, etc all day.  Luckily these are coming from all over handled in warehouses where people are getting sick...oh wait, maybe that's why I'm cracking up.

:(

That's one of the reasons I've stopped buying things online, both to 'protect' my family, but also not over tax warehouse delivery workers, their jobs will come back after the lockdowns end.

Quote from: merithyn on April 17, 2020, 04:10:17 PM
So.... as an extroverty extrovert, this is really starting to get to me. I'm chatting with people all day, I'm on video chats regularly with friends and family, do a weekly "happy hour" with my brother, sister, and their families, etc.

I had plans to head out to see a friend that was stymied, and I'm not best pleased about that.

I miss going into a restaurant. I miss hugging my friends. I miss stitch and bitches. I miss SCA events. I miss hiking. I miss so damn much. I'm trying really hard not to focus on those things, though, and instead focus on worrying about my friends and kids who are still going to work every day (yes, PDH, this includes you). That's healthier, yes? :unsure:

It's becoming very clear that many of the things that I enjoy won't be possible until into 2021. It sucks and I'm not happy about it, but it's not like I can control any of that. So I'm plodding along and dealing with it.

I am probably not as extroverted as you. But I definitely get what you're saying. And I am doing things and setting myself targets because it keeps me occupied and not freaking out about not leaving the house or seeing people which is driving me crazy (and Zoom etc only kind of help because I'll see people - as a group - but I won't get a chance to you know, have a chat with one person for a few minutes). It's difficult.

Also - to be honest I am weirdly kind of grateful when I get busy with work which I normally massively resent.

Thankfully I'm introverted af, I can keep this up for a long time.

I think this would be absolutely terrible to go through this living alone, but wife and kids fills the need for human contact.  I'm still grateful for when they go to bed and I can be alone.   :ph34r:

I'm an introvert and I get what Meri is saying. I miss my coworkers, I really miss chitchat. I miss not having to constantly make sure my kids have something to do.

Quote from: Grey Fox on April 17, 2020, 05:48:38 PM
I'm an introvert and I get what Meri is saying. I miss my coworkers, I really miss chitchat. I miss not having to constantly make sure my kids have something to do.

I'm kind of the same, an introvert and while I don't mind not being as active as usual, I think I'll be glad when I can see some people at work, or visit normally with elder relatives.

I personally keep my sanity by thinking that, sooner or later, measures will be relaxed and I'll be able to go outside and enjoy some fresh air. What gives me a chill, after speaking today with my mother, is the realization that almost surely my parents will not be able to enjoy this future hypothetical relaxation and will have to stay confined for way longer than me.

The lockdown here is not as strict as I can go out whenever and for whatever purpose I want. There is just nowhere to go other than having a walk through a closed-down town or the forest nearby, which gets a bit boring. I might drive a bit further to go hiking next weekend.

My "cracking up" comes from two reasons: the recent lifting of restrictions seems arbitrary so it's harder to accept them. And you see the people who are supposed to be protected from these rules flaunting them the most. Based on my anecdotal perception, younger people seem to be much better following these rules than older people here. These two aspects lessen my discipline in following the social distancing rules.

Of course that's far from actually cracking up, but I notice that I get more and more annoyed by the situation and less disciplined about the rules when out in public.

I can go out, walk around, visit parks, drive to the coffee shop and hardware store. There isn't a lot of traffic and I don't go out often but there are no heavy restrictions on personal movement in most of Massachusetts. But same as in many areas of the country, most stores and restaurants (except for take-out or delivery) are closed. In Boston they have much stricter rules but I'm well into the suburbs away from the city.

Quote from: Zanza on April 18, 2020, 12:27:57 AM
Based on my anecdotal perception, younger people seem to be much better following these rules than older people here.

Yeah, seriously. Just had a friend tell me my 70 year old parents have been visiting his 80 year old mother. It's strictly not against the rules, but wtf.
When I phoned them they told me that of course they would have preferred to visit me or my sister, but knowing we wouldn't let them in they figured they'd visit someone who would.

Yeah - took quite a lot of convincing to get my dad (late 70s, had pneumonia recently) to stay in :bleeding: <_<

(He is now, but still)

A more disturbing conclusion - which anecdotally corresponds to my teaching experience - is that we have trained our young people to be quite obedient and deferential towards constituted authority. Much more so than we usually imagine.

For us Americans, which constituted authorities would that be?  The state governors telling us to stay at home?  Or the federal president telling us to rebel against certain of said state governors?

The directives have been explained to the young as efforts to protect others.  So one inference that could be drawn is that youngsters are deferential to authority, another is that they are civic minded and ready and willing to accept inconvenience for themselves to help others.

Yes, it's another conclusion one can reach, as I acknowledged. Both civic mindedness and deference to authority can be true at the same time. My experience suggests students now are much more comfortable asking established authorities for guidance on many matters, to adjudicate disputes and enforce judgments between themselves, much more so than confronting conflict on their own. In the current circumstances, it may turn out it's a good thing. In other circumstances, maybe not so much. I don't see it as a unique problem to « you Americans ».

Quote from: The Minsky Moment on April 18, 2020, 10:31:56 PM
For us Americans, which constituted authorities would that be?  The state governors telling us to stay at home?  Or the federal president telling us to rebel against certain of said state governors?

The directives have been explained to the young as efforts to protect others.  So one inference that could be drawn is that youngsters are deferential to authority, another is that they are civic minded and ready and willing to accept inconvenience for themselves to help others.

:yes:

In my observation what many take out of schools is the exact opposite.
It builds a message into people that authority is always the enemy, facts and experts are not good to listen to and you should hide any attempts to do this, etc... <_<