London Lockdown
Working from home? Not me! I had always resisted that idea. But the meetings in the office had been going on all week behind closed doors so we knew something was going on….
I’d asked for more desk cleaning and hand sanitisers for the desks as soon as the news about corona virus had become more serious. And I’d started even more hand washing and cleaning of everything around me. My bag and drawer were full of various anti bacterial wipes too. We’d started talking about it during the day and following the news on it.
At friends’ houses I was taking wipes with me and driving them mad cleaning everything. But nothing really prepared me for the sudden sea change in our lives that was coming.
The big TV screen behind us that was used for targets was suddenly switched to full time news.
Online news websites talked of nothing but corona virus. There was a strange undercurrent everywhere. People were becoming nervous. The last tube meltdown resulting in us bring rammed into bulging and crushed buses made me nervous. Passing through Gatwick on the train I saw a few people in masks.
Social food sharing stopped – fruit and snacks were cancelled. The local church stopped organised services. The gym closed. The canteen shut early.
And then it happened – we were suddenly taken into side rooms and told we were going to be working from home and it was all arranged…. And reality began to dawn on us – we were heading into a crisis with the rest of the world.
The following week the office and tubes became emptier and stranger. Social distancing was enforced at work (except in IT where they seemed strangely oblivious). We were going home a week earlier than the government announcement and we all sat round the big TV for Boris’s announcement. We all looked at each other and realised we may not see each other for awhile… I admit I began to feel afraid.
Business dropped off quickly. Products needed bits from China which weren’t available. The future looked precarious.
My last day at work was spent making arrangements and shopping for a few things. I had lots to take home (should I rescue the plants?). I was offered and gratefully accepted a taxi, staring out at my big beautiful city all the way home and worrying about the people.
The driver was way ahead of us and had a mask and gloves on. As we arrived at my home and I retrieved my bags he came towards me with a bottle. Hold your hands out, he said… He then poured hand sanitiser all over my hands. It was already a scarce product and he told me it cost him £15. It was worth it though he said, ‘ to protect his family ‘. It gave me heart – he had used it to protect me too – and it lifted my mood – we are all human and if we look after each other we can do this I thought.
By the weekend of course we knew we would all be in lockdown from the Monday – and our new strange lives began.
That was a few weeks ago now of course, but how it all ends we have yet to find out.
Giving up our normal lives was hard – will going back be even harder?
(Photos curtesy of Janice North)
Photo by R~P~M 
Thank you for your article. It is sensitive to most peoples feelings and concerns. I hope we don’t have the same attitudes when all this is over. Many, many people do not like going to work. For them the workplace is an unnatural place and an ordeal.
This virus event is a retreat into infantilism and magical thinking. Throw yourselves into the arms of Big Daddy in the person in this case of a ducking and diving careerist – who can supposedly handle everything. Fuel for a few PhD theses I’m thinking.
Following the science? How? There are widely different views. It’s not like steering a spacecraft subject to Newtonian mechanics.
I do think the furlough scheme will fuel the black market even more too
What a wimpish post! No backbone left in this country. For god’s sake use your common sense. In the winter of 2014/15 28,000 people died of seasonal flu. Did you get excited then? This is global panic and hysteria. Just give it a thought; without social media this would hardly hit the news. The profile of this virus is similar to that of other influenza’s. No vaccine; Oh dear! On average, vaccines are only 50% effective. So next year “panic” on seasonal ‘flu!
When the fuss dies down we shall all be ashamed of ourselves. Or ought to be!
Wouldn’t you think that VE day might give all us wimps a prompt as to how to behave?
I have had covid 19 and it is not just flu. It was not my choice to work from home it was forced on me. I too am worried about the economy and all the people now being paid to do nothing. Perhaps if you read my article properly you might understand that
Sorry Janice how is it going to be difficult going back to work, I don’t get it. You should be relishing the thought of going back to work, not dreading it. Surely those who are able to work from home on a remote basis using their own computers, are not going to be as productive as working from an office or whatever. There are too many distractions and besides no supervision to ensure things are done on time etc. Count yourself lucky that you have a job to go to which is an added bonus in this particular situation. At least there is some sort of structure in your life. I was made to retire at 55 years of age whether I liked it or not.
Colin I have not said I don’t want to go back to the office – I would love to. I don’t like working from home but I am very grateful to have a job. I asked a question -?will it be hard to go back to normal?
It seems many people don’t read things properly these days which is probably what’s wrong with the world now. Lack of attention. Reading skills etc.
This is not mail online – we don’t have to be as rude and sarcastic as possible to each other to score points
And most of those sniping don’t work anyway
I’m worried that those on furlough may be hard to get back working or indeed mag have no jobs now
Like I said -reading skills are paramount
At the moment my employer will not allow us back to the office
I love working in London because it is beautiful and it’s my home. Overcrowding on transport is a disgrace and totally the fault of the establishment for encouraging mass immigration.
I have had Covid19 too !
It is not a flu, it is definitely different but at the same time, it is not the Black Plague !
It is quite unpleasant but lots of people have recovered from it which should prove that it is not the dreaded ‘killer’ that TPTB and MSM are trying their collective best to convince the Nation and the World that it is.
Think of it this way…………..if it were a ‘killer’ disease then it would kill all who contracted it and it patently does not !
There is also the fact that the vast majority of fatalities are being caused by underlying health issues and are not singly a result of a Covid19 infection.
All true Bill. Glad you are better. I guess the government have had a very difficult job. The liberal elite particularly want the lockdown to continue big on the other hand are flouting the rules daily.
I miss my old life
Well done Charles Shackerley-Bennett, your comment is a common sense post. I wholeheartedly agree.
This cannot continue, if only due to financial considerations ! – However, it is said that its an ill wind that blows nobody any good ! – Benefits that I have noticed, due to having the time to notice them, is that the air is cleaner. – The noise is a lot less. – Best of all, is that I now know that with few exceptions, I have real neighbours ! – Being an old man, living alone, with a halt put upon my family’s visits, I have heard shouted offers of help over the garden fences, and notes through my letterbox with written offers of help ! ….. An early morning greeting of ”Good morning” was usually just answered by a grunt, or taken no notice of at all, and yet suddenly with this lockdown, people are aware of the possible need of others. – This has to be a move in the right direction ! – Although I have yet to take up these offers, it’s wonderful to know that help is there if required, and I am aware of the English reserve being broken. – Will it continue after this virus ? ! – Stay safe and keep well.
That’s good you’ve got nice neighbours Mike. Yes if we can all learn to be kind and considerate In future but also use social distancing then that is threat forward. My dad is also managing also with just a big of shopping from a neighbour and doing the rest himself
Just one final thought approaching midnight at the end of 8 weeks (for me) in lock up.
Looking through many of the posts, it seems to me that we are mainly commentators, waiting for a leader to appear. Really most of us are impotent to actually change anything at all.
Viv wonderfully daily provides the low down on the swamp of infamy, real accurate criticism and we add our best, but who hears us?,who takes any notice? This non-emerging leader is Ustinov it a bit fine, particularly for many of us who are making the best of PRECIOUS days of advanced days.
I worry about my dad. He’s coping well on his own and wants things to go back to normal. It does no one any good to be alone all the time he’s very independent but of course many people are not . What we must not do is stigmatise older people
Will many of those newly working from home ever go back?
I assume a picture of a P45 posted on the worker’s lap top is just as valid as the one received by post.
Contrary to what MWT says I don’t things will ever be the same again.
The poor obviously will get poorer, but this will be the turn of the ranks of the pseudo “elite” to be thinned out, hopefully it’ s going to be a wonderful exhibition of “dog eat dog” with a few of Viv’s cat fights thrown in too.
The dole queues will get longer, but those with money or influence will survive and become even more insufferable as they afford the astonishing price increases and Lord it over us peasants safe in the embrace of the new controls which “won’t apply to them”
Still they’ll be able to get all the fruit pickers they need without importing them, from the extended dole queues.
Luckily Covid 19 isn’t the Black Death that apparently reduced the population by one third, so the country will still be FULL UP
Roger, do you think Boris Johnson and the rest of his government are aware that the country is full up. Absolutely nothing being done about the growing English Channel migrant crisis. The useless press corps don’t ask the government any searching questions of them at the daily Downing Street press briefings, and certainly they are not making any comment themselves. All the while, the rest of the population are having to endure the lock down and social distancing rules. Double standards rule ok……….
It’s been a very strange interlude (I hope it is just an interlude!) for sure. Although I never agreed with the lockdown there is a seductive sweetness about some aspects of it. The blue skies unblemished by contrails, the sheer peace and quiet of little aircraft noise or traffic, even foot traffic, being able to hear birdsong and the buzzing of insects, being able just to walk right across main roads that are normally constant barriers of moving metal and fumes.
Of course it cannot last past the end of furlough payments and we desperately need our SMEs and local shops and services to survive. I think we will however see a much more relaxed attitude to home working going forward. Employers save on rental costs and employees save on time and commuting costs. Huge win win for them. Hopefully people will pay more attention to hygiene, health and fitness too. More likely complacency will quickly set in and we will be largely back to how things were by next year albeit a lot poorer!
Agreed. Our environment is now much cleaner and quieter. Yet despite the great spring weather, we’re still being told to stay indoors ! We need sunshine for vitamin D3, and we need to be out of our four walls because, as any building-biologist will confirm, the air at home is usually full of chemicals exuded by carpets, furniture, etc. Even a moderately polluted street is less dangerous.
Working from home is not a win for me. I hate it
Yes you have to have the right personality for it for sure to do it full time (reclusive and very self motivated!). I’ve WFH mainly for the last 11 years and it suits me fine though it’s nice to see colleagues every so often. A people person would need psychiatric help if they did that though ha! For most people a mix would be best if one or the other does not suit say 3 days in the office and 2 at home. Assuming there is a choice!
Yes Mike I’m social and like to be with people. I need down time too but that’s what going home at the end of the day is for. I also love working in central London and miss it dreadfully plus my home now feels like an office. I don’t shred with working from home it feels wrong
Everybody likes working in London. Its the all pervading sex and hype. From staring at each other on the tube, to lunch cafes in famous places. And of course, short skirts.