So what have we learnt?

[PreppingPingu]

I've learnt that I don't fancy soup now the weather is warming but I'll be greatfull for the cans I'd I get desperate.
I've had my knowledge of mental health highlighted. Weirdly enough, my unwell daughter has found strength and is pulling herself together. ( Managed to get her out of hospital just as the Covid cases in there were starting to sky rocket.) My 19 yr old though is struggling and she's always seemed far more mature than her years. She works for the probation service so has to work still - someone's gotta keep an eye on the "ne'r do wells" that have been released. It's interesting seeing how the situation is affecting friends and family from a mental point of view.
I've also learnt to trust my instinct in the early stages of an event more. I put off a few purchases that I now can't get easily. Also while Jansman as you often rightly say, cash is king, in this case contact less payment is the preferred way atm while the system is still running. (We may yet need barter and cash, who knows.) My mum has had to learn to do contactless as she's always resisted it up till now. She doesn't online banking and leaves it to my dad, so god forbid should something happen to him, she'd be in a pickle.

[Tizzie]

The sheer misery and helplessness some people are facing, absolutely heartbreaking.At the first sign of anything to go straight out and buy extra. To have it reinforced that there is no help out there because of the volume of people who need it,so where possible stay in and keep all your doors locked. How people are reacting to the situation and what they are prepared to do.

[Nurseandy]

Interesting little bit of self insight for me this morning - we live in the countryside, just a couple of neighbours, both of whom are in high risk covid category for different reasons.
Chatting away (at the regulation distance) it transpired that they had run out of yeast, I have yeast and my gut reaction was to keep it for myself & my family. Quick on the spot assessment of things they had helped with over the last ~20 years and I changed my mind and gave them some yeast plus some tomato and other veg seeds I had surplus of.
Still had that selfish urge to hoard

[jansman]

I've learnt that I don't fancy soup now the weather is warming but I'll be greatfull for the cans I'd I get desperate.
I've had my knowledge of mental health highlighted. Weirdly enough, my unwell daughter has found strength and is pulling herself together. ( Managed to get her out of hospital just as the Covid cases in there were starting to sky rocket.) My 19 yr old though is struggling and she's always seemed far more mature than her years. She works for the probation service so has to work still - someone's gotta keep an eye on the "ne'r do wells" that have been released. It's interesting seeing how the situation is affecting friends and family from a mental point of view.
I've also learnt to trust my instinct in the early stages of an event more. I put off a few purchases that I now can't get easily. Also while Jansman as you often rightly say, cash is king, in this case contact less payment is the preferred way atm while the system is still running. (We may yet need barter and cash, who knows.) My mum has had to learn to do contactless as she's always resisted it up till now. She doesn't online banking and leaves it to my dad, so god forbid should something happen to him, she'd be in a pickle.

Ha ha! I have to agree with the cash situation! I too,have used contactless for the first time this week...who'da thunk it!

[Tomsky02]

I've learnt that I have a million things better to do with my time than to watch the news. I don't know about others here but the wall to wall coverage is fairly depressing and it helps me to turn it off and do other things. A newscaster on CNN today asked a virologist about the 200,000 expected dead. She was quickly corrected with the factual number but it just shows that sensationalism is their interest, regardless of the state of affairs.

I can humbly say I'm happy to have a job just now and genuinely feel for those who don't due to the pandemic. I'm not missing my commute though.

[filsgreen]

Totally agree. How many times can they repeat what we have to do in this crisis? It's also like the media are willing the government to extend the lockdown. The sublimimal messages in the questions they ask the gov't question times is all to obvious. The media are willing the death count to rise.

[itsybitsy]

I've learned that I should watch less of the news. It's giving me severe anxiety. I've learned that I have some amazing friends (I kind of already knew that, but this has brought it home) and our regular Zoom virtual drinking chatting shit sessions are rapidly becoming the highlight of my week. Also, having befriended the neighbours cat, I've learned that I can quite happily have a two-way conversation with myself, playing both parts.

This lock down lark ain't much fun to be honest, though, and you need to have extremely robust mental health in order to get through it. I have had a few wobbles, like I'm sure some of you have had - and some days are better than others. I read an open letter that an Italian lady wrote recently, which summed up exactly what I suspect many of us are currently going through. If anyone finds it online, would you mind posting a link? Thanks.

[cornerstone]

I have learned that I should stock more staples and use more as i go along, flour cakes rice and so on, biscuits and the like and use all my energies into preps for me and my family and not take interest outside of that within reason keep preps as my number one love like i always didthis has been a good practice run for me. scurrying round on the net to get those things. Never ever again i tell you all.

[Arwen Thebard]

Having a new daily routine helps, too many people I know are aimlessly sitting around watching TV and playing games.

I read this comment the other say;

"Will you come out of the lock-down fitter or fatter? Lean or lazy?"

Could be applied to our minds as well as our physical fitness.

[itsybitsy]

I found the letter I was referring to in my earlier post, it's a thought-provoking read:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... our-future