"I'm 83, I don't give a sod"; UK pensioner sums up frustration with new COVID curbs

[snoop1130]

"I'm 83, I don't give a sod"; UK pensioner sums up frustration with new COVID curbs

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britons increasingly frustrated by months of restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19 have found an unlikely new champion in pensioner Maureen Eames who declared: "I'm 83, I don't give a sod."

 

Eames, a resident of Notton, a village near the northern English town of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, became a viral hit after reacting to news that her area will move into the "very high" lockdown tier 3 on Saturday to tackle a rising level of infections.

 

That means a ban on households mixing indoors and travel to areas outside of the tier, and also the closure of pubs and bars, betting shops, casinos and soft play centres.

 

"I think it's all ridiculous. We should never have been in lockdown. All the people who are vulnerable should have been helped and kept safe... I'm 83, I don't give a sod," Eames told BBC television on Wednesday.

 

"I look at it this way - I've not got that many years left in me and I'm not going to be fastened in a house when the government have got it all wrong.

 

"How can we get the country on its feet, money-wise? Where's all the money? By the end of this year there are going to be millions of people unemployed, and you know who's going to pay for it? All the young ones. Not me, because I'm going to be dead."

 

Eames' outburst drew comparisons with "Brenda from Bristol", whose incredulous reaction of "Not another one?" to the prospect of another national election in 2017 became a social media sensation.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-22

 

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[BritManToo]

10 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

"How can we get the country on its feet, money-wise? Where's all the money? By the end of this year there are going to be millions of people unemployed, and you know who's going to pay for it? All the young ones. Not me, because I'm going to be dead."

She's right!

[Jingthing]

She has a right to that POV but she doesn't have a right to project that to all people that are at risk. For example, a 30 year with asthma that statistically most certainly does have multiple decades left of life span under normal circumstances.

[scammed]

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

She has a right to that POV but she doesn't have a right to project that to all people that are at risk. For example, a 30 year with asthma that statistically most certainly does have multiple decades left of life span under normal circumstances.

that 30 year old with asthma may do whatever he see fit,

while the rest of the world carry on

trying to put food on the table

[Jingthing]

Just now, scammed said:

that 30 year old with asthma may do whatever he see fit,

while the rest of the world carry on

No. I doesn't work that way. For example -- MASKS. Most people need to wear them for them to be effective because their purpose is to block the potential infection from the wearers. 

[scammed]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

No. I doesn't work that way. For example -- MASKS. Most people need to wear them for them to be effective because their purpose is to block the potential infection from the wearers. 

so that means close down resturants & bars since you cant physically eat through a mask right ?

i suggest instead if the asthma guy desperately want to cling to life at all cost, he can knock himself out holing up in his bedsit

[Hamus Yaigh]

34 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

She's right!

She's not right at all. She's just been used to highlight the failure of of the British authorities to control the ignorant and selfish who expect their freedoms to be uncompromised. It's one reason why Asian countries are overcoming this pandemic more successfully than the West where a massive second wave is now upon them.

[elliss]

37 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

She has a right to that POV but she doesn't have a right to project that to all people that are at risk. For example, a 30 year with asthma that statistically most certainly does have multiple decades left of life span under normal circumstances.

 

     Three score and ten , it says in the good book ..

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

She's not right at all. She's just been used to highlight the failure of of the British authorities to control the ignorant and selfish who expect their freedoms to be uncompromised. It's one reason why Asian countries are overcoming this pandemic more successfully than the West where a massive second wave is now upon them.

Nothing to do with the climate then?

[Matzzon]

It´s really sad to read all these things. First we have the almost 100 year old guy that walked in money and got dubbed by the queen. After that an 83 year old pensioner that speaks up. Never hear anything from the young generation. Seems to me that the hope for UK is dying with the old generation.

[tribalfusion001]

17 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Nothing to do with the climate then?

Lack of testing because there is not much to test for and the west over tests then finds more non infectious cases.

[In the jungle]

She lives in Barnsley.

 

If you lived in Barnsley death would be an option worth considering.

[worgeordie]

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

became a viral hit

How fitting...

regards worgeordie

[donnacha]

Quarantining an entire population who are not only healthy but, also, not at any real risk is insanity.

We should be focusing our resources on shielding those who feel they are vulnerable, while everyone else continues to work so that we can pay for it. By shielding I mean proper, secure, comfortable isolation, protected from their families and anyone else who is not isolating themselves. No one vulnerable should be going anywhere near a situation in which they need other people to wear masks.

 

[jak2002003]

20 minutes ago, donnacha said:

Quarantining an entire population who are not only healthy but, also, not at any real risk is insanity.

We should be focusing our resources on shielding those who feel they are vulnerable, while everyone else continues to work so that we can pay for it. By shielding I mean proper, secure, comfortable isolation, protected from their families and anyone else who is not isolating themselves. No one vulnerable should be going anywhere near a situation in which they need other people to wear masks.

 

Why not go a step further and have all the vulnerable and anyone over the age of 50 humanly put down like sick or old pet dogs? 

 

That would be much better for the economy and young people to make money to spend on it on new smart phones and social media. 

[CG1 Blue]

20 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Why not go a step further and have all the vulnerable and anyone over the age of 50 humanly put down like sick or old pet dogs? 

 

That would be much better for the economy and young people to make money to spend on it on new smart phones and social media. 

I think it's quite reasonable to suggest the vulnerable self isolate and get all the necessary support, so the rest of the world can get on with saving what's left of the economy. 

 

The long term effects of continued lockdowns will cause far more global deaths than Covid ever could. That's not a great legacy for us to leave our future generations. 

[donnacha]

57 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Why not go a step further and have all the vulnerable and anyone over the age of 50 humanly put down like sick or old pet dogs? 

Thank you. This is a perfect example of the sort of hysteria I am talking about.

Right there, in the text you quoted, I say that we should be focusing our resources on providing real protection to those who both need it and want it. 
 

57 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

That would be much better for the economy and young people to make money to spend on it on new smart phones and social media. 

No. Those who are of working age are about to get hit with the highest taxes we have seen in the West since the Sixties so that we can pay for the extraordinary steps we have already taken, and will continue to take, to protect your generation.

There is something extraordinarily selfish about the boomer generation that prevents you from appreciating or, even, seeing that the entire system has just been bankrupted to cater to your needs. You have literally nothing you should be complaining about. For every pound the young might dare to spend on smartphones, the government will be grabbing two to keep you guys safe and comfortable.

 

[tribalfusion001]

38 minutes ago, donnacha said:

Thank you. This is a perfect example of the sort of hysteria I am talking about.

Right there, in the text you quoted, I say that we should be focusing our resources on providing real protection to those who both need it and want it. 
 

No. Those who are of working age are about to get hit with the highest taxes we have seen in the West since the Sixties so that we can pay for the extraordinary steps we have already taken, and will continue to take, to protect your generation.

There is something extraordinarily selfish about the boomer generation that prevents you from appreciating or, even, seeing that the entire system has just been bankrupted to cater to your needs. You have literally nothing you should be complaining about. For every pound the young might dare to spend on smartphones, the government will be grabbing two to keep you guys safe and comfortable.

 

You might like this Sir Desmond Swayne calling out this hysteria in the HoC today.

 

 

[sammieuk1]

We need help to defeat the virus and more to defeat Boris's insanity as the UK descends into chaos with a backdrop of Brexit I don't know about tiers just in tears marooned here ???? 

[tribalfusion001]

13 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

We need help to defeat the virus and more to defeat Boris's insanity as the UK descends into chaos with a backdrop of Brexit I don't know about tiers just in tears marooned here ???? 

It may have been defeated already, mortality and hospital admissions the same as October 2019 like Sir Desmond pointed out in the HoC today. There is a lot of differing opinions at present within the scientific and medical profession, but those in charge have set their course.

[johnbarpic]

4 hours ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

She's not right at all. She's just been used to highlight the failure of of the British authorities to control the ignorant and selfish who expect their freedoms to be uncompromised. It's one reason why Asian countries are overcoming this pandemic more successfully than the West where a massive second wave is now upon them.

Totally agree 

[Kadilo]

Good on you lady. Nice to hear someone not just thinking about themselves, but about the future lost generation who will pay the price for all this. 

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, donnacha said:

Quarantining an entire population who are not only healthy but, also, not at any real risk is insanity.

We should be focusing our resources on shielding those who feel they are vulnerable, while everyone else continues to work so that we can pay for it. By shielding I mean proper, secure, comfortable isolation, protected from their families and anyone else who is not isolating themselves. No one vulnerable should be going anywhere near a situation in which they need other people to wear masks.

 

Well said, but these days personal responsibility is a non starter as it's apparently my responsibility to care about all those people that have never cared about me. All those young people that scorn me because I'm old, now apparently think I should care more about them than they care about others.

[Scott]

A post with an unsubstantiated claim has been removed. 

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, donnacha said:

Thank you. This is a perfect example of the sort of hysteria I am talking about.

Right there, in the text you quoted, I say that we should be focusing our resources on providing real protection to those who both need it and want it. 
 

No. Those who are of working age are about to get hit with the highest taxes we have seen in the West since the Sixties so that we can pay for the extraordinary steps we have already taken, and will continue to take, to protect your generation.

There is something extraordinarily selfish about the boomer generation that prevents you from appreciating or, even, seeing that the entire system has just been bankrupted to cater to your needs. You have literally nothing you should be complaining about. For every pound the young might dare to spend on smartphones, the government will be grabbing two to keep you guys safe and comfortable.

 

As you are apparently talking about me ( "your generation" ), I've never asked anyone to do anything for me re corona, and in fact I've spoken frequently that quarantine for all is a farce, IMO. Far as I'm concerned, just get on with it and if I get infected and die it's just one way out of many that I might die at my age.

 

Sooooooo, don't blame me for your problems.

[thaibeachlovers]

"I'm 83, I don't give a sod"; UK pensioner sums up frustration with new COVID curbs

 

I'm younger than she, but I agree with her 100%.

[donnacha]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Well said, but these days personal responsibility is a non starter

Yes. What I have observed in many families is that the gravest danger to the vulnerable is the inability of seemingly non-retarded family members to understand how viral transmission works, combined with selfishness and laziness. That seems to have been what was mostly responsible for the extraordinary death toll in Italy. Granny and Grandpa would isolate at home but their kids and grandkids, living in the same house, went about their lives as normal, brought the virus home, and ended up killing them.

Many people are idiots and that is why I advocate a robust approach that actually gives the vulnerable the option to be accommodated somewhere comfortable and safe, away from their families, for the duration. They should even have with carers, if they need them, who also volunteer to remain properly isolated.
 

 

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

it's apparently my responsibility to care about all those people that have never cared about me

Well, that is why those who wish to be shielded should be given the resources to properly isolate themselves but, beyond that, it is entirely their responsibility. They should not additionally ask everyone else to stop their work, their travel, their education, their lives.
 

 

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

All those young people that scorn me because I'm old, now apparently think I should care more about them than they care about others.

The cracking joke at the core of ageism is how blindingly fast life flashes by and how subjectively fast all those smug gits will find themselves exactly where we are ????

 

[donnacha]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

As you are apparently talking about me

No .. what?!

I was clearly responding to jak2002003, and obviously reacting to his hysterical misinterpretation of what I said. He somehow came to understand that I was saying the old should be wiped out when I was saying quite the opposite: that all the vulnerable (young and old) should have been properly shielded from the start.

 

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I've never asked anyone to do anything for me re corona

Great. I was very specific in what I said: "We should be focusing our resources on shielding those who feel they are vulnerable"

So, instead of locking down everyone, we lock down those who feel they are vulnerable. Meaning everyone goes off and decides whether they want to be isolated. A strapping great fellow of 24 might be terrified, while a 83 year old lady in Oldham might feel she doesn't want to spend her final years locked away from her community and friends.
 

 

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

in fact I've spoken frequently that quarantine for all is a farce, IMO.

Cool. We are in complete agreement. Why are we arguing again?
 

 

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Far as I'm concerned, just get on with it and if I get infected and die it's just one way out of many that I might die at my age.

Many people feel this way. The problem is that, in this Twitter Mob age, the Achilles' heel of our democracies is overwrought hysteria, as expressed on this occasion by jak2002003. You might remember that, at the very beginning of the lockdown, Boris briefly floated the idea of the UK adopting an approach somewhat similar to Sweden's, attempting to shield the most vulnerable while allowing most services and businesses to remain open.

The next morning the tabloids savaged him with headlines along the lines of "Boris wants to kill granny!" and, within hours, the idea was dropped and never mentioned again. For fear of the nutters throwing around charges of murder, the UK fell into line with the lockdown overreaction of most other governments terrified about their poll numbers.

A tiny minority of people who are not thinking clearly, and blinded by tears of rage, are getting to drive the car. That is what I am against.
 

 

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Sooooooo, don't blame me for your problems.

I genuinely have no idea how you got there.


 

[FritsSikkink]

12 hours ago, BritManToo said:

She's right!

So let her die and hope she doesn't infect too much other people.

[Peter Denis]

8 hours ago, tribalfusion001 said:

You might like this Sir Desmond Swayne calling out this hysteria in the HoC today.

 

 

Thanks for sharing this!

In 2'15" this MP talks more sense than the hysterical government spokespersons.

And I am pleasantly surprised to see that a conservative MP is calling out the madness of his colleagues...