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Where were you when you learned of the first 2020 lockdowns in your country?

I remember I was at my uni library and I learned from a tweet of the health ministry that schools and unis are shutdown for the foreseeable future. I immediately went home early.

I remember telling my siblings "Meh this will probably last a week or so". lol in hindsight.

43 comments
  • I had already shifted to working from home, ordering groceries for pickup, avoiding crowds, etc. for several weeks before shutdown happened.

    I too thought it would last maybe a month or two, so started a degree thinking I would have at least a semester knocked out during lockdown. Jk, I had the whole degree done before we returned to office.

  • Probably at home? I worked from home running my own business so really didn't notice any change to my circumstances.

    My elderly neighbour on the other hand - he was on a very long cycling holiday in New Zealand. He was up in the mountains when it all went down. He came down the mountain and found the place like a ghost town and had no idea what was going on!

  • Early February 2020. Someone in my main friend-group groupchat posted some news regarding Coronavirus. Me, happy citizen of UnderARockVille said "What the fuck is a Coronavirus?" and got gently made fun of.

    A few weeks later aaaaand we were quarantining.

  • I was across the country, close to the shithole that was my home town. Was supposed to be there helping a friend of mine with his pot growing operation but to be honest, the whole thing was a bit of a bust even before lockdowns. But lockdowns hit maybe a two months after I got there and that more or less fucked everyone's plans.

    But I was stuck there for a while. And my internet was spotty to non existent. And at one point the house got broken into and my shit got stolen. So it was overall pretty crappy times.

  • I was driving home with a good friend after camping out for an amateur radio contest weekend and we pulled into the Stud Country Tavern at North Dandalup for some lunch.

    The staff member said that this would be the last meal they would be serving.

    We asked why.

    After looking at us as if we were mad, we were shown the local paper where the lockdown would go into effect that evening at 18:00, 22 March 2020 in Western Australia.

    • I'm not the type to enjoy camping anyway, but this is another reason to tack on for not doing an extended trip. It's not only a trope in lots of stories, but I see many real stories of people coming back and wondering what the hell happened while they were out in the wilderness. I know if I ever partaked, I'd come back to something very bizarre. Especially lately, just reading the news daily has that feeling sometimes.

      • Not sure how sleeping under the stars for two nights is considered an extended trip, but I can tell you that being disconnected from the onslaught of 24/7 news is good for my mental health and it gives me the opportunity to think, laugh and have fun with friends.

  • UK, so announced in the evening before it happened. My patio was in the process of being done and they struggled to get the slabs as all the builders merchants were closed, fortunately it did get finished - their last job for a while. Other than that I was working from home but I don't remember if that came in slightly before lockdown was officially announced. Went from five days in the office to none.

  • I was doing my internship at a small accountancy firm in Belgium. Happy I got to leave and be home.

    God damn, COVID was a blissful and amazing period. Basically the last part of my life where I spent a lot of time on the computer.

    After that I got married and basically am just working and spending time with my wife. Of course that's fun. But I guess my "solo time" ended with COVID.

  • I had requested a week off of work because I was miserable and about to quit. Was watching the governor of my state speak on tv with my family, and knew what was going to happen based on what was happening everywhere else. Look, the pandemic was clearly awful and the consequences have screwed up the world even more than it was already screwed up… but in that moment learning that I’d never have to go back to that job and I was about to get $1000/week to sit home, spend time with family, cook, relax, play games and watch movies? Oh, it was the best times of my adult life. So this is how the rich get to live? Turns out I’m not depressed. I just hate being a slave.

  • My best friend's house. That's also where I spent the lockdowns. It delayed what should've been a routine trip to see family by who knows how long. Though it should be noted different countries started the lockdown at different times, so the "2020" in the original question is not absolute in the answers.

  • I think I was in a college lecture when we were told that we were going to be remote for the last few weeks of our course.

    I remember hearing about COVID for the first time a lot more clearly though, I was volunteering in a charity shop and the two managers were chatting about how the couple who ran the flower shop down the road just brought it back with them from their trip to china. I told my mum that it might be worth buying some hand sanitiser and she said "I'll worry about it when it gets to the village" safe to say it got to the village pretty soon after that.

  • No joke, at home convalescing from a long illness. I was already seldom going out for any reason other than family functions or to see friends at their houses for the most part. The whole quarantine, both official and unofficial were a breeze for me personally despite the difficulty that it brought others, having already adapted for my own personal health requirements.

    Honestly, though, I don't know how I would have pulled it off without the 'net. Apparently the character George Jetson would have been born during the pandemic, which is lowkey kind of funny IMO, seeing as so many people adapted to talking with their bosses via tele-screen; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Jetson

  • "Lockdown" was me being moved to an off-site office with less personal space than the on-site office, with even more people. Even though the work was 100% remote help desk to begin with.

    I was at work and we were told to grab our shit, load it in our cars, and go to that office space. We were given letters in case we were pulled over to allow us to go to work (nobody was ever pulled over.) Gov contractor work.

  • I was at work. My kid was in high school, and I got the news that school wouldn't reopen after March Break. I was in a role that was already remote-friendly/expected but had argued my way into keeping a desk (had done full remote before but was getting squirrely over it, and I had newbies in my old role with little on-site support that I used as an excuse). Thought to myself "K, I'll work from home next week so kiddo has someone around if necessary/to poke him so he doesn't just rot in bed all day".

    Took home all my work stuff, which was a good thing when the notice went out saying I was not allowed to go back to the building.

  • apolgy for bad english

    where were u wen COVID lockdown hit

    i was at house eating dorito when phone ring

    "Outside is kil"

    "no"

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