Champ

They’re a funny bunch. I was asked to join them on a walking trip when one of them dropped out. And over time others, including her, have joined the group. I enjoy walking and they can be good fun but at other times some of their values appal me. In answer to your question, you can put whole groups on mute but I don’t think you can put individuals within a group on ignore. She’s just hugely removed from most people’s reality

I doubt Mrs Entitled ever travels by bus

And is currently whingeing about the number of negative results she’s now had and would you believe it doesn’t make any difference to your requirement to isolate. Who knew?

I currently have a woman in one of my WhatsApp groups moaning about having to isolate after being Test and Traced after spending however long crushed up with however many others on a plane. Having I got any sympathy? None

I’d take that as a compliment, Verbal

Another vote for increasingly hating the ‘not giving a fuck people’

I was about to begin my response, ‘hugely arsed’ but then I remembered my audience, so, yes, like you, Paul, aiming for 1 but in reality a 2. I’ve been a big recylcler for years but over time I’m become increasingly conscious of our impact on the planet and the mess we’re storing up for our children and future generations. It now features in a lot of my decision making, from comparing the amount and kind of packaging on things I buy to considering the ethics of air and long distance travel in general. My thinking has been influenced by stuff I’ve watched on tv, reading and the views of others around me. The pandemic, too, has certainly provided focus to such thinking. I see myself, by an accident of birth, having been born in the hugely affluent ‘first world’ and accustomed to consumption in all its guises but now find myself questioning my role as a consumer of ‘stuff’ and where my responsibilities lie in, at the very least, trying to limit my impact on the planet and it’s resources, from eating less meat (quite easy), to buying less stuff (getting harder) to using less fossil fuel, from using the car less, considering the energy we use in running our home and questioning our need and the way we travel to places (some big and less comfortable changes involved here) Capitalism has clearly been a huge driver for the upsurge in population and consumption leading to a point where we’re now facing the destruction of the planet as we know it. Yes, capitalism has also led to huge scientific and technological advances but if the pandemic has shown us anything it’s the unwillingness of governments to put aside their own popular or even national interests to make tough choices that work for the good of all. I’m not optimistic

I spotted that ‘last 6 months’ too

Holloway. After the station

Has she watched Tim Dunn’s The Architecture the Railways Built series? Highly recommended

And given your, shall we say, at times, ‘provocative’ persona on here I also remember you receiving enormous sympathy when you opened up about some personal issues of your own

It’s really not about how a person sees or portrays themself either. Your life experiences may make you vulnerable to mental health problems but you/one doesn’t decide when you experience mental health difficulties in the same way as you don’t decide when you’re going to have physical illness

We’re talking (well, I am) about people who are acknowledging mental health issues and the impact it has on a person’s ability to perform, the accompanying questioning of their own abilities and self worth and that individual’s anticipation and interpretation of the reaction of others. You honestly wouldn’t wish it on anyone

Were you a weeny bit disappointed?

It’s really really not what we’re talking about here, Howie