The New Normal?

[The Far North]

I'm guessing the New Normal will see less disposable income over an extended period as the pandemic has to be paid for. Inevitably this means relative luxuries such as meals out and nights at the pub may become less frequent, although the queue of SUVs at the drive-through takeaways will probably survive due to pester power.

 

[lagavullin10y]

We're seeing an increase in mental issues brought on by the lockdown. Is that what you meant?

Yup. Human contact is good for people, many issues are caused by not hot having a decent chat.

 

[stevec67]

Will there be any kind of High St at all? I imagine that as numbers can be controlled going into shopping malls they have a greater chance of survival, but will they be able to sustain enough shops to stay open? Going out to the shops eg for trainers will become something of an archaic notion. Plenty of jobs for delivery drivers though.

PS Record shops and bookshops are fecked.

I think the High St has been part of the living dead for a couple of years now. Record shops and bookshops were in the vanguard of that change, who under 30 goes in either shop other than once a year on Record Store Day?

 

[mandryka]

Not mine. First we don't live. Then we live for a bit. Then we don't again.

Are you Samuel Beckett?

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die

What we’ve seen over the past three months is a refusal to accept that for some people, now is the time to die.

 

[stevec67]

I'm guessing the New Normal will see less disposable income over an extended period as the pandemic has to be paid for. Inevitably this means relative luxuries such as meals out and nights at the pub may become less frequent, although the queue of SUVs at the drive-through takeaways will probably survive due to pester power.

Drive through takeaways score because they are cheap. What's a Happy Meal, a fiver? Equally I can't see pubs that survive being any less busy, takeaway food and booze consumption is higher amongst the poor than the rich. The SUV will also stay on, people like them too much and they will move heaven and earth to pay the £350 a month, every month, to own one. It will take a LOT of decline in the standard of living to stop people spending on nice cars.

 

[russel]

Working from home will become much more common as businesses find that people can work productively from home and they will be loathed to pay for expensive offices.

 

[Thorn]

Working from home will become much more common as businesses find that people can work productively from home and they will be loathed to pay for expensive offices.

I do loathe businesses that rent unnecessarily expensive offices rather than give their staff a decent salary. But so many are loath to do the latter.

 

[russel]

I do loathe businesses that rent unnecessarily expensive offices rather than give their staff a decent salary. But so many are loath to do the latter.

Even in London salaries are the largest outgoing for a business.
If you can work from home then the South East suddenly looks a hell of a lot less attractive to live.

 

[Ponty]

If you can work from home then the South East suddenly looks a hell of a lot less attractive to live.

Absolutely. London coin is a major factor in keeping SE property prices up. Savills sent me some UK client research, brief extract below but in essence, more are likely to move away from the smoke.

• While, on balance, prospective prime buyers have become less committed to moving in the next 6 months (net balance -10%), the experience of Covid-19 has made them more committed over the next 12 months (net balance +9%) and 24 months (net balance +29%).
• This has been heavily driven by a reassessment of the requirement for space among both upsizers and downsizers together with an expectation that 49% of respondents would work from home more often.
• With an increased attraction to village and countryside locations, some 17% of respondents suggested that they have widened the area around their favoured location in which they are looking to move.

 

[matt j]

Working from home will become much more common as businesses find that people can work productively from home and they will be loathed to pay for expensive offices.

This is the hope.

For those of us who actually need to drive then having the office crowd working from home makes the roads a hell of a lot nicer, plus the constant rolling roadwork upgrade shit show could slow down a bit as a result of reduced traffic which would save some cash. No sooner have they finished one than they start another 50 yards up the pissing road

 

[matt j]

I think the High St has been part of the living dead for a couple of years now. Record shops and bookshops were in the vanguard of that change, who under 30 goes in either shop other than once a year on Record Store Day?

I think it's only pensioners that keep what's left of the high street running, that and gamblers.

 

[wylton]

I think the High St has been part of the living dead for a couple of years now. Record shops and bookshops were in the vanguard of that change, who under 30 goes in either shop other than once a year on Record Store Day?

I know you are right, but I was thinking yesterday (almost started a thread), how much I miss not being able to browse in a record shop. For me, it was mostly work that restricted my access to record shops and now, of course, it’s the virus. I placed a sizable order with Resident records (Brighton) a couple of weeks ago and selected collect from shop at the checkout. It gives me something to look forward to, though heaven knows how long it will be. I used to enjoy a trip to London to visit Rough Trade East, Brick Lane, having a bite to eat, then pop over to Honest Jon’s, Portobello Rd, stopping off at Sounds of the Universe and Sister Ray in Soho along the way. I’d get the train home, tired and wallet lighter, thanking my wife for her patience as I spent hours flicking through records. Locally, we have nothing, though a record shop/Café has opened in the High Street. Mind you, I say Café, that’s a laugh; it’s of the sprig of something or other, with a light dripping of this or that in the middle of the plate, variety (don’t ask about the price); posh nosh eh? Talking of Record Store Day, I have enjoyed visiting Banquet records in Kingston, the last couple of years and spent a fortune both times around.

 

[mandryka]

I think the new normal will include a lot of people who've had teeth removed because they couldn't get a filling.

 

[stevec67]

I think the new normal will include a lot of people who've had teeth removed because they couldn't get a filling.

Nothing new. You need to learn how to play the "I am in pain" card to get treatment. A mate is a dentist, he and hiswife are recovering from CV after he brought it home. If you need treatment and make the right noises you will get looked at. This is from the man who was lying in pain on a hospital treatment trolley and decided "fk this, I've tried asking politely, I'll try some moaning" Cue some theatrical moaning . Not too much but enough to get a couple of blokes in the queue looking at each other. 2 minutes later I have a nurse. A few more moans and some incoherent mumbling got the transport and some attention. You have to remember the NHS is a fking warzone, play the game or get ignored.

 

[mandryka]

Nothing new. You need to learn how to play the "I am in pain" card to get treatment. A mate is a dentist, he and hiswife are recovering from CV after he brought it home. If you need treatment and make the right noises you will get looked at. This is from the man who was lying in pain on a hospital treatment trolley and decided "fk this, I've tried asking politely, I'll try some moaning" Cue some theatrical moaning . Not too much but enough to get a couple of blokes in the queue looking at each other. 2 minutes later I have a nurse. A few more moans and some incoherent mumbling got the transport and some attention. You have to remember the NHS is a fking warzone, play the game or get ignored.

But isn't it the case that the only surgical treatment you will get is an extraction? No fillings, for example.

 

[Jonn]

Nothing new. You need to learn how to play the "I am in pain" card to get treatment. A mate is a dentist, he and hiswife are recovering from CV after he brought it home. If you need treatment and make the right noises you will get looked at. This is from the man who was lying in pain on a hospital treatment trolley and decided "fk this, I've tried asking politely, I'll try some moaning" Cue some theatrical moaning . Not too much but enough to get a couple of blokes in the queue looking at each other. 2 minutes later I have a nurse. A few more moans and some incoherent mumbling got the transport and some attention. You have to remember the NHS is a fking warzone, play the game or get ignored.

If nothing else in this time of pressure on the NHS, we should be supporting equality of provision for the most vulnerable, the less articulate and allowing medical staff to prioritise those in greatest need. Not for people to “play the game “ to seek unfair advantage over others just because they can.

 

[Bob McC]

I think it's only pensioners that keep what's left of the high street running, that and gamblers.

Not in my high street.
There are nail parlours, Turkish barbers, four shops converted into bars and 3 delis.

 

[Joe P]

Prediction is a mug's game so I'd rather not prognosticate, but I will say this: COVID-19 quickly showed what we can do virtually.

It's not all pluses, obviously. My online haircut was terrible and learning virtually isn't the same as learning in a classroom, lecture hall or lab, but I don't think we'll simply go back to the old way of doing things.

My one prediction is that we will be doing things virtually more often and more pervasively, even after the pandemic is over. For all I know, in the future we might have lengthy and heated arguments about wire or the importance of accuracy in audio on the interwebz with people we've never even met!

Joe

 

[stevec67]

But isn't it the case that the only surgical treatment you will get is an extraction? No fillings, for example.

Dunno. Not heard this from my dentist friend.

 

[Woodface]

I think the current crisis will accelerate change which would have happened over the next 5-10 years. Fewer face to face meetings, less driving, more flexible working, re-shaping of the high st etc.

I think record & book shops will survive, they may need to adapt a little. A coffee shop is probably mandatory. Pubs will ultimately be OK, may be less of them but there are always innovators out there.

I am very saddened by the current situation, my cosy existence has been shaken & I will be divesting myself of unnecessary debt (car payments) as soon as possible.