‘Silence is deafening’: Dame Joanna Lumley warns of ‘crisis hidden in plain sight’ as 1.5m Brits to spend Christmas alone
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/dame-joanna-lumley-christmas-alone-ageuk-5HjdNkn_2/
Posted by tylerthe-theatre
‘Silence is deafening’: Dame Joanna Lumley warns of ‘crisis hidden in plain sight’ as 1.5m Brits to spend Christmas alone
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/dame-joanna-lumley-christmas-alone-ageuk-5HjdNkn_2/
Posted by tylerthe-theatre
23 Comments
The thing is, I don’t want to go out to Xmas dinner somewhere with friends. I don’t want to have to pretend I’m enjoying their unsalted veggies, undercooked meat, dilute gravy and interminably long mealtime. I want decent grub at home, on my own, to my own taste, scoffed down in ten minutes and then a two hour kip. The rest of you can suffer each other. Merry Christmas.
So the headlines very misleading.
Shes speaking about Age UK’s campaign against loneliness among the elderly, which is an increasing problem. A lot of older people have seen their support networks collapse as they get older and being alone without any family to celebrate major holidays with is one of the outcomes
In her later years, my Nan was adamant she wanted to have the day on her own. She’d sometimes go to my aunt’s, but on the whole she was very content to have the day under her own steam, and do her own thing. But then conversely there are of course plenty of old folk who don’t get the option. They aren’t asked, and no effort is made at all.
My mum and my aunt were always careful to make sure my Nan really did want to do her own thing. Old folk can be so worried of being a burden they exclude themselves.
I’ve got a great idea: why don’t elderly people who live alone sell their houses and move in with other elderly people, then they can all live together and not be lonely!
The young people of this country all basically live like this and it’s not so bad – we even managed it throughout the pandemic lockdown that we participated in to protect elderly people from the virus.
Thus would also have the benefit of there being more houses for people who are in their 30s and want to have families but currently can’t afford to. Then they’ll have lots of babies and we’ll fix the population crisis and we won’t need to have so many of those immigrants that elderly people dislike so much!
It feels like everyone would be a winner?
Many older people just don’t have family these days.
It really feels like families are dwindling now compared to the 80s when I grew up.
Christmas was a time to invite all the older aunts, nans, granddad’s, uncles etc. and those who couldn’t come, we’d go visit.
I feel like life and families are all so fractured now.
I spent Christmas alone for 8 years, it was fucking brilliant.
I’d get up at lunch time, start Christmas dinner, watch movies with my cat in front of the fire and eat at 8pm.
I’ll never understand this Christmas dinner at lunch time bullshit.
33m spending birthday and Christmas alone for the second year in a row. I try to make plans with friends but they have partners and family. What can I even do, I’ve tried to get comfortable with being lonely but it’s overwhelming sometimes. I genuinely have started to hate Christmas because it feels like I’m forced to watch everyone else around me be happy.
What about those who want to spend Christmas alone. I’ve had some lovely Christmases on my own
Joanna can come to mine for Christmas if she’s at a loose end. I’ll have the egg-nog waiting.
Go to church. its free, the good ones are intrested in being welcoming and giving out free mince pies during carol services
I am on my own this year. Cant say i am too bothered
That’s not fair, Mudd were raising awareness about this decades ago.
For what it’s worth, I will be with family, but I know I would not feel like I’m hard done by if I wasn’t. Christmas is an old tradition and this is a new world. It is what it is. I’m sure some people would feel like something’s gone wrong, but I would put Bailey’s on my cereal and relax. I work seasonal jobs sometimes and Christmas day is always at least double pay.
I know the article is about the elderly, but the idea of being alone at Christmas is something I’ve started to dwell on lately.
I won’t go into details, but “facts of life” mean that the Christmas I’m used to won’t last forever. It’s not exactly a boisterous affair, but it’s still a peaceful relaxing time with the close family I have left.
People will say I shouldn’t dwell on tings that haven’t happened yet, but I do wonder what I’d do.
depending on the person its not a crisis
the adults who hates the events etc arent in crises , but say the elderly who has no family sure it can be a crisis
She can come to mine if she likes, would make my dad happy.
It isn’t only the elderly, many disabled people are also isolated at Christmas.
It’s sad for whoever finds themselves in this position and doesn’t want to be.
I spent Christmas alone, it was ace. I did parkrun at 0900, walked on the beach for 1030, then dinner after 1400. I closed the curtains after that so nobody bothered me..
Boxing day, we continued Tinder…
There’s 364 other days in a year, some even have an extra if you can’t make them.
Only on reddit and probably 4Chan can people take this, openly brag about being alone on Christmas, and further argue how great it is, because fuck people, right? Completely missing the point. This is about people spending Christmas alone but they don’t want to be alone.
It def stinks to be alone on the holidays. Very sad.
what are one and a half meter Brits? I found myself wondering.
For those spending Christmas alone remember some poor bastards have to spend it with their family