Got told off for observing social distancing

[dellacucina]

Just want to get a gripe off my chest!

I went to the local corner shop for some milk. There was a family of 5 people including two children standing directly in front of the entrance. A little boy appeared to be upset about something.

I stood quietly and waited. I bided my time by putting on a mask. After a while, one of the women noticed me. She said, "It's alright love. We're not waiting."

I stood, waiting for her to get the idea that I didn't want to get so close. She seemed annoyed and gestured to the door, telling me to go ahead.

I responded (possibly sounding irritated), "I can't go in. I'm waiting for you to move."

They all chorused, "You can go!"

I said, "You need to be 6 feet away."

They angrily jeered at this.

The man snapped, "Can't you see that we're sorting out our child?" I responded that I had been waiting, and was just responding to them.

They yelled at me and said I didn't need to go on about it and how rude I am. Then the man said that he hates Americans (I have an American accent).

This lockdown is really bringing out the best in people!

[whatisheupto]

Urgh . Sorry that happened to you! You were totally right. They are obviously ignorant and rude!

[dellacucina]

Thank you! I had a feeling MNers would understand!

[Alb1]

You could have just said excuse me, and been a little understanding about it even though it is annoying they were blocking the entrance. They were rude but so were you.

[dellacucina]

I was a bit rude. I was responding to rude behaviour. They seemed like quite abrupt and aggressive people. Standing in front of the entrance is rude during this period. Her manner when she told me to go in the second time was rude.

I think waiting quietly is not rude. I could see they had an issue with the child and I was a bit annoyed but I understood that they would want to comfort him.

[BessMarvin]

Oh they were way ruder and extremely unpleasant by the sounds of it.

[browzingss]

I would have responded that I hate inconsiderate people that block doorways - they need to move somewhere else to sort themselves out. In the midst of a pandemic, the world doesn’t revolve around their family. I hate people that stop at entrances like this. Or at station ticket gates or escalators etc. Idiots.

You did the right thing, alternatively I would purposely walk through as close as hell to them, in the hope that my germs would trigger them to move or rethink their positioning the next time they want to sort their child out. Might even faux clear my throat and start sniffling too.

[P1nkHeartLovesCake]

You were rude
They were rude

Yes your right it’s bringing out the horrid in many of us it appears

It’s done now just forget about it.

Why don’t you wear your mask the minute you leave home? Why do you wait until your at the shop to put it on? Surely wearing it from the minute your outside provides more protection? The mask is the weirdest post of your post tbh

[Toilenstripes]

You weren’t rude at all. They behaved horribly.

[dellacucina]

@P1nkHeartLovesCake I despise wearing the mask and when walking down the road I avoid getting within 2 meters of anyone else. The corner shop has tiny aisles and is surely higher risk than the open air.

[Kasabian23]

Oh my God that was outrageous, how dare they shame you based on your nationality and make you feel bad for trying to protect yourself. You did nothing wrong at all hun, if I were you I would call the police and explain to them about the abuse you received x

[NotKeenOnSwede]

So what if you were a bit snappy? They are cunts, cunts deserve a good bollocking.

[recycledteenager24]

sorry folks but i STILL don't understand the mask wearing thing.

[browzingss]

I do think that constantly adjusting or putting the mask on/off defeats the purpose of wearing one. You’re just touching the congregation of outdoor germs the mask was protecting you from and transferring the germs to your hands or whatever instead

[FallonSwift]

recycledteenager24 there is advice from some scientists online which says that the public should be wearing masks. Perhaps OP has decided to follow this advice.

[dellacucina]

Yeah, the mask is new. I'm not sure about proper mask usage yet. It's a minefield.

[TeenPlusTwenties]

Masks for the general public aren't really to protect the wearer they are to protect other people in case the wearer has the virus and coughs.

[BreconBeBuggered]

Hovering in doorways when you can see someone is waiting to get past you is infuriating behaviour at the best of times. And the best of times this ain't. They sound like proper wankers.

[celan]

Both rude. You could simply have said, politely, that you were observing social distancing, and would they mind moving a bit to one side.

The donning-a-mask-outside-the-shop bit is quite bizarre.

[DishingOutDone]

I think I'm going to need a diagram to understand how in the name of holy fuck you were rude OP?

[DishingOutDone]

Or anyone, if anyone can explain - how was the OP rude? Was she insulting this lovely family by breathing, for example? Was it her existing that really pissed them off?

[lifestooshort123]

You were not rude and they were thoughtless and then rude. I was in Sainsburys having just come through the check out when the couple leaving the checkout next to mine stopped to check their bill. I wasn't bothered, I was 2m away and happy to wait (not enough room to safely pass them). After less than a minute they started to move along the front of the store when they stopped to have another look. This wasn't quite as convenient as others were waiting to join the queue to leave but I stopped again to wait (I had a trolley and kept the right distance). When they stopped for a third time I said 'Excuse me, could I get past' and the guy turned on me - shouted how rude I was and impatient etc etc. Perhaps I came over like that but I actually wasn't and felt they should have moved along to where there was a bigger space. Anyway, I couldn't have waited any longer as I was holding people up. If he was on msnet he'd probably post his side of it!

[QualityFeet]

Yeah me too and then another one explaining what it has to do with anyone else how she does or doesn’t wear her mask.

[fascinated]

You made the classic non Brit mistake of not phrasing it in a hesitant fashion eg “don’t you need to be six feet away / are we not supposed to be keeping our distance ? / I think we should be six feet away from each, should we not? “ adding a giggle or a smile helps too.

Not really your fault but that’s how the Brits roll. You must never be seen to order anyone else about. total faff but it’s how it is.

[Teacher12345]

People are thick. A woman gestered for me and my family to pass her on the street corner the other day. We went to try and cross but there were cars so she said "its okay you can pass me" to which I said "sorry we wanted to give more room to pass". In the end she offered to cross over but I didn't think I should have had to spell it out. I couldn't just walk into the road because we have the pram and there were cars.
People aren't thinking straight and you were being perfectly polite, waiting for them to finish.

[ANoiseAnnoys]

They were probably stressed out dealing with the tantrumming child. It’s no excuse though and saying he hates Americans is well out of order not to mention thick. I get the accent is a bit annoying but how can you hate a whole massive country of people?