Covid-19 and purity spirals

I walked through our local London park on Wednesday. I was on my way to the supermarket on foot (no car) and that’s the quickest route. It’s also by far the safest in terms of being able to keep my distance from other pedestrians; if I’d walked on the streets, it would have been along narrow pavements alongside the (still quite busy) main road, so I wouldn’t have been able to step into the road to avoid oncoming people without getting squashed by a bus. Going through the park, I could walk on the grass and keep far away from the runners, bike riders and park pushers on the footpath. I don’t know if they’re counting people in this park, but if they were I would have added to the statistic (twice! On the way home too!) then everyone could clutch their pearls about stupid, selfish Londoners “flocking” to parks. And all I was doing was getting food for my family by the safest and most efficient route!

Can anyone suggest a good, non-misogynist alternative word to “hysteria”? I keep thinking how useful one would be.

Sounds like you are having a miserable time of it..... that can't be enjoyable at all.

No it isn't. I'm listening to Matt Hancock now saying the more we all adhere to the rules the quicker this will be over, but no, what I see on here is post after post saying can I do this, why does it matter if I do that. Everyone knows the rules but no, apparently the thing to do now is to figure out the loopholes, find ways to bend them.

It's just utter selfishness. Scientists have told us what we can do and what we can't, for good reason but no, you have to have people arguing that going out three times a day won't really do any harm, that sitting on a park bench won't really do any harm, that going to the shops twice a day won't really do any harm, that spending an hour in the supermarket won't do any harm - well then they wouldn't have restricted it would they?

Very true Dances. There was a story earlier - in a few places - that early modelling suggests more people could die as a consequence of lockdown than from coronavirus itself. Yet some people seem determined to make it as miserable as possible.

I can't eat treats, no carbs, no wheat, no gluten, no dairy, can't drink alcohol because of immunosuppressants I'm on, can't even go outside for a walk now. A treat that would make my life more bearable right now would be to go and visit my kids. So,that's ok right

Sounds like you are having a miserable time of it..... that can't be enjoyable at all.

I, for example, have responsibility for shopping and feeding my family, which also includes looking after my granddaughter everyday. I see myself as providing the 'mood music' and the basic rhythm of the day, for everyone else.......It is important to be able to keep myself sane and mentally healthy- and to be able to provide nice food, treats and so on for others.

Many people exist within a web of inter-relationships.......and if one is miserable or down, then it affects the whole 'system'.

I demand that you only drink it using a tiny pipette dropped straight down the back of your throat so you don't taste it at all

I'm going to drink some wine later but I'm thinking that I'll make a huge effort not to enjoy it, that way I'll not be harming anyone.

Statistically
I'm afraid it is absolutely about making things as unbearable as possible for some of the posters here.

It's like some kind of warped social Marxism, where the goal to ensure the misery is imposed on everyone.

My Dad just touched down in London yesterday and I warned him that it was probably going to feel like stepping into the opening of 28 Days Later.

My favourite park @Binterested ! Their planting is so good. I would have gone/ been looking forward to going to a couple of exhibitions at the Mall Galleries at this time of year and would have built in a little wander around the park , semi convinced that there would be spies exchanging packages on the benches ( makes me go all John Le Carre).

A friend lives in Soho and has been posting photos of his walks- utterly deserted Trafalgar Square, Regent St and Piccadilly. Must be so strange for you living in the centre - it’s odd enough out here in the leafy ‘burbs.

You'd think, wouldn't you? But in fact the next demand will most likely be that shops remove goods deemed non essential from the shop floor.

Just FYI the government have now said if a shop is open they are entitled to sell whatever stock they want and customers are entitled to buy it
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52245937

Maybe some of the "essential" policing will stop now

The goal isn't to make lockdown as unbearable as possible. We're still getting online deliveries (a shooting offence according to some) but when we have to go to the small Sainsbury's local for extra bread, or milk (non essentials according to MN) then it makes fuck all difference if I also grab a pack of chocolate doughnuts.

Our local M&S has deliberately moved a selection of stuff on to the same level as the food hall - pyjamas, basic clothes, baby stuff, some household.

The government have quite clearly said if the shop is open it can sell whatever it has - and the economy needs people to be able to buy wherever possible.

Went for a walk around the local park today, and saw a woman sitting on the grass as her twin tots toddled about. There's few gardens around here so they probably don't have any outdoor space, did it really make a difference to social distancing or risk if she sat on the grass while the little ones got some exercise rather than standing up? Not a bit.

And this is what it's all about. YOU.

YOU cant see your kids or eat wheat so you are fucking sure that you are going to make sure everyone else is as miserable as you are.

I'm a bun buying, Easter egg treating buyer for a vulnerable relative bastard, Who has been in alone for 5 weeks.

Go on, I'm sure you will find another way to show that I'm a selfish bastard

(I hope your relative enjoyed her chocolate, Dances. We can't get M&S food here but some of the Easter eggs looked lovely.)

Votes on whether or not I should tell my cat that she's a very naughty girl to be getting extra treats and should feel guilty?

I can't eat treats, no carbs, no wheat, no gluten, no dairy, can't drink alcohol because of immunosuppressants I'm on, can't even go outside for a walk now. A treat that would make my life more bearable right now would be to go and visit my kids. So,that's ok right? Because it isn't about doing the right thing it's about ourselves and what's right for us as individuals right?

I keep seeing posts on our local Facebook group from people asking for help.shopping because they've been but cannot physically wait in line

I live in an area with plentiful shops that are open, and I vary my shopping routine depending on what shopping items are required, and where the queues are likely to be the smallest, or even non existent.

I save the big supermarket shop for when i know I need items that can only be bought at the full range superstore - and accept I'l have to queue. Today I picked up a geranium, amongst my food items, for the garden table.

My daughter does supermarket shopping for an elderly neighbour who is shielding for 12 weeks...and on that list has been included tonic water for her gin. Even the elderly like their little pleasures.

@Binterested thank you so much for sharing that photo of the beautiful flowers. My eyes are leaking now, but I’m sure it is my raging hay fever.

I know kittens. I went to M&S at 5.30pm last night after finishing work (from hone) and there was no queue at all. I was buying groceries for a relative who cant go out and I did also buy an Easter egg, some buns and a choc dessert treat for her. I then drove to her house, rang the door and stepped back, had a brief chat and went home. She was delighted about the little treats, which, I am told by the Stasi, should be contraband.

I was concerned that I might be questioned about my 'purpose' by the many police on the roads. This is something I should apparently be welcoming, otherwise my thinking is suspect.

No.

Hilarious, isn't it? Ask and you shall receive. Or just mention, even.

This thread perfectly illustrates how purity spirals work. Good work Hooves.

slathers on sunscreen, cracks open another beer and waves at passing police officer

I keep seeing posts on our local Facebook group from people asking for help.shopping because they've been but cannot physically wait in line. I couldn't be in store buying non food items, in all good conscience, knowing that people were not able to come in to buy food.

The few times since lockdown I've gone shopping I've found that once I got into the shop I got round very quickly despite not attempting to restrict myself to a gruel and no pleasure diet because fewer people allowed in at once = quicker movement around the shop and no queues at the tills.

And I know what I think of selfish individuals who care only about themselves - so back at you

If the shops that are permitted to be open are selling 'non essential' items...then that is actually a small blessing for many people. Only we each know what little pleasures and 'non essentials' we require to make our lives just a little bit more tolerable and enjoyable.
I don't think we all need to be wearing hair shirts - just so we can show others how virtuous we are, or to punish ourselves for some reason.

For example, some of the very large superstores sell crayons, stickers, and activities for children.......they sell children's shoes and sandals.....outdoor play equipment......tights, socks and other 'essential' clothing items.

I've noticed some stores have suspended lottery sales( while others are continuing with them), but are still selling cigarettes........Are cigarettes considered essential items? I guess they are if you smoke ( I don't, myself).

If you have a shopping list and you are familiar with the lay-out of a supermarket then you can hit it running...and picking up 'non essentials', as you proceed around the aisles ( which have now become a sort of sanity saver to make life that bit more tolerable ) doesn't take up much time.