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Original poster

Starting to get annoyed at people who don't think rules apply to them

336 replies

WelcomeToShootingStars · 30/03/2020 08:42

So the rules say we can go outside for 1 form of exercise a day. Yet I see so many people saying things like "but we live in the countryside and it's quiet", or "my dog is used to 3 walks a day" etc

Then there's the newer stipulation of not driving anywhere non essential. And yet I see people saying it's OK less than 10 miles, or it's OK if you're driving somewhere remote to exercise.

Why are people unable to make such a tiny miniscule sacrifice? And why do they think the rules (designed to keep everybody safe) apply to everybody else but them?

OP posts:
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5
PurpleDaisies · 30/03/2020 15:21

People should question the police twisting the rules as they go along, which is what they are currently doing.

Definitely. There’s a story on the bbc website about shops that have been told not to sell Easter eggs.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52090441

LolaSmiles · 30/03/2020 15:22

Why does any discussion of people following simple instructions have to be brought back to Nazis and the Holocaust?

People are being asked to reduce social contact to help keep pressure off the NHS so they can save lives. It's not a huge ask. Most people are managing to do their best because they're not selfish and manage to see beyond their own little bubble (unlike the millions of threads on MN where posters routinely want telling they're fine to be selfish because if they knew they were happy with their actions then they wouldn't be posting on MN seeking validation for ignoring the rules and guidelines)

TabbyMumz · 30/03/2020 15:23

"Good for you. Do you presume every post on here is directly made to you and you alone?"

"Do you need me to explain in small words why my response was relevant."

Please do. I wasnt referring to anything in particular you'd said. I'd just read through 9 pages and was commenting in general...then you seemed to make it all about you. I wasnt responding to you. As per your other comments, no need to be nasty.

Darbs76 · 30/03/2020 15:25

Sooner we have a stricter lockdown the better. It really annoys me how people are twisting the rules. Everyone’s mental health will suffer because of this. Doesn’t mean we can decide the rules for ourselves. No-one has to drive to a beauty spot to run or walk, complete rubbish. They just want to. Unless you live on a bypass. Then re-think how you do your exercise for the next few months.

Wewearpinkonwednesdays · 30/03/2020 15:28

The more you go out the more likely you are to catch it.

I've only been out once a day to walk the dog, since "lockdown",and once last Monday to pick up food from the shops. I could easily go out more at certain times without meeting anyone, but I haven't. That doesn't mean I can't apply common sense and work out, if someone lives in the countryside, they could go out all bloody day if they liked and meet no one, therefore are at no more risk of transmitting or contracting the virus, than if they sat in their house all day. Some people can't seem to work that out.

Wewearpinkonwednesdays · 30/03/2020 15:30

Some people can't seem to work out that if you meet a friend or family member while out a walk, and stay the recommended distance from them, it's no more risky that passing a stranger at the recommended distance.

Whoareyoudududu · 30/03/2020 15:30

If you genuinely live rurally with little to no chance of bumping into someone then I don’t see much issue with flouting the rule and exercising twice a day. Shoot me.!

DrivingMsCrazy · 30/03/2020 15:31

@Whatwedontknow there is absolutely nothing in either the guidance or the recent legislation to say exercise is limited to one hour. It's once a day but there is no mentioned limit on time. So all those people frothing on her post about the timings are wrong.

PepePig · 30/03/2020 15:40

I think it would be better if people just stuck to the rules. They're there for a reason. It's just one of those things where one dog walk becomes two, then it's two plus exercise, two dog walks, exercise and a trip out for lucozade on the way, which then becomes 3 dog walks a day, a drive to cycle somewhere, a stop at a shop, a jog later and then a shopping trip...

Before you know it, one trip out has became 5 and people aren't trying at all. The exposure risk shoots up, and if you're a carrier, you've infected maybe 30 people in a day over 1 or 2. Some of those people could end up dying.

Let's just follow the rules.

However, I do think if you have caring duties or a child with severe SN you should be allowed out more frequently. Otherwise, everyone else needs to get a grip! Because they can understand the situation.

Jaxhog · 30/03/2020 15:45

To be more annoyed at people who can not do basic risk assessment for themselves. If an activity does not involve social contact then it is not a risk to either themselves or others.

How many people do you know who truly understand risk in its widest sense? The problem is that even people who think they do still put it through a personal inconvenience filter.

Tatty101 · 30/03/2020 15:48

The thing here is that you're increasing your risk of catching this virus EVERYTIME you go outside. Yes, the Govn have put rules in place as of course people will need to get food/exercise/medicine but sadly the virus doesnt know whether you're out for your "allowed" one exercise a day. If you come into contact with a person or a surface that has enough of the virus, you WILL catch it.

And that's before we go into the issue of asymptomatic people who may be spreading it onto pedestrian crossing buttons/rails on the stairs/shopping trollies etc.

So yeah, you might feel great about ignoring advice because you think your risk judgement is better than the country's leading medical and scientific minds but that extra walk/time out or whatever is increasing your chances of getting ill.

If that doesnt bother you, please think of the other people you may pass it on to. Staying at home isnt hard.

poppadopolis · 30/03/2020 15:51

If you genuinely live rurally with little to no chance of bumping into someone then I don’t see much issue with flouting the rule and exercising twice a day.

I genuinely live in the middle of nowhere. I usually go to the local(ish) lake which is a 5 min drive away for a run 3 times a week. I never normally see a single soul. So I will just carry on going right?

No, wrong. I am in France. People did the whole "they can't mean me" "I am not harming anybody so I'll do as I like" etc etc and so the rules very quickly got much more restrictive. I am now not allowed any further than 1km from my house to exercise.

If I don't stick to this then I can be fined.
If I do it again then the fine is much bigger.
If I do it a third time then I can potentially be sentenced to 6 months.

So all of you carry on enjoying your "I know it's the rule, but it's a silly one so I will ignore it" and see what happens.

Janus · 30/03/2020 15:56

Great post poppadopolis, hope people will consider this. Hope you are safe over there.

Notquiteyet99 · 30/03/2020 16:12

As the Tories have cut public services of all kinds to the bone, there aren't the army/police etc some people are slavering for to enforce a "proper lockdown", whatever that is. Presumably one with tanks patrolling every road in the UK, regularly dragging the guilty ones who have been out twice a day to their deaths, while their neighbours line the route and cheer.

Funny how the measures which have been successful in limiting deaths in other countries (Germany for example), such as a proper level of testing to find and isolate infection hotspots are never called for on these threads, instead most posters want people to turn on each other. Nice.

TabbyMumz · 30/03/2020 16:14

"The thing here is that you're increasing your risk of catching this virus EVERYTIME you go outside."
But you are not if you live in the middle of nowhere and dont see anyone.

TabbyMumz · 30/03/2020 16:19

Poppadopolis...if you live in the middle of nowhere and saw noone it wasnt you that made France increase the rules. It wasnt you that made the infections keep happening, it would have been something that happened in more densely populated areas. For example people still meeting up and having parties, people going the shops just for a pack of fags, or even just people going food shopping and touching surfaces etc...it wouldnt have been down to the people who go out a few times a day in the middle of nowhere.

anotherlittlechicken · 30/03/2020 16:35

Sorry, I haven't posted for a little while. Just been out for a nice long walk in my rural area. Smile Guess what... I saw ONE PERSON, walking their dog... At LEAST 40-50 feet away from me was the closest they got.

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras

"The thing here is that you're increasing your risk of catching this virus EVERYTIME you go outside."

@TabbyMumz

But you are not if you live in the middle of nowhere and don't see anyone.

Exactly this. Some people are just being deliberately obtuse, or awkward, and refusing to accept facts.

I am no more likely to get the virus on a 2 mile walk where I see no-one (or just a couple of people 50 feet away,) than I am from people passing on the local footpath 30-35 feet from the bottom of my driveway! OR at the bloody shop when I go for some bread/ milk/ salad/ veg.

I just think some people are a bit jealous of us people who can go for longer walks (and 2 or 3 a day,) when they can't. And ya know what... IT'S ALLOWED! You just can't DRIVE anywhere to go for a walk.

@Janus

Great post poppadopolis!

PMSL at calling it a GREAT POST? Just because YOU agree with it! 😂

@Wewearpinkonwednesdays

Some people can't seem to work out that if you meet a friend or family member while out a walk, and stay the recommended distance from them, it's no more risky that passing a stranger at the recommended distance.

Exactly!

poppadopolis · 30/03/2020 16:37

@tabbymumz

Yes, I know that I didn't cause the rule tightening - and I have no issue with complying. I was simply pointing out that the opportunity to make an informed decision about risk (to myself and others) can very quickly disappear.

@Janus. Thank you! We are just going into week 3 and the current restrictions will last at least another fortnight.

We may be in the middle of nowhere, but the Gendarmes are out and about and ensuring compliance - which is as it should be.

Janus · 30/03/2020 16:43

@ anotherlittlechicken

It’s a great post because it shows us where we are headed if selfish people like YOU do not stick to the bloody rules. It’s not because I agree with it.

JorisBonson · 30/03/2020 16:44

I walked (away from everyone) to try to find some eggs today (where I stayed away from everyone).

99% of people I saw were over 70, stopping to chat to each other, pet dogs, and stand directly behind people in queues. I even saw 2 ladies who quite obviously weren't from the same household hug goodbye.

What chance have we got if the most vulnerable, who are supposed to be fully isolating, can't follow the rules?

LotsaDo · 30/03/2020 16:45

People did the whole "they can't mean me" "I am not harming anybody so I'll do as I like" etc etc and so the rules very quickly got much more restrictive.

But no one would ever know if someone is going out for 2 rural walks...so that's not why the rules are more restrictive. It's because of all the stuff we're seeing in the news of people gathering in London parks etc.

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 30/03/2020 16:47

You won't be taking care of someone else, unless you are young, because you won't necessarily be a candidate for ICU.

I'm unlikely to be a candidate for ICU, though I'm only ,50 and ordinarily live a productive life - go to work, enjoy my family, so it's particularly upsetting to realise that my life is worth less and not worth saving. However, even without ITU I will have to be admitted to hospital, unless the plan is to leave people like me to suffocate at home? If that is the plan then they should bring in euthanasia, if it isn't the plan then I would be taking up a bed and endangering the lives of any medics looking after me, so I still think it's selfish.

God alone knows how they plan on keeping us locked up for eighteen months though.

anotherlittlechicken · 30/03/2020 16:49

@Janus

I AM sticking the da rooolz.. Sorry to disappoint you.

anotherlittlechicken · 30/03/2020 16:50

@Janus

You are deliberately being obtuse and awkward and I am ignoring you from now on.

Blibbyblobby · 30/03/2020 16:51

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras

Why?

Virus has been found in the air for up to three hours.

Why is it "fucking stupid" as you so eloquently put it to suggest that this is a possible route of transmission?

The study artificially created aerosols which are not created through breathing but can be a result of certain medical procedures in order to understand virus transmission in the circumstances where an aerosol might be created.

Here is the WHO’s updated brief taking this new knowledge into account. It’s aimed at medical professionals working with C19 patients but it does clarify in what circumstances there is a risk of airborne transmission. Walking through open air that a C19 carrier walked through 3 hours ago is not one of them.

www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations

I hope this helps relieve at least a little of the dreadful anxiety you are suffering right now Flowers