To think not allowing 'small shops' is silly?

[Marieo]

Popped to the shop earlier to get bread, milk, eggs and a few bits of fruit, I can manage on this for a week as have some Brexit supplies in the cupboard, so working my way through that and not buying more than we need for the week. I was told that the new directive is that no one can do a 'small shop', and ended up having to get a small trolly load of stuff which is ridiculous. I'd already been queuing to get in for a while and don't have a car so would have had to get a bus to another shop. I know I could have survived without them, but as I was already there seems stupid.

AIBU to think that this is a stupid policy, and completely goes against stockpiling for some? Also with the restrictions on tins etc you end up either buying crap you don't need, or going elsewhere which means you will have made 2 journeys to 2 shops for a few items. Not forgetting those who live hand to mouth and cannot afford a big shop. I get the idea, that it 'forces' people to buy more and so go shopping less, but as it doesn't seem much common sense is being applied to it; do we think it should be rolled out everywhere?

I apologise Marieo. I do however think this would have gone better if you had made clear that this was being checked out earlier. Unfortunately many people, including me, are very stressed about what appears to be increasing misapplication/very zealous interpretation of what we are allowed to do in these uncertain times. There have been several threads, where I understand the OP's concern, have added to the anxiety of many people. It might have been an idea to have waited for clarification first, and then posted it.

sorry, not read the whole thread but do you know that eggs keep out of the fridge for 5 weeks?

Semi skimmed milk freezes very well, and also most supermarket milk easily lasts for a week.

We shop once a week, milk lasts, bread goes in freezer, so always fresh, fruit and veg lasts

Genuinely when I first posted I didn't know it had been 'sorted' or at that point even that it was being discussed on social media. That's why I asked for the thread to be deleted when it became clear that thank goodness it was just a lapse in judgement or crossed wires in one store; and not because of people giving me a hard time, I do appreciate your concern and have acknowledged that further up the thread that I didn't think it through and the implications. I am sorry, and although it's up to them, not sure why MN didnt delete it. Anyway, hopefully it gives hope that if these things are wrongly applied it appears to be being quickly sorted.

So Aldi is one of the first supermarkets to lift limits..according to the BBC

Your government have asked that you go to the supermarket as little as possible

Yes, I know, did you miss the part where I said I've only been going to a supermarket every two weeks?

@AGoodPodcastAndANiceCupOfTea your last post just clearly shows you up as a sanctimonious twunt who has absolutely no idea about other people or their circumstances you just assume assume assume - get down off your high horse and DFOD.

sorry, not read the whole thread but do you know that eggs keep out of the fridge for 5 weeks?

It's not how long they last that's the problem around here, it's actually getting hold of some!

Semi skimmed milk freezes very well, and also most supermarket milk easily lasts for a week.

I don't have a big enough freezer to start freezing milk unfortunately and the fridge isn't big enough to store 2 or 3 X 4 pint cartons along with enough food so we don't have to keep going for that as well.

@FrangipaniBlue no - I said quite clearly that those who don't have money are vulnerable and it's awful but that isn't how you described your situation. You said quite clearly that you don't think people should have to say no to their children wanting particular foods. The guidelines were brought in for a reason and they clearly state that people should only be doing one large shop a week or preferably a fortnight. We haven't been out since March 12th and for 17 days if that were quarantined in a small flat and couldn't even take out bins out so I don't have a huge sympathy for someone who doesn't have enough bread. There are a lot of things that we are having to wait to get delivered because food delivery systems where I live are not great but I'm following the guidelines because they exist to keep deaths down. If you are doing one large shop a fortnight I have no idea why you are so determined to argue for the rights of people who simply don't want to follow the guidelines and rules that your government have put in place - don't want to not can't - and I made that very clear in my most recent post. I'm also not the one who called someone that charming portmanteau of twat and cunt - not really some little comedy term but pretty offensive and I'd say it says a lot more about you that it does about me. And if I'm sanctimonious for wanting people to follow rules that have been put in place to keep my 68 year old father with Parkinson's and angina, my 73 year old mother who was the recipient of a kidney transplant 3 years ago but is still hugely healthy and has years left in her to enjoy with my 2 year old dc and my many key worker friends alive and as safe as possible then sanctimonious I am. I just happen to think that it's more important they survive a pandemic than everyone else being able to pop out for some bits. And btw we don't have a car and if and when we do decide to go to a shop we will have to carry everything we buy back to our small flat by hand up a hill but I still don't think that gives us the right to go shopping more than once a fortnight.

Ah now I get it, because you can't, no one else should, you're one of those........

The guidelines were brought in for a reason and they clearly state that people should only be doing one large shop a week or preferably a fortnight.

Sorry, but this is complete bollocks. Please stop spouting rubbish which may worry or panic people..

There is nothing in the guidelines or indeed the law that says this. Only going shopping once a week has been suggested by a couple of clueless ministers but Downing Street has clarified this is bollocks the advice on people leaving home was clear and did not set a specific limit on how often they could do so for shopping.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/31/no-10-slaps-down-shapps-over-shop-once-a-week-comment-coronavirus

Only going shopping once a week has been suggested by a couple of clueless ministers but Downing Street has clarified this is bollocks

The clueless ministers probably being people who have no involvement in grocery shopping for a family.

We should reduce the number of times we go, and the long queues outside supermarkets probably do well to put people off if they don't actually need to go at that moment in time.

Obviously going every day is not good but there's no reason not to go a few times a week if you need to. What if whatever essentials you use a lot of run out? What if you couldn't get everything you needed last time? What if a vulnerable person has asked if you could get them X, Y or Z and they need it sooner rather than later. All of those are reasonable excuses (to quote the regulations) to go to the supermarket.

I don't believe that it was the intention of the government to expect people to sit at home with no access to the food they normally eat because some people think you should ration yourself to a once a week/fortnight trip to the supermarket.

I've just checked on Gov.uk and this is their information: "shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible" but yeah - absolute bollocks as you so charmingy put it. I guess it must be nice to live in a world where you seek out tweets that support the way that you want things to be but this is the reality of the advice given by the government.
@FrangipaniBlue You appear to have as much difficulty with the difference between can't and won't as you do with the difference between want and need. one of the most depressing things over the last few weeks has been to see how little basic comprehension a lot of people have.

Your government have asked that you go to the supermarket as little as possible

Not sure "the government" has - I know the transport secretary Grant Shapps said we should only go once a week. But that's not realistic when there are limits on some items (which have been reduced but not lifted entirely), stock shortages and massive queues.

I go as and when I can, on foot, buy a few items if there's no queue to get in, and then go a couple of days later to get other things. I do not want to have to go once, queue up for hours, then go in and find there are things I either can't get, or can't get enough of and then have to wait another week.

Also going on foot avoids me having the inevitable accident MNers seem to think I will have if I take out my car but obviously you can't buy much if you don't have your car.

hopefully it gives hope that if these things are wrongly applied it appears to be being quickly sorted

Individual shops should not be putting in place measures like this without it being either directed by, or at least consented to, by their head office (who hopefully have access to their lawyers and can check what actually is the law, and what is merely guidance).

It maybe on the back of trying to stop peopl doing a daily shop, which is going on. A small shop does not necessarily mean a daily shop

shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible

As Infrequent as possible. Not once a week. Not once a fortnight. Not once in a blue moon.

For some people it might be possible to only go once a month, some might need to go once a week.

You can't insist making your OWN interpretation guideline or law. Well you can't, but then it's rather silly to throw a tantrum because people don't take it at face value when it's completely made up.

Why is a supermarket manager taking advice from an unqualified PCSO (not even proper police) rather than calling their own head office for advice? This is utterly ludicrous. For goodness sake, what has happened to common sense? And why are head offices not sending their branch managers clear guidelines (and telling them to ignore local police and direct all enquiries to head office).

@PrincessConsueIaBananaHammock it clearly isn't me who's interpreting government information as I see fit. Clearly as infrequently as possible means do a big shop and then avoid the shops for a week or two if you possibly can. And I get that it's very different for people living a hand to mouth existence but as I have repeatedly said that isn't the vast majority of people on this bloody thread. Two weeks ago people on Mumsnet were still asking if they could go on cruises or on holidays to Mexico or on skiing trips; it was only just before the schools closed that people were still asking on here if they could still go to a dinner party; and it's only yesterday that someone asked if they could still use their nanny and share her with a neighbour because working from home was proving to be difficult. I mean the answers to all of these questions was that technically you can but it doesn't mean you're not a totally selfish arsehole it you do - the same is true for people who can avoid going to shops but are choosing not to because they they won't change how they shop and alter what they eat.

@AGoodPodcastAndANiceCupOfTea I'm not sure what I've said in my first few posts that's made you take exception to me or send to have gotten you so riled up

FWIW I agree with your sentiment to a degree, and I shouldn't have risen and called you a name, but honestly your self righteous, pious, condescending attitude is utterly ridiculous.

I've clearly said on this thread (and on another) that I do fortnightly big shops (always have) but still need to top up with things like bread and milk in between (which btw I get from the local garage shop at the end my road usually once, very occasionally twice) but yet you seem intent on making me out to be some kind of selfish, entitled, rule flouting neanderthal - based entirely on assumptions you've made in your own little head.

Give it a rest ey?

it clearly isn't me who's interpreting government information as I see fit. Clearly as infrequently as possible means do a big shop and then avoid the shops for a week or two if you possibly can.

No it doesn't!! That's your interpretation of it.

It could be once a month, biweekly, or just twice a week.

As infrequently as possible does not equal once .

What you think it means is what you THINK it means, and are obviously free to do as you see fit.

Why is a supermarket manager taking advice from an unqualified PCSO (not even proper police)

Oh dear.

It's not the law at all. It's a jobsworth on a power trip. I've been doing small shops in local places though like Tesco Express