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AIBU?

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Original poster

Not feeling sorry for people who chose to go on holiday during the coronavirus crisus..

78 replies

HistoryHeroes · 02/04/2020 14:38

The amount of money the government is pouring out to rescue people who chose to go on holiday only a few weeks ago. Lockdown was over a week ago now!

I'm not talking about people who have been away for months (although really they should have thought about coming back early) or working abroad or saying goodbye to terminally ill family. Im talking about those who still thought they'd go on skiing trips or a family trip to India, despite the clear path that was coming. Hmm And then them grumbling about how slow the government has been to bail them out! The government has enough to spend money on right now.

We had to cancel a very expensive holiday as did a few people I knew. Why did they think they were special?

YABU they weren't to know and had a right to go away.

YANBU

OP posts:
YouAreTheEggManIAmTheWalrus · 02/04/2020 17:43

A few weeks ago there were so many threads asking “AIBU to still go on holiday next week“... They were warned, they got arsey and defensive and we were called scaremongers.

Anyone with half a brain could see how this was going to play out from January. Being stranded is the consequence of not taking advice, being arrogant, ignorant, self-centred and selfish. I feel sorry for the people having to bail these wankers out and that fact it’s costing tax payers £75 million fucks me right off.

Findumdum1 · 02/04/2020 17:45

*A few weeks ago there were so many threads asking “AIBU to still go on holiday next week“... They were warned, they got arsey and defensive and we were called scaremongers.

Anyone with half a brain could see how this was going to play out from January. Being stranded is the consequence of not taking advice, being arrogant, ignorant, self-centred and selfish. I feel sorry for the people having to bail these wankers out and that fact it’s costing tax payers £75 million fucks me right off.*

I could not agree with this more. You are so right.

Snugglepiggy · 02/04/2020 17:48

I know soneone who set off to France to go skiing as some of the Ski holiday companies were shutting down and sending staff home.They had to turn round on arrival and come back by coach and ferry and have said what an 'ordeal ' it was.I have no sympathy as it was very obvious how bad things were getting.In fact I feel ot was downright reckless.

Movingnot · 02/04/2020 17:59

What advice are you guys referring to?

The government only advised against all but essential travel on Monday 23rd march.

Seriously, what advice?

notimagain · 02/04/2020 18:05

My husband is stuck abroad. He was working there and we got out about 2 weeks before flights were stopped

Having recently met some people who were in a similar position you have my sympathies ( they are now home)..and yes there's a lot of that about..I've heard tales of secondments, posting, courses oversea etc, some people in business, some students and academics, and in many instances the owning institution or company in the UK would not sanction or allow repatriation until the FCO advice changed...

This repatriation isn't just about holiday makers...

Hope it works out for you, good luck.

YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer · 02/04/2020 18:29

Right now there is a cruise ship (well 2 because they ended up splitting the passengers between 2 ships) trying to dock in Florida. It left Argentina near the beginning of March. At that point there had already been cruise ships with outbreaks. Why would people think taking a cruise at that point was smart? Just a day or two after leaving all cruises were told to end. That ship had people sick and no country would let them dock (was suppose to go to Chili). There last hope was docking in Florida. They are working out the details of letting them dock there right now. Only 300 of the passengers are American. The rest are from places like Germany, Australia and the UK. They have charter flights set up to bring the non Americans home tomorrow. Would you want to be on one of those flights? On the ship they are kept in their cabins but they will all be together on the flights. People made stupid decisions about holidays because so many didnt believe it could happen to them. Oh and that ship has had 4 people die on it already (2 were definitely from Covid19) and several others that tested positive for the virus. While tons more are sick and suspected of having it.

Runnerduck34 · 02/04/2020 21:10

If they flew out before the government advised people not to travel then I think government should help get them home, if they flew out after lock down then they are idiots.

A lot of people ( me included) never thought it would be as bad as this.

maddening · 02/04/2020 21:15

I think that when we started having quarantine on people returning from parts of Italy is when people should have started cancelling - so after Feb half term Imo anyone that left after then did so knowing it was becoming a grave situation

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/04/2020 21:19

Anyone with half a brain could see how this was going to play out from January.

This is simply untrue. Revisionist history.

Carbosug · 02/04/2020 21:34

It was obvious by late Feb that unnecessary travel abroad was inadvisable and would help to spread the virus. Anyone who still insisted on going away on holidays or weekend trips was selfish and irresponsible.

MonaLisaDoesntSmile · 02/04/2020 22:33

A few days before the schools were shut Boris told elderly not to go on cruises. They said it was fine to travel wherever. They did not protect travelers so now they need to pay for their return.

ineedaholidaynow · 02/04/2020 22:45

Surely by at least the end of the February half term it was quite obvious there could be problems. Even the thought that you could spread it to another country should probably have made people ask whether they were being responsible to still go on holiday.

GirlCalledJames · 02/04/2020 22:50

Do you know for a fact that the government is spending money on these flights? As far as I know the people flying have to pay and it isn’t cheap.

mamma2476 · 03/04/2020 01:11

I was meant to fly to the UK for my company at the beginning of March. I had a choice about whether to go and dithered a lot because I didn't actually want to risk it but it would be good for my career. The number of cases in the UK was just a handful, nor was it in my country. I decided to book the tickets in mid February. But I started to get nervous about the uptick in cases. My trip was abruptly cancelled by work the day before - they had the foresight to see that things were about to get very bad. A month on and I can't believe the speed at which everything has happened.

Wewearpinkonwednesdays · 03/04/2020 01:17

Well 5 weeks ago my dp was telling me we would still be able to go on holiday abroad in June, and wanted to start getting all our passports sorted (would have been our fist holiday abroad, but hadn't actually booked anything thank god). I told him he was being ridiculous but he was determined I was wrong as always. Wish I had been.

alloutoffucks · 03/04/2020 01:25

Our government was still saying it was fine to travel. Some people believed the government. They were wrong to.

alloutoffucks · 03/04/2020 01:27

Anyone with half a brain could see how this was going to play out from January.

I was saying in January on MN how this was going to play out and most people commenting said I and a few others were scaremongering. So that is untrue. The majority then in the UK did not seem at all worried about corona.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 03/04/2020 01:27

I flew to a country on March 2 which locked down the following week and when I went and came back there was no real suggestion that it would be a big problem. Had I then got stuck there I would expect to be able to get home eventually. I have my mum staying with me because she got stuck coming from Spain for a short trip the weekend after.

As pp said people are forgetting exactly how fast shit got real.

Mypathtriedtokillme · 03/04/2020 01:56

Anyone who went on a cruise post the Diamond Princess disaster gets no sympathy from me.
Here cruise companies were offering to reschedule or refund bookings but people still chose to go.

Reginabambina · 03/04/2020 01:59

This situation developed very suddenly and once it did become obvious airplane tickets became either incredibly expensive or altogether unavailable. A lot of countries have also gone on lockdown (some very suddenly) meaning that people couldn’t get on a flight in order to get out.

It’s not a case of people thinking to themselves ‘oh yes, in two weeks time half the world will be on lockdown, let’s go on holiday!’

daisychain01 · 03/04/2020 02:05

So I can’t blame people who continued to travel as they didn’t want thousands of pounds to go down the drain

This is pure "sunk cost fallacy"!

If you've already paid for the holiday, and you know you can't get the money back if you cancel, then the choice isn't whether you go on holiday or not.

The choice is completely down to whether you are prepared to risk catching a novel and potentially life threatening infection just so you can avoid the feeling of the money going down the drain.

If you value the health of yourself and your family, the only decision worth making is to stay home and safe, not expose yourself to the highly infectious virus and end up in hospital if you're unlucky.

So many people fell into the sunk cost fallacy trap and are possibly now suffering as a consequence.

JingsMahBucket · 03/04/2020 02:14

Again, anybody with half a brain could see in January or even December how this was going to play out. Plagues don’t stay put in one geographical location, this has been proven throughout history multiple times. This seriously isn’t rocket science people. And it is not revisionist history to say that anybody paying attention would’ve known back in January.

Just because you (general you) were too thick or ignorant to realize it doesn’t mean others were. So many people thought a small channel could protect them as a “border”. 🙄 I swear this exceptionalism explains so much about the current state of affairs.

Does nobody remember SARS, swine flu, bird flu, or even just basic germ theory of what happens when you board a plane with just one or two people who have colds, let alone flu? That shit spreads like wildfire. It was bound to happen.

Lynda07 · 03/04/2020 02:16

You're not unreasonable but I expect the people who did go off on jollies later saw the error of their ways. There are always people who don't think things through properly, thankfully decisions have now been taken out of their hands.

I'm sorry you had to cancel, it's disappointing as well as losing money but you were right to do so. I had no such plans but if I had, I would have done the same like a shot. There are people who had to come home from abroad - were actually sent home - who'd been working there and have since been self isolating at home; not being paid too which adds insult to injury.

I know an American person who was sent here from France with some UK colleagues a few weeks ago and is staying with one of them because she is not allowed to return to the USA for the foreseeable. She doesn't go out at the moment, never mind losing money and not being allowed home (thankfully a very relaxed, laid back person who just accepts). Life is hard at the best of times and, right now, particularly so.

MrsTerryPratchett · 03/04/2020 02:23

Again, anybody with half a brain could see in January or even December how this was going to play out. Plagues don’t stay put in one geographical location, this has been proven throughout history multiple times. This seriously isn’t rocket science people. And it is not revisionist history to say that anybody paying attention would’ve known back in January.

Nonsense. Everyone traveled during SARS, swine flu and Ebola. Of course some diseases don't travel far and are contained. Do you remember the nonsense about Ebola? Only morons worried about that. Outside Africa.

It's so easy to say anyone would have known. A few people on here notably did. Good for them. BTW I'm on the prepping boards. Before Brexit, before this. I could say you are all idiots for not knowing something would cause food shortages years ago. But I won't because I'm not a wanker.

MrsTerryPratchett · 03/04/2020 02:33

Oh and MERS of course.