Couple doing the tango in finsbury park

[Mydogatemypurse]

I'm staying in. My family are staying in and elderly relatives really suffering with depression and loneliness but still following guidelines. I'm exercising by walking the dog early morning around the block. I.e streets close to my house. I don't need a park or a beach. I certainly dont need to dance the tango in finsbury park. AIBU to be disgusted in people and their clear disregard for others safety. I cant believe their behaviour.

@Fluffiest what a lovely post

I think it’s awesome

I’d have loved to have seen a video

It makes me think of footloose

It’s not a holiday but if people are forced to stay at home they might as well make it as enjoyable as possible, it’s not enforced misery.

They’re not near anyone, they’re exercising. Who cares.

Were they doing it to In Demand a la Sharleen Spiteri and Alan Rickman? If not they were BU.

I think given the current climate anyone trying to bring a little joy to the world has the right to do so (as long as it puts nobody else at risk). They were probably just out for their daily exercise together and decided to have a frolic. Quarantine doesn't need to be 100% misery.

They might be trying to entertain people.
But like the karaoke street singers we see

Trump is trying to lay the blame at the WHO and China to appease his base. That won’t wash here, as I think the electorate is generally more clued up with less prejudice of foreigners/foreign organizations (even in the Brexit times). So watch out for the strategy of scapegoating a segment of the public. “Most of us are great - if only we didn’t have these rule breakers” (who are in fact only a tiny minority and aren’t really doing anything much that risky). You can see the Daily Mail is already trying to feed this line on a consistent basis.

I'm glad to see some mentions of Oliver Cromwell, I've mentioned him on a few other threads. He'd be proud of all the halo-polishing lockdown puritans who are all over MN right now.

And I agree with Cam77 too - the people dying in hospital now were probably infected at around the time when the govt were refusing to ban mass gatherings, Cheltenham Festival was going ahead, hundreds of Madrid fans were flying in for a football match, etc etc...

The govt failed to lock down early enough - and getting angry at a couple dancing in the park - as long as they can keep their distance from everyone else - is ridiculous.

OP , you are just being miserable. People can do their daily exercise however they wish. Walking quickly round the block doesn't make you more virtuous than someone who goes to their local park to dance. Maybe they thought they'd entertain others at the same time like the lady on the BCc that does her daily jog wearing fancy dress? Lockdown is not a competition to see who can sacrifice the most!

If we have a prolonged warm spell,, I suspect the government is going to have to relax the rules around exercise in recognition of the hell of being cooped up in flats 24 hours a day in the heat; and the fact that, so long as people socially distance, it doesn't actually matter that much if they are sunbathing or picnicking rather than exercising.

People like OP may burst with indignation at that point.

It would bring me joy to have watched that. I also enjoy watching groups do Tai Chai in the park.
OP you come across as being jealous.

They aren't harming anyone, I'm sure people can see them and keep a distance.
Looks like they are practising, good for them.

Covid really seems to be bringing out the very worst in some people.

Considering someone called the OP a 'sour faced cow' and others are quite happy to shout 'misery guts' at all who dont instantly disagree with the op, I dont think it's just the 'stay indoors at all costs!!!!' fundamentalists are the only ones behaving badly. It seems being an arse is perfectly ok, as long as you're on the right side of the group shouting others down. It's not just this thread I'm referring to either, it's happening a lot on here recently.

I still don't understand why you think it's wrong. You are allowed out to exercise. Dancing is exercise. What is wrong. Is it because it is enjoyable?

Its just not my understanding of the minimum time spent outside necessary to protect ourselves and others.

Then you misunderstand.

It’s not a holiday

Neither is it a penance. One of the things bound to be affected is mental health. If you choose to spend your lockdown holed up except for a “permitted” (according to you) activity outdoors for a short time, and get worked up when others aren’t, then your mental health will be shot at the end of it all. Others are choosing activities which are no additional risk and which protects their mental health. No prizes for guessing who will get out of this in a better position.

Nobody needs to practice a dance routine at the moment

Well, I was meant to be competing next weekend, and it's now been moved (hopefully) to September. If I lived with my partner we'd definitely be practising, because I might not remember all our routines by then! And in London with limited space and no garden, a park would be very tempting! Why walk or run when we could do our usual exercise (dancesport) and keep our routine polished?

I think it's lovely to see two people dancing in the sunshine. They're not breaking any rules, they are simply enjoying themselves and taking exercise. Lockdown doesn't mean you have to be miserable all the time. Laughter is allowed, you know.

Theflushedzebra Sun 12-Apr-20 21:27:52
I'm absolutely for following the rules - not visiting relatives or mixing households, and social distancing - but YABU. As long as they live together as a couple, and kept their distance from other people, they have done nothing wrong.

I'm really shocked at the number of people being utter fun-sucking dementors about stuff like this.
....
Too right!

What on earth is wrong with a couple, presumably from the same household, doing their exercise together. They were certainly keeping distance from others and if they like dancing, cannot go to a studio or classes until all this is over. Good for them, I'd have loved to have seen it.

Just because some of cannot go out for whatever reason (I haven't been out since I don't know when), it is very unkind to resent others who can. The op walks her dog, if she had no dog she could go out for a walk as she chose. We all have loved ones with difficulties, for all we know the dancing couple may have problems, most people do - but for a little while, they can forget that and do the tango.

Be gracious. This will end sooner or later, for goodness sake there are opportunities to help others even if from afar. Being eaten up with bitterness because life isn't as we would like is very bad for the health.

BuT tHey ARe atTEnTiON sEeKinG !!!

So what. Crikey, fun police are alive and well on mums net.

And to those huffing that they'd better not be hogging the paths or dancing into others - It's a travelling dance. The basic step is walking. And we usually dance in a crowded dance hall: we are VERY used to keeping an eye on where everybody else is and avoiding the knobs who didn't look before a boleo other couples

Speaking of the Daily Mail, I noticed this morning that some of the top voted comments (which had garnered thousands of up votes) were absolutely scathing in their criticism of the government and Boris Johnson. I clicked back on the same article about six hours later and guess what. Many of those comments had disappeared, and the top rated comments were much more passive/toned down.
I am under no illusions that the powers that be which control the mass media etc try to control and manipulate British opinion just as surely as the Communist Party of China manipulated Chinese people’s outlook. They are not always as successful, not for want of trying, but they give it a good shot.

As long as they actually live together (and therefore whatever one has, the other one already has), I don't see the problem. They're not sitting, they're not sunbathing, they're moving.

The issue with football is that once a couple of people start playing, others want to join in, and then it becomes a multi-person sport with the risk of contact. With tango - that's very much a sport for two. I really can't imagine anyone trying to cut in, of all the dances, it's one of the most intimate!

Good on them for managing to find a way of sharing some joy with each other that neither breaks the letter of the law, nor the spirit. We all have to find ways of staying sane in these dark times - looks like they've found theirs.

And as for the comment of why they can't dance indoors - if they live near Finsbury Park, I bet they don't have enough space to dance properly!

Dancing is excellent for mental health, and for exercise.

Fresh air, sunshine and getting out into nature is also excellent for mental health - I would recommend everyone who possibly can, does this once a day - because this lockdown, although very necessary, is quit difficult for a lot of people.

So watch out for the strategy of scapegoating a segment of the public. “Most of us are great - if only we didn’t have these rule breakers” (who are in fact only a tiny minority and aren’t really doing anything much that risky). You can see the Daily Mail is already trying to feed this line on a consistent basis.

Absolutely all of this. It's spot-on.

Our neighbours a couple of doors down had a bbq on Good Friday. They invited parents ( I know as I was jet washing the patio and overheard the phone call - freely admit I'm a nosy shite). I was out in the garden all day with the DC pottering and wondered about it. I heard them laughing, I heard them having fun, I heard them having real quality family time. And then I heard them saying his parents were staying for the remainder of quarantine. The neighbours the other side of them obviously heard the same goings-on and messaged to say what she'd spotted and that she was tempted to grass them up etc.

I chose to stay out of it. They are grown ups making a decision which rightly or wrongly feels the best choice for them. I can't bring myself to phone our local police force about neighbours elderly parents moving in with them, because it's just not ok to turn on people like this. If there were partying and out and about I'd think differently. But as pp's have suggested, there's a definite sense of the public being encouraged to grass on one another because we're weaker divided.

I don't stand by my neighbours choice; my Dad is almost 80 and would probably threaten to smack my legs if I suggested collecting him to come and stay with us. But in the big scheme of things, there are worse things to focus on.

Why walk or run when we could do our usual exercise (dancesport) and keep our routine polished?

As I said, at the moment it could encourage others to do the same. Dancing in public draws attention and plenty of people are using this lockdown to show off their... talents at the moment. Hopefully in a month or so, lockdown can be relaxed and dance halls and similar can be opened again.

Just to be clear - to be be morally on the high ground we must only do exercise that we don't enjoy? And if we find ourselves accidentally enjoying what we are doing, we must stop and find something less fun to do?