To say some people are being ridiculously hysterical?

[YoyoYOO]

It's a serious situation, of course it is and I understand the need to slow the spread. And I understand why those at particularly high risk would be extra careful.

But honestly, some of the threads on here at the moment. It is just a constant, endless circle of people slagging off their friends or family for some perceived flouting of THE RULES, panicking and losing sleep because you're not sure if you disinfected your Amazon parcel well enough, quarantining a carton of milk for 72hrs, being called a serial killer because you sat down on some grass for 10 minutes after going for a run, stopping to talk to a family member out the window after your supermarket trip is akin to the worst crime known to man.

I've never ever read or witnessed such mass hysteria before. AIBU to think that some people are going absolutely crazy?

With ref to the person who is saving biscuits for her DC. Good for you! 👏👏👏

Not everyone deems it necessary to visit the shops several times a week for non essentials. Maybe this person is abiding by the Gov guidelines and shopping as infrequently as she can.

Why would anyone scoff at something that doesn’t affect them? 🤷🏻‍♀️

at the moment there are still shortages in the supermarkets

Happy to report that I was at the supermarket this morning and the only thing I wanted to get and couldn't was beef mince. They had liquid soap. Cleaning products. Ample choice of pasta and loo roll. And endless rows of biscuits.

But some people really do love the misery of it all, Oh I am having to ration little Persephone and Octavius to just half a rich tea a day and of course I'm not having ANY myself, we have to preserve stocks for the children and look at me, I'm doing quarantine so well, and so miserably and so frugally and so much better than the rest of you.

@ WhyCantIThinkOfAGoodOne

Read my posts and don't call me stupid
I have read posts here and elsewhere where people state that if we all stay in the virus will go away
I am well aware of the actual science behind the lockdown
Jeeze

@PineappleDanish

Good for you but my local Co-op had quite a few empty aisles. (No pasta or pasta sauces at all - and quite a few others were empty too). So it's hardly crazy to try and keep the packet going for a bit longer if a few biscuits keeps the kids happy while cooped up is it?

If lockdown was combined with contact tracing and testing there is in theory the possibility that it would not have enough new potential victims-so outbreaks would be localised and controlled.

It's defeatist, illogical and heartbreakingly wrong to assume that the deaths of tens of thousands are inevitable when they are, in fact, avoidable. That seems the truly hysterical response to me.

@PineappleDanish

It sounds much more like you're using any opportunity you can to sneer at people - god knows why maybe you're always like this or maybe you're bored from being inside too long. Personally I'm more than happy in lockdown - I have been rationing food a bit more because it's the responsible thing to do as it means I don't make pointless trips to the supermarket. It doesn't make anyone a martyr to take very simple steps to be responsible - it's quite frankly odd that you're so desperate to scoff at anyone and everyone.

Because there is NO NEED to ration for most people. If you want to sit inside the house for weeks on end nibbling on your last hobnob, then crack on. Your life, your misery.

But that doesn't make you better or superior or more responsible than someone else who goes supermarket shopping once a week and buys what they need, maintaining social distance blah blah blah.

After this is over, nobody's coming round with gold stars for the people who did it "best" and stayed inside the longest.

Oh and buying food is pretty much the definition of an essential and not a "pointless trip to the supermarket".

What does a lack of pasta have to do with eaking out the biscuits? Surely you eak out the pasta? Or eat potatoes or rice or one of the other carbs that are in reasonable supply at present? Or are you planning carbonara a la digestives?

@PineappleDanish

I'll explain simply for you - try to follow along. If I use up all my pasta sauce and I go to the shop and there is none left I won't have any. Therefore if I particularly want pasta sauce to last I have to ration it.

If I want my kids to be able to have biscuits everyday and I don't have many left I need to ration them - unless I'm an idiot who thinks the rules don't apply to me then I can just pop to the shops to buy more whenever they run out. Going to buy biscuits is not essential unless you're a total moron.

@RJnomore1

It was an example to illustrate that stocks are low. Last week there were no chocolate biscuits in Co-op (I only know because I was shopping for an elderly neighbour and had to keep ringing her because apparently she has had these particular biscuits every day for years and we needed to find the best substitute) - this week they were back in stock but pasta which was fine last week was out. The fairly obvious point is that various things are running out so it's hardly rocket science to make what you have last.

Better ridiculously hysterical than ridiculously relaxed about it...

I hardly think anyone will starve through lack of biscuits but I also don't see the problem in making the biscuits last if they're a nice treat for your kids and you might not be able to get any more in for a while - why on earth would that bother you? No one is suggesting you ca't sit at home scoffing 20 packs of digestives a day if you want - just don't go shopping daily to restock them.

What 'rules' do you think there are? You can go to the shop to buy whatever they sell. There's no 'rule' against that.

If you want to be really 'good' you can go to the shops just to get biscuits if you combine it with another reasonable reason to be out; work, caring for vulnerable people, exercise etc.

You really don't need to ration biscuits.

Do you really think this is about biscuits?

I think some people don’t grasp that actually a large percentage of people still have to gout and about every day; that no one is saying what is or isn’t essential or that you can only go to the shops once a week; that no one at any point has suggested rationing food fair enough if it’s not in stock; and that it’s possible to follow the guidelines and behave responsibly while not creating a hobnob fuelled drama out of a crisis.

Government is now quite clear if something is stocked in a shop that is allowed to open you can buy and that’s the end of it.

If it’s not in stock you’re snookered..,but it’s back to people changing shopping habits and buying larger quantities than normal that mean it’s not in stock and that’s driven at least partly by these made up “rules”.

Even in the Chinese dictatorship people under extreme lockdown could go shop every three days. There is plenty of food including various types of treats in the shops here.

All this talk of pasta sauces running out! There’s plenty of fresh fruit and veg around to make pasta sauces. Those jar ones have a nasty metallic and over-salty taste. There’s always been pasta around hereabouts- from the dirt cheap stuff at Lidl to the bronze die cut stuff at the deli.

@fluffiphlox

I don't think anyone's going to starve (actually some people are genuinely lacking in food which is why we should all be donating what we can to foodbanks) but if you want a quick, easy meal because you're working long hours from home or because you can't afford to cook from fresh ingredients then lack of pasta can be an issue.

Some people have to go out and work. Those of us who don't shouldn't make pointless trips to the shop. Most people can go once a week at most and be fine. If people want to go less often and ration themselves that's fine - they're not harming anyone and they're reducing queues for the rest of us and hopefully quickening the end of the lockdown.

If you want to sneer at people obviously you're free to do so but it's clutching at straws to be outraged about how other people choose to dole out their household biscuit supply. If you're genuinely annoyed by this I'd suggest the issue is with you.

Pardon me? I’m not sneering at anyone. My point is that a shortage of readymade pasta sauces is not that drastic and that pretending it is is just the sort of hysteria that leads to panic buying and hoarding.

Oh and I couldn’t give twopence about how people ration (or otherwise) their biscuits. Show me where I said I do.

Likewise, could not care how people portion up any food they have but do have an issue with people claiming moral superiority over it.

I read 'pasta sauces' and was mentally readying my mumsnet bingo card and a few posts later Bingo!

The pandemic has just demonstrated that a worryingly high number of people really aren't any good at thinking.

Wish I hadn't mentioned biscuits

Although this heated debate on biscuit rationing has cheered me up!

... behave responsibly while not creating a hobnob fuelled drama out of a crisis.

is phrase of the week for me

A little part of me will miss these threads when this is all over.

(And i'm almost afraid to admit that here. What a time this is!)