Where I live there is a very popular waterside path. Think like the canal paths in London. It's a very pretty walk all year round. I walk there a few mornings a week to charge my batteries before home schooling.
BUT now with social distancing, when it is pretty much as popular as it ever was, and most people are fine - polite distancing where possible, greeting, talking about ducklings. General normal friendliness, except that some people are
a) making the decision to go for a walk along 1.5m wide path
AND
b) losing their minds when people pass them.
In the last week I've had:
- a woman quite literally leap into the undergrowth, dragging her startled (but delighted) dogs after her, and stand perfectly still behind a tree with her face averted from me until I had passed
- a woman (running) cover her whole, averted face with her two cupped hands (???)
- a woman press her entire body against a wall as I passed
None of these people were wearing masks. None of these people made eye contact or acknowledged me in any other way (normally people nod/smile/greet passers by on this path).
My husband had an older couple spot him from a distance and start urgently rummaging in a plastic bag, from which they withdrew two long silky scarves, with which they wrapped their faces until he had passed, and then after he'd passed take them off and put them back into the plastic bag.
Surely if you are that worried, you have the choice NOT to go for a walk on the very narrow path that quite literally makes social distancing impossible unless you are comfortable with the (very small) risk involved in passing someone coming from the opposite direction? There are loads of lovely walks around here.
(I'm feeling a bit grumpty and complainy this morning, but it does have an odd emotional effect to have people react to you like this, even when rationally, you know it's a very fraught time for a lot of people, and we're not all being our best selves.)