Lockdown is ending and we are off to the shops!!!!!! :)))))))))

[pigeon999]

Yes we can book hair appointments, nail appointments and banish the roots in a matter of weeks. We can shop today!! We are counting down the days to hotels, restaurants and bars opening. We are breaking out.

We have turned a corner in England people!!

The lockdown is ending at long last - so what are you doing today?

The most amazing part of the day was the fact it did not feel weird at all, it is not like we were all walking around in hazmat suits. It felt completely and utterly normal and just like any other day, which is the beauty of it really.

And for those saying why weren't you not singing before this? Well, because as the death rate mounted, so did my sadness and I can not pin point when I stopped singing or when the music stopped in my house in favour of 24 hour news, it just did. I don't think I made a conscious decision, the whole country was in a dark place, it did not feel right to be blaring out waterloo in the middle of such loss and sadness.

I wish for schools to reopen more than shops absolutely, but I can't force them open with the sheer power of thought, I would say the majority of the children that are in not in school sadly, are in my home town eating ice cream right now with new shoes on

Glad your enjoying your shopping.

Unfortunately for me and my colleagues due to the nature of our jobs and sector we work in we aren't returning to work for at least another 12 weeks. We are furloughed and can not work from home. Our contracts do not allow us to work for another employer.

Therefore we are only half way through our lockdown and cant happily go to the shop etc as we are on reduced wage and panicking how the bills will get paid.

[quote Musicforsmorks]@Chaotic45 I know what you mean with regards to shielding itself and bigger picture, I just don’t think they have communicated well throughout, in fact I can barely string together much of it.

For example, PM is asked to comment on situation women are in regarding returning to work and childcare.
PM replies ‘mmmm, good question, thank you for your question, I understand, wash your hands’

It’s poor communication, sadly.
They could have done far better in that regard.[/quote]
Exactly. Currently shielding runs until 30th June. I've been told that it's likely to be extended yet still no word from government. So two weeks to go and they still haven't told us if they will extend shielding beyond then. Why not? Do we not deserve to know?

And the vast, vast majority of cases are in care homes now. The level of community infection is so miniscule as to almost be irrelevant to most people. Of course it's sad that people die from it, but people die from flu too and we don't go into lockdown every winter to save them.

You see, there is some validity intone argument but the ducking HYPERBOLIC HYPERBOLE defeats it

vast, vast majority of cases

so miniscule as to almost be irrelevant to most people

And for for faux flu comparison, we have a ducking vaccine which we give to the vulnerable (and flu is somewhat better understood than a novel coronavirus)

Bloody autocorrect- FUCKING, not DUCKING!

DisobedientHamster

Ok, so it doesn't bother you if all of the available ITU beds are taken up by those who should have been shielding, meaning there are none left for anyone else?

Ok, good to know that you won't be complaining if that happens.

And for for faux flu comparison, we have a ducking vaccine which we give to the vulnerable

And even with that vaccination, thousands of people die from it every year. And we still don’t shut everything down.

Ok, so it doesn't bother you if all of the available ITU beds are taken up by those who should have been shielding, meaning there are none left for anyone else?

It doesn’t matter whether it bothers us or not, it really is none of our business what other adults choose to do.
There are many many things that people do all the time that results in a higher risk of injury to me. That’s none of my business either.

So fucking shield then, Hooves. Nobody's telling you not to. Knock yourself out. Stay in until Easter next year of Christmas 2030.

Literally nobody cares.

But there are thousands of posters on here who are NOT shielding, don't live with anyone who is shielding and quite fancy a mooch round Primark. Your opinion on that is entirely irrelevant.

Thanks @pigeon999 sounds good!

I'm happy just browsing the shops: my work had gone to shit too but I love a wee wander around a bustling high street.

Went shopping and bought lovely new bedding so I can luxuriate in Egyptian cotton tonight.

Also planning a trip to the wildlife park!

@Drivingdownthe101

Ok, so it doesn't bother you if all of the available ITU beds are taken up by those who should have been shielding, meaning there are none left for anyone else?

It doesn’t matter whether it bothers us or not, it really is none of our business what other adults choose to do.
There are many many things that people do all the time that results in a higher risk of injury to me. That’s none of my business either.

And I can just imagine what would be said if it turned out that ITU beds were full of people that should have been shielded and so non vulnerable people couldn't get a bed.

None of you then would be saying "none of my business what other people choose to do". That's why we've all been locked away - to preserve resources for everyone else. So we've been told to sacrifice everything so that beds would be available for everyone else, except now you all want us to carry on sacrificing so you can get back to normal.

No I don’t expect that! I have literally just said that I don’t care what you do. You’re telling me I expect it. I genuinely don’t. I expect you to make your own decisions based on the information available to you, like my shielding friend is doing.

Can I refer you to @Drivingdownthe101 above who says that you have about at 1 in 1600 of catching the virus?

1 in 1600 people are estimated as being infected. But surely the odds of getting it are rather smaller than that. You'd have to encounter one of them closely enough and for long enough for transmission to occur, for a start. And you might not be susceptible anyway. Lots of people aren't.

Total quote fail again!

I do feel for those still shielding, it is one thing to be shielding when everyone else is locked down, and quite another when everyone else is starting to get on life again.

I know I make a special effort with those that I know in this position, not just with shopping deliveries when they need it, but with regular phone calls and some picked flowers from the garden. It is not fair, but if we want to be able to continue to protect the most vulnerable, we need to have an economy that can provide the resources to look after them.

One of my closest friends has a child that has a very serious medical condition and need to shield properly. They have not only received free boxes of shopping every week for every member of the family since this started, she was also been sent toy vouchers (alot of money too!) to help them through this. My friend has had moments of being at her wits end, not even allowed to go outside at all. The kindness of others has made all the difference to them.

But we need to keep going to support others, especially if there is a second wave at the end of the year, and more help will be needed.

Hooves why are you so insistent on telling me I think and feel a certain way?

Ok, so it doesn't bother you if all of the available ITU beds are taken up by those who should have been shielding, meaning there are none left for anyone else?

Ok, good to know that you won't be complaining if that happens.

Nope, won't be complaining because if I'm in that situation a) probably too ill to be contemplating the inner workings of the hospital or perhaps even unconscious b) I'm not much of a complainer c) there's a greater chance of a meteor striking the Earth and obliterating it than that scenario coming to pass .

Your opinion on that is entirely irrelevant.

Uh, no it isn't. You don't seem to understand how infection travels through a community. It's everybody's business. It's not an individual decision at all, it's one where everyone's individual decisions aggregate to affect the entire community.

I want the lockdown to lift. I want to visit my family, my mates, the babies I haven't yet seen . I want to sit in a cafe and eat food I haven't cooked. I want to go on a train. I want to go back to bloody work.

Some of them I can now do, and some of them I have done (takeaway fish and chips!) but I continue to be very, very cautious because I know that my behaviour will affect everyone else's health.

(And I'm probably the least risky on this thread, because I've already had it, but I continue to be very cautious anyway, because I'm not a selfish arse who runs around yelling I'm Alright Jack.)

@Drivingdownthe101

No I don’t expect that! I have literally just said that I don’t care what you do. You’re telling me I expect it. I genuinely don’t. I expect you to make your own decisions based on the information available to you, like my shielding friend is doing.

Based on what information? There's no useful information available thanks to the government's ineptitude coupled with people moaning about loss of civil liberties if they have to use a track and trace app.

How many ITU beds in the UK pre COVID19? Something pitiful like 4000. Doesn't take a genius to workout why they shielded two and a half million of us does it, with claims that it was for our own good because we were at high risk of serious illness or death - more like high risk of blocking all the ITU beds for long periods of time.

So now what's meant to happen about our jobs and our mental health and our need to socialise and buy new clothes and eat ice cream in the sunshine? Oh, I'm forgetting, we're all about to die anyway so it doesn't matter. That's the attitude on MN isn't it about those who are shielding? It's said often enough.

But who in here is saying they’re not being cautious ArcheryAnnie? When I do go shopping I will maintain 2m distance from everyone, wash my hands regularly and avoid touching things as much as possible. That is being cautious.

This thread is a cheery beacon.

Be off and moan elsewhere, moaning people! I'm having to trail through loads of guff to find out the retail info 😃

hooves this is pointless. I have no say in what you, as an autonomous adult, choose to do or not do.

Not been out yet but hopefully later this week.
Glad to see people feeling happy again.
Hoping we don't have a second wave.

Can't wait for restaurants to open again.