To feel like the only person following the f***ing rules??!!

[Stressingismyhobby]

I know the social distancing rules are contradictory, confusing and mostly bollocks but I don't think I'm above them and follow them as closely as possible.

But hardly anyone else I know does. I've just seen a picture of a friend wearing a mask in a taxi...to go to her friend's house with a load of other friends. All pictured together huddled on the sofa.

A family member keeps posting pics on FB with her kids gathered with all their friends.

And I've been invited to a party in a week's time at someone's house with lots of other people.

Videos of kids running to hug both their grandparents (my kids would love to do that!)

We met with some friends outside a week or two ago who also (without us knowing) invited other people so our group was bigger than 6.

I had to say no to giving someone a lift in my car the other day.

And so it goes on.

I feel like I'm the boring, goody two shoes who's always having to decline invites or say things like "I'm not really sure we're supposed to do that yet" etc only to be met with sighs or rolled eyes. I'm constantly being put in situations that make me feel uncomfortable. I'm made to feel like the bloody fun police who is making live difficult for everyone!

Anybody else feel like this???

The way I see it is you need to be appropriate for your risk level and be willing to accept the consequences. Eg I'm female, under 50, no preexisting conditions and had c19 symptoms mildly in March which makes me quite confident doing things whereas my mum is being more cautious and my friend with ms has barely left the house, going on a socially distant picnic tomorrow. I have worked throughout and used public transport

@Pumpertrumper

Has everybody seen the parallel thread currently going on about lockdown having trashed the economy and being a total over reaction. I believe it was started by a household who’d both lost their jobs and now have no way to survive.

There’s just as much anger and disgust on there But aimed in the opposite direction.

I have seen 5 people lose their jobs this week. In on Monday, made redundant, last day yesterday. I was told by a colleague one poor lady was hysterical and said "I've had it, I've got next to no money to last me and how will I get another job now, what's the point in carrying on". That's not taking into account she has badly struggled through the lockdown.

When you hear that, oh yes, this was all so worth it.

You’re not who the thread is aimed at @FilthyforFirth as you are following the rules.

Does the fact someone has posted a thread with almost your exact title pretty much daily since the start of lockdown maybe suggest it's not just you?

@labyrinthloafer

@Babs709 I think that is a very interesting way to look at it, is it more like drink driving or exceeding recommended drinking levels?

Tricky one to answer isn’t it... which is perhaps why we are all so confused and people like OP end up pissed off.

I think drink driving would be akin to going out knowing you actually have Covid. Perhaps it’s similar to driving tired... you’re just trying to go about your daily life, but being a bit reckless doing so and potentially putting others in danger.

I have family in America and people there are so hellbent on protecting their individual freedoms and refusing to wear masks, social distance etc... and their numbers of infection are just climbing and climbing. How will they ever get out of it? How can any country get back to some semblance of normal if they don't try to stop transmission?

To me not following the rules seems shortsighted. On an individual level I'm not at any risk of dying from Corona. On a societal level I'm at great risk of having my life disrupted (again) from increases in infections.

Yeah I've not been following the 'rules' for about a month now, I just didn't want to do it anymore, I wanted to see my family and my friends and decided it was worth the risk. Corona isn't going anywhere, we need to live with it.

I’m listening to their guidelines but implementing my own. My eldest DC had a friend over to play yesterday, no social distancing but this friend will be the only one allowed to come to play. Planning a sleepover next week.
I have one friend who I see regularly for exercise, we probably are 1 metre apart but again I only see this 1 friend at not 2 metres.
I don’t go shopping, DH goes, I went to one the other day though and wore a mask.
I see my older relatives and stay way more than 2 metres away and only see them outside.
We’re managing our own risk and the risk of seeing others depending on the situation.

@jokerismyfave

Yeah I've not been following the 'rules' for about a month now, I just didn't want to do it anymore, I wanted to see my family and my friends and decided it was worth the risk. Corona isn't going anywhere, we need to live with it.

Sigh.

I am have and am following the rules,but I am also doing what I am allowed to do,and certainly my children are

If we all stay in the house for ever then we won't get the virus,but what kind of life would we have.

The economy is trashed,and there are very hard times ahead.And as for our young people

I do wonder if the government got it right

A lot of the people I know who want to continue with strict lockdown are the people who never do much anyway

I didn’t like idiot joggers panting down my neck before coronavirus and I still don’t.

@GalesThisMorning you can sign all you want 😂 you continue following the 'rules' of an incompetent government, each to their own.

• The difference is I don't fret about other people slowing lifting lockdown differently, if families are huddling in their homes I'm not going to get upset about it. If someone is standing too close I ask them to move back politely; if I'm asked to go somewhere I feel is not safe for me, I politely decline....no problem, no need to fret about it, just say no.

We all have to get back to some sort of normality at some point.

However, I also choose to wear a mask and gloves when out in public, that's also my way of feeling safer (along with plenty of washing hands and distancing)...you are free to take extra precautions if you don't feel others are doing their bit, rather than getting upset about what others are doing.*

Agree with this. Concern yourself with what you’re doing to protect yourself and your family, not what others are doing. We are all in charge of our own protection and how far we’re taking it.

I limit my trips to the shops once or twice a week (if I can’t order it) to quiet times where I’m in and out of a shop in 10 minutes or less. I distance as much as possible. I walk in areas and know alternate routes where I there are less people and/or is easier to social distance. I may eyeroll a few people, usually the people wearing mask who seem to think social distancing is out the window because of them, but I leave them to it and get on with my day. No point in stressing over things I cannot control.

I gave up on other people ages ago. I don't watch the news so don't know what is going on really. I lost faith in our politicians a while back.

I don't care what anyone else is doing. It is out of my control. All I can do is look after my own family and friends and hope others selfishness and fuckwittery doesn't affect us.

Just do your own thing and let everyone else crack on and deal with the consequences of their own actions.

The guidelines are purposefully open to interpretation, because the priority has shifted to getting money moving again. People are being told to go out and spend spend spend to support the flagging economy........but safely. It’s a difficult ask

@ScouseDottir what will be the consequences of their actions though? They're all going to get coronavirus and die?

Well me and DH are sticking to the rules and so are all our family and friends.

Most neighbours are not but haven't really since the start. They are mostly idiots anyway

The 'rules' are legislation (law) not guidelines

England’s current lockdown law came into force 4 July. It replaces previous legislation in force between 27 March and 3 July. The new lockdown law in England:
▪ bans gatherings of 30 or more people (with some exceptions).
▪ closes certain businesses considered to be high risk for the spread of coronavirus.
▪ gives the Government new powers to restrict access to public places.
▪ provides the police with similar powers they had under the previous lockdown law to enforce the new restrictions.
The new law in England means that there is no longer a nationwide lockdown. Instead the law is now focused on managing the risk associated with coronavirus and responding to local outbreaks.

My only irritation with posts like this is not about whether you follow guidelines but that everyone is expected to manage your feelings. You complain that you are made to feel like an idiot or over the top. Well to be honest you allow yourself to feel like that and it is noone elses responsibility how you feel.
This isn't about following guidelines at all. If it was you would simply follow the guidelines safe in the knowledge you were doing what's right.
Ok great.

However these posts always go on to complain that other people make you feel bad or silly. No , that's your choice , why are you caring about other people's view (and it's got bugger all to do with protecting against the virus you specifically say you are being made to feel bad...to steal better peoples words noine can make you feel bad without your permission).

We still follow the guidelines and I barely think about it if I say no to someone or something. Its my decision and I stand by it. I don't expect anyone to police my emotions anymore than I can control their actions.

Do what you feel is right by all means but why the intense need for others to tiptoe around you? That is my frustration by other peoples inability to think for themselves, they don't just expect the government to nanny them ,but everyone else as well.

🤔 I genuinely struggle to follow the ever changing social distancing “rules” (dyspraxia) - I’m not a “rule follower” but I am a kind and respectful person. I keep my social distance from strangers & wash my hands frequently. I can’t and won’t obsess about how many friends/family I can’t mix with at a time and who can go in whose car

YANBU I am still being very cautious but definitely feel like I'm in the minority among the people I know. However, I don't judge anyone who is not as cautious as me, in a weird way I'm almost envious of their blasé attitude towards the threat of the virus, I just can't being myself to be like that. Things are going to have to improve a lot or I'm going to have to put my big girls pants on when it's time for DC to go back to school and preschool in September though.

Well you know Doris is now on one about us all going back into the office to save the economy. So if I’m expected to risk mine and my family’s lives by getting on a packed commuter train, to a packed tube, to a packed office so that I can save Pret by buying a cappuccino and a fucking prawn sandwich, I’m sure as hell going to let my kids hug both sets grandparents guilt free.

We need to start taking responsibility for ourselves. The government and business don’t give a fuck about you. You are completely expendable. If you feel the best thing is to follow ‘the rules’ then do it. Other people don’t think that is the best thing for them and are, frankly, tired of it. After four months of mixed messages and “do this. No actually do that. No go back to how we were doing it before”. I’m not in the business of judging anyone’s decisions on how they live from now on.

I am so fed up of THE ROOLZ.

We've done the big stuff. We've been working at home since March, avoided house parties, kids have been off school, we've not visited elderly relatives and haven't done ANY of the usual fun stuff like restaurants and theatre because we've been locked in the house.

But rates are now SO low that I'm not banning my 12 year old from meeting up with his friends without social distancing because Nicola has decreed that it applies to under 11s only, and if my teenager wants to hug her friend when she meets up after not seeing them for 4 months that's fine too.

The winner of the Darwin Awards 2020...Th British Public

The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor, originating in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool via death or sterility by their own actions.

YANBU, OP.