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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Self Isolation AIBU

6 replies

aliasname · 20/07/2020 00:37

I'm trying not to take sides, as I know the people involved....

Andy has a large farmhouse in the country, and at the start of lockdown he invited Barbara and Colin to stay there. Colin is in his late eighties, Andy and Barbara are both in their sixties.

So they spent 12 weeks in isolation, all groceries were delivered and apart from a socially distanced wave to local farmers, they haven't seen anyone else. Quite honestly, after 3 months I'm amazed they haven't killed each other ~ but that's beside the point.

Andy has some animals he needed help with, so another farmer Dave came round. Dave also went into the house for a coffee (the animals had to be given medication, which took 20 minutes to work) Dave didn't interact with anyone except Andy.

Then Barbara was asked by a neighbour (let's call her Edna) to go and feed her cat. Edna was away, so Barbara only had to go in the house, no contact with anyone. Andy said that if she did this, she wouldn't be allowed back in his house as she would have broken the rules. Which seems like double standards after he already had Dave round.

Anyway, perhaps the isolation had got to everyone, and it was a good reason to leave so Barbara went back to her own place (fed the cat, Felix) and since then has only been allowed to visit Andy and Colin by sitting at the far end of the patio.

There have been mutterings about all of this.

Now Andy has invited some others to stay, as long as they self-isolate beforehand. These people are an absent-minded mum (Guinevere) and disorganised dad (Hubert) both of whom are more at home babbling on about 12th century poetry than noticing whether their young children are observing social distancing. I can't be bothered thinking of names for the children.

Barbara is furious about the hypocrisy in this.

Who is being unreasonable? I think its Andy... however it is his house, so I guess it's up to him who he allows in?

OP posts:
Crunchymum · 20/07/2020 00:42

I get that you are trying to be humorous, but it's not working for me!!!!

dontgobaconmyheart · 20/07/2020 00:45

Being middle class always seems such a carry on, goodness me.

It is hypocrisy yes, obviously Andy is obviously not very bright if he thinks otherwise or thinks that new guests are covid secure but Barbara isn't. His house though, his business so I'm not sure Barbara need be 'furious' as she has absolutely no entitlement whatsoever to being there at all and seems to me to befairly lucky to have been offered a safe place to stay during lockdown when others have no such thing Hmm.

Maybe he just wanted rid of her and this was (in his own mind) a decent excuse? Surely she can simply isolate for a period and return, if that isn't the case.

UsernameNotValid · 20/07/2020 00:56

Are Collin and Barbara a couple?

I guess Andy's thinking is that Dave was probably just as isolated as he is due to their jobs therefore low risk whereas he may not know what's been going on at Edna's so there could be a higher risk from there than having 1 person in his "sterile" home?

Either way it is a bit hypocritical to bend the rules then ostracise someone else for doing the same thing.

Also - FYI, young children don't need to social distance.

Justcallmebebes · 20/07/2020 02:05

No clue. Sorry 🤔

CuppaZa · 20/07/2020 02:54

They’re all coming out tonight Confused

Ponoka7 · 20/07/2020 08:04

Andy is thick as mince and needs to consider the routes of transmission. But he might have just wanted to get rid of Barbara and that gave him the excuse that he needed. If they are a couple, they need a proper conversation about it, personally I bin him off for that.

If only friends, I'd bear his treatment in mind, going forward. However, If he generally has black and white thinking and isn't very bright, then it isn't done out of malice. He's just set in his ways.

He is putting Colin at risk by letting the other family move in, though.

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