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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think I'd rather take my chances with the virus...

465 replies

User3billion · 26/10/2020 18:07

...than give up any more freedom?!

I'm in a tier 3 area and I'm so done. I'm sick of people in tier 1 areas preaching on social media about what we should and shouldn't be doing (especially given it can vary from one tier 3 area to the next). I'm sick of feeling like a prisoner in my own home. I'm sick of not being able to trust a single thing our government says.

I don't understand how we've got to a point in the UK, in 2020, where it's ILLEGAL to visit family we don't live with. And what's worse is that people are happy to go along with this! It's all kinds of wrong.

We deride other countries that deprive their citizens of their civil liberties and yet here we are.

OP posts:
08689326gno · 26/10/2020 18:09

I hold a different view. I'm not thinking of my own chances so much as my child and husband. Protecting them is something I'm happy to do but we don't all feel the same way.

BluebellsGreenbells · 26/10/2020 18:10

It’s for the good of the country. You stay home and you save lives. You save the NHS being overwhelmed.

By all means go out and catch COVID, you’ll be indoors ill and won’t be able to see anyone or go shopping and hopefully you won’t need a doctor or hospital bed.

You could move into another household if you want company.

Pepperwand · 26/10/2020 18:14

I do get where you're coming from OP, I really do as I frequently feel exactly the same! I think the only option is to allow the virus to spread but keep enough of a lid on it to avoid overwhelming the NHS, obviously those in vulnerable categories need to be extra vigilent. We cannot stay locked in our houses waiting for a vaccine that may never appear but we also can't completely throw caution to the wind. I don't know what the answer is.

Thisismylife1 · 26/10/2020 18:18

Yes but your actions have consequences for others. Especially medical staff.

I’m sick of people saying this. It’s likely that in 3-6 months there will be medical improvements.

There should be absolute uproar about the shambles of track and trace (all the money wasted in that should be used to support those who are unable to work/financially struggling).

Theonewiththecandles · 26/10/2020 18:18

I'm okay taking my chances, I'd probably survive though I am high risk.

But it's not for me to decide to take chances with other people's lives.

MadameBlobby · 26/10/2020 18:19

@Pepperwand

I do get where you're coming from OP, I really do as I frequently feel exactly the same! I think the only option is to allow the virus to spread but keep enough of a lid on it to avoid overwhelming the NHS, obviously those in vulnerable categories need to be extra vigilent. We cannot stay locked in our houses waiting for a vaccine that may never appear but we also can't completely throw caution to the wind. I don't know what the answer is.
This.

I agree that some restrictions are necessary but it seems to me the power is going to the head of some politicians. They could do with remembering that they are here to serve us, not for us to do their bidding. The lack of trust in them is the worst thing.

MadameBlobby · 26/10/2020 18:20

There should be absolute uproar about the shambles of track and trace (all the money wasted in that should be used to support those who are unable to work/financially struggling).

Totally agree

Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow · 26/10/2020 18:21

Lockdowns don’t seem to work brilliantly do they, unless they are like the one we had at the start. Which fucks everything

I will not be told who I can have in my house and when - I have had enough. Many people I know feel the same. We don’t want wild parties - but we are seeing close family as this has gone on long enough

Rockbird · 26/10/2020 18:22

I absolutely agree, I'm in tier 1 and my parents in tier 2 so it's now actually illegal to visit my mum for a gossip and a cup of tea, which breaks my heart.

But, I'm at risk, my dad is at risk, and my mum probably wouldn't do too well with COVID either and I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to them because of me (I work in a school). So I suck it up. I hate every second of it but I do it for the greater good.

AldiAisleofCrap · 26/10/2020 18:23

@User3billion maybe you would but it’s not all about you.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 26/10/2020 18:23

I do understand how you are feeling, @User3billion - but the problem is that letting you take your chances with the virus would inevitably mean increasing the risk to other people you come into contact with - and whilst you have every right to make this decision for yourself, you don’t have the right to make it for other people, and that is what, in effect, you’d be doing.

You also have no way of knowing how severely you would get the virus - would you be OK with taking up a bed in Intensive Care, and all the NHS resources that would entail? Would you be able to cope without any outside help, if you got Long Covid, and couldn’t work for months?

I obey the rules (I live in the Central Belt of Scotland, so we are under fairly tight restrictions) not because I am worried about myself, but because I feel I have a responsibility to the community as a whole.

No man is an island - and this is even more true at the moment, IMO.

flaviaritt · 26/10/2020 18:24

I get it, OP. It can’t go on much longer even if a vaccine doesn’t work. There are serious human rights questions beginning to come up. Temporary is one thing but semi-permanent restrictions are a whole different ball game.

LagunaBubbles · 26/10/2020 18:24

And what's worse is that people are happy to go along with this! It's all kinds of wrong

I dont think anyone is happy for goodness sake!

MadameBlobby · 26/10/2020 18:24

I am still following the rules but I think likes of Swinney telling students they might not be “allowed” home for Christmas is ridiculous. Just who do people like him think they are? Telling people they can’t go home to their families at Christmas. Totally overstepping the Mark.

My parents are in their 70s so keen to avoid them getting it but I don’t blame people who don’t have vulnerable family members for not bothering with the rules any more.

TheDowagerDuchessofMwwwahaha · 26/10/2020 18:25

I'm sick of people in tier 1 areas preaching on social media about what we should and shouldn't be doing (especially given it can vary from one tier 3 area to the next)

^^
I agree with this. There’s a smugness that’s particularly irritating in people who happen to live in Tier 1 areas, who probably didn’t follow the rules any better than you did for the most part over the summer. The whole idea of blaming people who are in tier three areas is very divisive and I think has been deliberately encouraged by the government.

However I do think we need to stick to the rules as much as possible to protect other people.

PhilSwagielka · 26/10/2020 18:25

I don’t care if I get the virus or die from it. I do care about infecting loved ones though.

TheDowagerDuchessofMwwwahaha · 26/10/2020 18:26

And yes the shambles of track and trace is an outrage.

MadameBlobby · 26/10/2020 18:27

I agree with this. There’s a smugness that’s particularly irritating in people who happen to live in Tier 1 areas, who probably didn’t follow the rules any better than you did for the most part over the summer. The whole idea of blaming people who are in tier three areas is very divisive and I think has been deliberately encouraged by the government.

Exactly. With the inference that people in Tier 3 are all just feckless bastards instead of just happening to live in places that environments that favour transmission.

starrynight19 · 26/10/2020 18:28

I totally get where your coming from op. I am also in tier 3 and we haven’t been able to see family for ages now. I miss them all so much. With each passing day it just gets harder and harder.
And our cases are rising so it feels like it’s all for nothing. (I know why we are doing it) but not seeing people who might not be here much longer is tough.

ilovesooty · 26/10/2020 18:29

@Thisismylife1

Yes but your actions have consequences for others. Especially medical staff.

I’m sick of people saying this. It’s likely that in 3-6 months there will be medical improvements.

There should be absolute uproar about the shambles of track and trace (all the money wasted in that should be used to support those who are unable to work/financially struggling).

Couldn't agree more.
WhenSheWasBad · 26/10/2020 18:29

The restrictions suck. No ones pretending it’s fine.

But if we ignore the restrictions we run the risk of putting someone in a hospital bed. And there aren’t enough beds, doctors or nurses to cope with a Covid ridden winter. NHS struggled with flu every year, so this winter could potentially be a total disaster.

I haven’t seen family since August. It’s not safe for them to meet me. I hate it and it’s upsetting but it’s what needs to be done right now.

AntiHop · 26/10/2020 18:32

You sound very self centred. Do you think anyone is fucking enjoying this. I miss my friends and family. I miss my old life. But I will continue to follow the rules as I'm not a selfish arsehole, and I understand the consequences as explained by pp.

Queencercei · 26/10/2020 18:32

I do understand where you are coming from and if your actions only affected you then I would agree.

However as someone who has very elderly parents and newborns in my family I would never be able to forgive myself if I gave it to them and something tragic happened.

flaviaritt · 26/10/2020 18:33

AntiHop

Forever?

hellolittlebaby · 26/10/2020 18:34

The problem is you're not just "taking YOUR chances" with the virus. You're taking the chances of anybody you meet. The person you pay in a shop, at a petrol station, a nurse or doctor if you need medical care, your child's school teachers (if you have them), family, friends and then everybody THEY encounter too.... 😬