AIBU to think this lockdown is pathetic

[Applepea1]

Why are so many places still open and not enforcing social distancing? I went to the garden centre today and they had a whole big Christmas section and it was packed, including a tractor for the kids to play on. There was no queue system to get in and all the Christmas displays were so close together it was impossible to keep a distance anyway.
I know I obviously could have stayed at home and will be in the future (apart from my local shop, one trip to Primark and a quite few trips to the pets shop for dog food I've done all shopping on line since March)
Most of my socialising is with school mum's and although everyone is aware we are only allowed to go for a walk in pairs they all stand together chatting in the playground. The primary school is next to a large secondary school and we have to fight our way through crowds of teenagers before pick up every day. The whole of year 11 are in self isolation as there's so many positive cases. My adult daughters boyfriend is allowed into work as they all tested negative last week. It just seems a limp excuse of a lockdown for me.

Definitely no flounce, I just don’t want to argue back and forth and I genuinely have nothing to say to someone who I believe to have opinions I find unpleasant

@ShesMadeATwatOfMePam

Ah the delicious irony in moaning that other people are not sticking to the rules, but you're ok to go out because you want a couple of plants.

Exactly that I wanted plants in lockdown 1 so I bought them online very cheaply

You didn’t @MillieVanilla, just let people read what you actually said and decide for themselves.

@sirfredfredgeorge

I thought the point was to stay at home unless you had to leave for an essential reason?

Nope, there's nothing about essential, that's just made up mumsnet crap. Mostly because staying at home for all but essential reasons will turn everyone into even more sedentary overweight people that will kill more than covid will. Most people need to go out to stay even rudimentarily fit, when you stay in doors you stay seated.

Going out for exercise or outdoor recreation with your household or with one other person (under 5's count) is allowed and the guidance even says "should". And of course there's other Chief Medical Officer guidance saying you need to exercise etc.

The invention about only leaving the house for essential reasons is very harmful.

It's not made up Mumsnet crap, here is what the government says. Note the MUST NOT instead of should

1. Stay at home

You must not leave or be outside of your home unless where permitted by law. This may include:
Work and volunteering

You can leave home for work purposes, or to provide voluntary or charitable services, where you cannot do this from home.
Essential activities

You can leave home to buy things at shops which are permitted to open. For instance to buy food or medicine, or to collect any items - including food or drink - ordered through click-and-collect or as a takeaway, to obtain or deposit money (e.g. from a bank or post office), or to access critical public services (see section below).
Fulfilling legal obligations

You may also leave home to fulfil legal obligations.
Moving home

You may leave home to carry out activities related to buying, selling, letting or renting a residential property.
Education and childcare

You can leave home for education (formal provision, rather than extracurricular classes such as music or drama tuition, or driving lessons) or training. You can also leave home for the purposes of registered childcare and supervised activities for children that are necessary to allow parents/carers to work, seek work, or undertake education or training. Parents can still take their children to school, and people can continue existing arrangements for contact between parents and children where they live apart.
Meeting others and care

You can leave home to visit people in your support bubble, or to provide informal childcare for children aged 13 and under as part of a childcare bubble, to provide care for vulnerable people, to provide emergency assistance, attend a support group (of up to 15 people), or for respite care where that care is being provided to a vulnerable person or a person with a disability, or is a short break in respect of a looked after child. People can also exercise outdoors or visit an outdoor public place (see section 3).
Medical reasons, harm and compassionate visits

You can leave home for any medical reason, including to get a COVID-19 test, for medical appointments and emergencies, to be with someone who is giving birth, to avoid injury or illness or to escape risk of harm (such as domestic abuse), or for animal welfare reasons – e.g. to attend veterinary services for advice or treatment.

You can also leave home to visit someone who is dying or someone in a care home (if permitted under care home guidance), hospice, or hospital, or to accompany them to a medical appointment.
Events

You can leave home to attend a place of worship for individual prayer, a funeral or a related event for someone who has died, to visit a burial ground or a remembrance garden, or to attend a deathbed wedding. A list of what constitutes a ‘reasonable excuse’ for leaving home can be found in the regulations.

You're trying to mislead people by selective quoting, you must not leave your home unless permitted by law is quite clear. So but you're quite likely to be permitted by law, your quote lists some of the reasons - note the "This may include" before the list, as it says the full list
"A list of what constitutes a ‘reasonable excuse’ for leaving home can be found in the regulations."

So to know all the reasons you need to read the regulations, but even in just the part you listed the relevant part is covered:

"People can also exercise outdoors or visit an outdoor public place"

So that's that covered, you can go out to exercise or visit an outdoor public place, even in the text you quoted - the regulations cover the same of course.

Do not make restrictions up you are harming people who believe them, and I suspect harming the actual efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, people who do not fulfill their social needs in the legal ways during lock down are more likely to take more risks and indulge in riskier behaviour after lockdown because they'll be more desperate for socialisation.

Also most people don't exercise, they get what little fitness they have from incidental movement, encouraging everyone to be sedentary in their houses increases their risk of death by 75% over the next year, we really do not want that at a time when the NHS is stressed.

I wanted plants in lockdown too

I bought them from bloody Gardening Express! What a nightmare that turned out to be. 40 quid for a twig

@Feministicon

You didn’t *@MillieVanilla*, just let people read what you actually said and decide for themselves.

Considering you're still the only one with any issue of what I said, clearly people already have. They have, however, commented on your childish flounce of not wishing to discuss it further probably because you realise you look like a tit and no one else has agreed with you Just for the record: shops for food and drink: essential Firework shops for any reason whatsoever in a year when huge numbers have died whatever race religion gender or age they are: not essential.

I went to the garden centre today and they had a whole big Christmas section and it was packed

Hilarious. You sound like one of those people who tut tut over beauty spots being 'overrun' when you were part of the overrunning.

It was packed because of people like YOU OP.

Hmm, my thoughts on this lockdown is that it’s good that schools are open etc but there are some massively inconsistent rules. E.g. my teen dd can’t train for
the competitive sport she is involved in ( which is a really important part of her life) but our local playground has been heaving with children and parents all close together and playing/socialising. Lots more examples.

I don’t need the validation of others. It was you calling me woke for knowing what Diwali was, you brought up Churches being shut and the lack of celebrations for Easter. In my view your comments made you look small minded at best. As for racism, that was never mentioned by me as Hinduism is a religion not a race. Your wide eyed ‘But bonfire night has passed, what could fireworks possibly be for’ er the festival of light which involves fireworks, I’m sure if Easter included fireworks as part of the celebrations you would have been able to purchase them just as well as you were able to purchase eggs. As I have already said I wanted to discuss nothing further with you as your opinions leave a bad taste in my mouth and whether or not anyone else have picked up on them or not is irrelevant to me. The best you can come up with is to say I’m a tit and to FO 🤡

@Notcontent

Hmm, my thoughts on this lockdown is that it’s good that schools are open etc but there are some massively inconsistent rules. E.g. my teen dd can’t train for the competitive sport she is involved in ( which is a really important part of her life) but our local playground has been heaving with children and parents all close together and playing/socialising. Lots more examples.

My DD and DS too, it doesn’t seem to make much sense. The local high street shops are shut again where I live and you’d think they’d have priority over a large garden centre as they stand a very real chance of going bust.

I agree with pp’s that you lose your moral high ground when you are also there adding to the masses however I do see what you mean about shops not being covid secure. I work in a supermarket, during the last lockdown we went from a 24 hour shop to only opening 8-8 and people had to queue to enter as we limited customers to 250 at a time. During this lockdown there is no limits to numbers and although not back to 24 hours they have increased opening hours to 6am to midnight. Yesterday there were people literally queuing down the aisles for the checkouts as we were so busy, my aisle at many times was impassable due to the amount of people on it, you would never think we were in the middle of a pandemic with the amount of people crammed into a small space but as long as they have a mask on (even if it is on their chin) it apparently doesn’t matter anymore

But you were also one of those out of the crowds in the garden center!!! I can’t get over the self righteous stuff coming out of this pandemic and everyone determined to blame everyone else!

@Wejustdontknow

I agree with pp’s that you lose your moral high ground when you are also there adding to the masses however I do see what you mean about shops not being covid secure. I work in a supermarket, during the last lockdown we went from a 24 hour shop to only opening 8-8 and people had to queue to enter as we limited customers to 250 at a time. During this lockdown there is no limits to numbers and although not back to 24 hours they have increased opening hours to 6am to midnight. Yesterday there were people literally queuing down the aisles for the checkouts as we were so busy, my aisle at many times was impassable due to the amount of people on it, you would never think we were in the middle of a pandemic with the amount of people crammed into a small space but as long as they have a mask on (even if it is on their chin) it apparently doesn’t matter anymore

It's when you are waiting and people are trying to chat the ear off the assistant whilst wearing a mask on their chin or under their nose. I went to my local Morrisons as I didn't just need food, DDs whole year group is doing online learning and so she asked me to get her some sketch pads as she will still be doing her GCSE art stuff so I knew they would have them. The amount of people not wearing masks, or incorrectly wearing them, and those who weren't keeping a distance at the till was ridiculous. I asked one person to please move back in the queue as she was right up behind me and was told to fuck off. Luckily the staff at Morrisons are very on the ball so she was told to move back or leave by the assistant. But I do wish people would hurry up and wear their masks properly. It's was understandable when it was a new thing but this is months now. It's just ignorance at this point.

Sometimes I wonder what planet people are on!!! Yesterday I heard someone I know relatively well is in hospital with covid.
This news does not seem to sink in with others and people are behaving like idiots.
Remember if you or a relative fall ill. You cannot visit them. You can not sit with them and hold their hand. And all because you wanted a trip to the garden centre!!!!!!

Well I’ve just been for a walk in the country.

Bloody hell! It was more rammed than 500 garden centres and every ‘The Range’ and Poundland combined.

Jesus, cars everywhere, bikes everywhere, it’s not even line this in the height of summer!

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

Well I’ve just been for a walk in the country.

Bloody hell! It was more rammed than 500 garden centres and every ‘The Range’ and Poundland combined.

Jesus, cars everywhere, bikes everywhere, it’s not even line this in the height of summer!

Everyone wants to be out walking/exercising just like you.

I know!!!!

But I’ve never seen it like that ever!

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

I know!!!!

But I’ve never seen it like that ever!

I don’t get the sense that people are as terrified of contracting it outdoors like they were in the intial lockdown due to having more information now.

It was almost as bad in the summer tbh.

I live right on the edge of the Peak District. It’s walking distance to the country for me. I’ve never ever seen cars like today. Summer lockdown was bad, but this was just insane. Tiny roads jammed with parked cars.

I live near some big national trust parks and we were going to one last weekend but upon driving through saw the carnage so went a bit further out to a lesser known park

Given that our high death rate is down to the fact that this nation is unfortunately packed with fat knackers, people outside exercising is all to the good.

@Alconleigh

Given that our high death rate is down to the fact that this nation is unfortunately packed with fat knackers, people outside exercising is all to the good.

People exercising is definitely a good thing, and it’s a lovely afternoon.

and it’s a lovely afternoon.

It's been utterly miserable here 😂

@Alconleigh

Given that our high death rate is down to the fact that this nation is unfortunately packed with fat knackers, people outside exercising is all to the good.

Absolutely!!!