Outside walks and people

[CharlotteRose90]

No hate please but I’m hoping I’m not the only one.

So me and my mum have been going for walks with the dog and it’s making me so angry what people are doing. Walking so close to us and not keeping distance. We’re both in the vulnerable category and I’ve said so many times to people to move away.

I completely get you don’t have to wear a mask but don’t walk next to or behind people you don’t know. The park we choose today had a massive path and people still did it. I ended up shouting at this woman for standing next to my mum and coughing.

Rant over. I’m hoping I’m not crazy

Don’t blame you, OP. Happens all the time here.

Both today and yesterday I encountered the same pair of women, maybe early 30s, ambling along side by side but a little apart, talking, and taking up the majority of a fair sized pavement.
Neither time have they made the slightest attempt to move over, let alone to go in single file for 5 seconds to put a reasonable distance between us.

I suppose I should be used to it by now, ditto to the fucking bloody joggers, who seem to think they have some sort of moral right to come steaming up behind you, puffing and panting their horrible breath within a whisker of your shoulder.
If one in 50 bothers to divert slightly from the straight, while I’m as close as I can get to the inside, that’s about it. It’s been the same ever since the beginning of the first lockdown.

If I see them coming I cross the road, but so often they’re right up behind me before I’ve realised.

.

You are def not being unreasonable. People just blithely strolling three abreast down the paths are the worst kind of pricks. And they never thank you for moving out of the way.

I reassure myself with the thought that it's very very unlikely to catch covid outside. Not impossible but hugely rare for it to happen.

I don't think there's much risk in passing someone momentarily at close quarters but out of respect I try to give others as much space as possible when I'm running or walking, especially if they look like they want to do the same. This isn't always 2 metres, that's just not possible sometimes. But it costs nothing to make the effort, it's really just a question of being mindful of what's around you and keeping to one side.

Pet peeve - the dozy fuckers who blithely take up as much space as they want with no concern for anyone else. If it's a narrow path don't just amble down the middle of it when there are people around you going in both directions! Couples, you can walk in single file! Bonus points if you're a middle-of-the-path hogger who then also gets huffy about people coming close.

If you’re all that worried about catching something well you should all stay at home.

What a ridiculous thing to suggest during a pandemic when outside exercise is recommended to keep people fit, healthy and out of hospitals.

Not everyone has a car or a garden or a home gym.

Fortunately there is a lot of outside space near me but some people seem unable to take several seconds out of their life to not walk on top of me or others. Why are people so selfish?

I'll do my bit if I can. I always give people lots of space and most people are really lovely and smiley and grateful. Why not give people lots of space if you can?

Occasionally someone will become offended and start shouting that "I haven't got it!" as if I'm avoiding them because I think they'll give me the virus, rather than assuming that either of us could give it to the other, but this is an exception.

One of the problems with this pandemic is that has facilitated the spread of paranoid and persecutory beliefs in previously rational people, as well as a fair bit of selfish, entitled behaviour.

Just give people space if you can. If you can't you can't but why the big deal about being kind, polite and considerate?

I think there is a strange effect at work in open spaces - people seem drawn together by some sort of magnetic force. I've noticed it on a huge, quiet beach I sometimes go to. I can be sitting on a patch of sand, and the only other person on the beach will walk so close that they nearly tread on me.

I've noticed it on the paths and lanes round our village recently. We're within walking distance of the edge of town and a few more people have discovered the nice walks round here during lockdown. It's still very quiet - we might meet two or three other families or dog-walkers while out for a longish walk, but rarely more than that. But quite a lot of the people we do meet are very hard to avoid. If you move to the side of the path, they either move to the same side or carry on three or four abreast so you can't actually pass each other. If you have room to move off the path, they will gravitate towards you so you finish up going further and further off to the side trying not to collide with them. If you step into a gateway to make room, you can pretty much guarantee that they will decide they also want to stop in the same place.

I think when they're out walking and feeling relaxed, a lot of people switch off the bit of their brain that's used for dealing with other people, and don't really register that they're not skipping through fields alone. They're generally nice and smiley while veering off at ninety degrees to walk straight at you.

We spend most of our walks walking in single file to be polite and I’m always surprised how many stay 3 a breast and don’t even acknowledge us. It’s basic manners for me.

Total over reaction shouting at people!

I probably wouldn't have gone somewhere like that on NYD if you are concerned about people being near, it's a very popular day for walks like Boxing Day and usually rammed, give it a few days and it will be emptier as people will be back to their normal routines

Vulnerable or not, you don’t own public parks and pavements. Everyone has to share the space, so you can’t expect everyone else to move out of the way for you all of the time. You’ll have to compromise and actively move out of the way yourself, go at quiet times, wear a decent mask if it makes you feel more protected etc.

This**
Actually the people who expect others to move for them and don't themselves are the problem

*Everyone has to share the space, so you can’t expect everyone else to move out of the way for you all of the time.

I agree. If you want space, you move out of the way.*

Social distancing just panders to these sort of people. It's what they've always wanted.

The self appointed, 'face mask police' are even worse.

I think YABU. I am extremely clinically vulnerable and received shielding letters. I didn’t leave the house for months. Once the government said I could outdoor exercise I was SO careful. If we saw/heard people we’d walk the other way. Walk in the road to avoid them. Cross over to avoid people. Turn around if needed.

Unfortunately you don’t own the paths/parks so as annoying as it is you should make the extra effort to move out of the way because you can’t trust other people.

[quote Changechangychange]@Gwenhwyfar are you in North America?

My Canadian friends have been moaning about having to wear a mask for cross country skiing on totally empty country trails. Seems completely ridiculous. By all means mask up when you meet somebody, but if you are miles from anybody I can’t see the point.[/quote]
Not in north America no. To be fair, if there's nobody around it means there's no police around either doesn't it so your friend could have taken her mask off.

Actually the people who expect others to move for them and don't themselves are the problem

I agree wholeheartedly. The supreme arrogance of the, 'excuse me' brigade when I step to close to THEM. I don't live my life to make sure you're ok. I respect social distancing but other people just being precious and me me me are just that.

Walk at quieter times in parks you enjoy. Wearing a mask will also help too.

Unfortunately we all have to share open spaces. You can control what you do, not others.

Stay inside if you're that concerned

Perhaps if you’re both so vulnerable you should go out somewhere quieter or at different times. It seems to me everyone should be a bit kinder and more tolerant.
It’s so lovely outside where we can relax a little and try and put COVID to the back of our minds, please don’t go round shouting at people times are difficult for everyone a bit of kindness goes a long way. I’m sure people aren’t upsetting you on purpose, maybe just move to the side to let them past?

Some people think social distancing was just set out for them.

YANBU. Some people are selfish dicks. I was pushing the pram through our village yesterday, with an older couple walking towards us. They were holding hands and didn't even attempt to move to the side of the path. I pushed the pram out into the road to avoid getting too close and they couldn't even muster up a thank you. Arseholes.

I agree wholeheartedly. The supreme arrogance of the, 'excuse me' brigade when I step to close to THEM.

The thing is, I have had people say "excuse me!" in quite and indigant way that pisses me off. However I always step back if I can and very often what appears to be someone being cross or arrogant is just people being genuinely anxious. It is very easy to misread social signals, even for the most sensitive of people.

I try to cut people slack whatever way it is. Someone walked into the back of me recently, not looking where he was going, and immediately started souting at me to mind where I was going.

I pointed out that he had in fact walked into me, at which point he started shouting that I was at fault because I was wearing a mask. Fortunately other people saw what had happened and were laughing at him, he really was being a total arse.

He was with his partner who had a baby in a pram and 2 toddlers. I just clocked them all and thought to myself that I have no idea about the challenges they are facing, with young kids they may be sleep deprived, he was behaving badly but could have been made redundant, facing homelessness I just don't know.

Also I have behaved in a less then angelic manner at some very highly stressed times in my life.

Similarly when people are anxious about intrusion on their space I find that being kind and apologising, even if it wasn't my fault, often beings a reciprocal apology and a moment of socially distanced bonding.

I don't live my life to make sure you're ok. I respect social distancing but other people just being precious and me me me are just that.

In a pandemic we all have to live our lives to make sure that we are all OK. It is the only way we will get thought this. I think you might want to consider cutting people some slack. They probably are just stressed and scared and don't mean to be rude.

You are going crazy. Stop it.

@HyacynthBucket

thepeopleversuswork Where do you get your data from about risk outside being "absolutely mnimal"? You just do not have enough information to make that statement and it could seriously mislead anyone on here who reads it. It is just wishful thinking because you do not know and cannot know the extent of any risk. Also you do not know the vulnerability to infection of any particular person you pass, so who are you to make a judgement about how much risk they should be put to ? This to me is the nature of the 'entitled' attitude we read about on here - not those wanting to walk in safety from selfish other people, as is often put on here, but thinking that you have a right to assess other people's risk and act accordingly, even though you cannot possibly know.

While the risk of outdoor transmission is low, it can happen. In one study of more than 7,300 cases in China, just one was connected to outdoor transmission. In that case, a 27-year-old man had a conversation outdoors with a traveler who had just returned from Wuhan. Seven days later, he had his first symptoms of Covid-19.

One out of 7,300 cases of Covid. And presumably as it was the result of a conversation, they'd been standing close to each other for some time. Not just passing on a path for two or three seconds.

www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/us/coronavirus-what-to-do-outside.html

...only one was outside and they admitted to being close together for over 15 minutes," says Professor Keith Neal, Emeritus Professor of the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases at the University of Nottingham.

People... outside... at the same time as you???? How very dare they!

In a pandemic we all have to live our lives to make sure that we are all OK

This is fundamentally flawed reasoning.

You may wish to make the it sole objective of your life to cheat your own death if you genuinely wish to pursue such a futile endeavour.

Your expectation that the whole of the rest of the country (millions and millions of people) should also make the sole objective of their lives the avoidance of your death is, however, wholly unreasonable.

You are crazy