Shopping alone during lock down

[AnxiousSM]

This applies to the current lockdown not in general.
Why can’t people shop alone? The only exception to this would be a parent with a child they don’t have childcare for. Zero excuse for family outings to the supermarket. If you have to be driven then can’t partner stay in the car?
All this bollocks about being unable to shop alone, there’s no reasonable excuse.

Honestly the Asda here here has always been like that, the mind absolutely boggles at why you’d want to go food shopping with DH and every single one of your kids. It’s weird AF. The sheer scale of it means that every single on of them can’t have a problem which means they can’t shop alone!

@HangOnToYourself

So, two people from the same household spend half the time in the supermarket, or one person from said household spends twice as long in the supermarket.

For information: the only place these two people go is the supermarket, once a fortnight because C&C slots are rarer than hens’ teeth.

They both work from home.

Which poses a greater risk and why? I’d be curious as to your thoughts.

Dp and I shop separately and have separate finances, we eat together perhaps 2 meals a week. I prefer financial independence and do not want the responsibility of cooking all the meals so we do it separately

@Winterwoollies

Two people in supermarket means there are two chances of covid being caught, them becoming asymptotic, returning to said supermarket next time and passing it on.

One person goes to supermarket and the chance reduces by 50% regardless of how much time is spent there. Any length of time is a risk, especially with the new variants

It is really not that difficult to think about it sensibly

[quote Womencanlift]@Winterwoollies

Two people in supermarket means there are two chances of covid being caught, them becoming asymptotic, returning to said supermarket next time and passing it on.

One person goes to supermarket and the chance reduces by 50% regardless of how much time is spent there. Any length of time is a risk, especially with the new variants

It is really not that difficult to think about it sensibly[/quote]
Ok so if one of those parties picked it up and was asymptomatic, what is the current thinking behind how long it can be incubating and then contagious for?

Well the WHO says it can be as long as 14 days so you could be on the last day of your possible period the next time you go for your shop

@bjjgirl

Dp and I shop separately and have separate finances, we eat together perhaps 2 meals a week. I prefer financial independence and do not want the responsibility of cooking all the meals so we do it separately

Do you live together? Is he really that useless that the only way you can make him cook is to refuse to eat with him? I mean horses for courses and whatever works but it seems like a sad reason to do it that way

We all shop together NORMALLY me and DH and sometimes with all 3 kids like a family outing but we've not done this once since march there is no need just silly !!

[quote Womencanlift]@Winterwoollies

Two people in supermarket means there are two chances of covid being caught, them becoming asymptotic, returning to said supermarket next time and passing it on.

One person goes to supermarket and the chance reduces by 50% regardless of how much time is spent there. Any length of time is a risk, especially with the new variants

It is really not that difficult to think about it sensibly[/quote]
Exactly this; every time 2 people go in instead of one there is 50% more chance of an asymptomatic carrier bringing it into to the shop staff and every other person in the shop. The problem is everyone doing this seems to think they are the only people doing it but obviously they arent.
All of the advice is to limit interaction as much as possible and to go shopping alone where possible, why do you seem to think you know better?

What interaction would you get with other people in a supermarket during a pandemic? No point smiling at someone because you are wearing a mask. Hello and thank you to the cashier. Or is "Excuse me where are the beans please?" called social interaction these days?

@HangOnToYourself the number of asymptomatic people is considered to be very low, much, much lower than first thought: about 17% of people tested, rather than the 80% initially believed. Of this 17%, around 50% will actually go on to develop symptoms and so were in fact ‘pre-symptomatic’ when tested. It is also considered that the remaining people may actually have been ‘post-symptomatic’ but had disregarded/not noticed their symptoms when their viral shedding was live. As is evidenced on here a lot, people have quite a poor understand of what should be considered a symptom and so often don’t act when they should. Symptoms also appear to be evolving and affecting individuals differently.

Another thought by virologists is that asymptomatic people are not massively likely to be responsible for much transmission as the majority of viral shedding happens during coughing, which an asymptomatic person is much less likely to do. Some shed will happen during normal conversation of course, but with masks and social distancing, this is minimised. In a supermarket, people tend not to stop and chat in this current clime.

So with all this information to hand (information sent to me by a doctor relative, it’s in the BMJ and I can link if you’re interested), and knowing that if I did pick it up I would likely be symptomatic and as the supermarket is the only place I go every second week I would have caught it there, incubated it, likely developed symptoms before my next visit and so wouldn’t go again until my two weeks isolation had passed...we choose to go and spend half the time in there. But not every time, just sometimes.

YANBU I argued online with some locals during 1st lockdown. Excuses like husband won't know what to get and the wife can't possibly carry heavy bags (write him a list then?) And then excuses for why that won't work. I agree either you one could just wait in car while other shops if its an issue like that? Like with mask wearing though people like to make their excuses for why they are special and the rules shouldn't apply to them while most of us do what we're supposed to because we understand that we're in a pandemic and now isnt the time to be precious about it

All that actually matters is how many people are in the shop at any one time. Whether there are 2 people shopping together or the same 2 people shopping separately, makes no difference at all.

I need someone with me, other people can manage on their own.

@Voice0fReason

All that actually matters is how many people are in the shop at any one time. Whether there are 2 people shopping together or the same 2 people shopping separately, makes no difference at all.

I need someone with me, other people can manage on their own.

All that matters to you as a SHOPPER is how many are in at a time because you'll only be exposed to 100 people for the hour that you're in, but for the staff twice as many people just mean people will queue and there will be twice as many people in but evened out through even the usually quiet period. So instead of 500 shoppers, plus an extra 100 giving genuine support, there's now 2000 people because the kids fancied a walk and Bob - a nt man in his 40s who works in a responsible job, can't be trusted to read Daddies Brown Sauce and not pick up mayonnaise

Obviously I know everyone's situations are different but I cant think of all that many situations where its imperative the whole family goes shopping. Even if you needed 2 people to carry the shopping couldnt one wait outside, or meet them there? If one person doesnt drive, could the driver do the shopping on their own or wait in the car for non driver to shop? A friend of mine hates driving. Her DH drives her to the supermarket, he and their toddler wait in the car and she does the shopping.

We always write a list to go shopping. Invariably I go "off list" and buy extras when I am shopping, DH insists items i have requested "definitely weren't there" if he cant be arsed to look for them. We both shop slightly differently but can usually deal with the nuances of the others ones shopping, for a week or 10 days and then go ourselves the next time. My kids would rather gouge their eyes out than come shopping and I dont think I've taken them since they were about 5 when for some reason DH couldnt look after them.

Another example of customer entitlement.
Me: We are requesting that you now try to shop alone...
Man perplexed/ woman stunned
Man decides he will go!
Woman ( a few moments later) but l have the list!
Me: ok, no problem- you can take it to your husband!
Woman walks over , starts then shopping with him.
I go in the store and remind them she will have to leave. Or him / doesn’t matter.
She is fuming.
Man tells me: fuck you - fucking .... blah blah - fuck this shit etc...
I am just expected to accept it.
This couple are middle aged normal looking people. This is the type of personality that rests just below the surface.

It's not fair on retail workers when extra people go that don't need to. If I'm honest, most people could make alternative arrangements, particularly those that see it as a social occasion or nice family day out. And I'm not being ableist, I've had a disability since childhood which can make shopping painful.

Some people genuinely can't shop alone. That's not a problem. Others come up with fairly tenuous reasons (of which there's been a fair few in this thread) why they're special and can therefore bend the rules.

My husband went to Tesco yesterday instead of me. He bought some things I wouldn't have but it will feed us all perfectly well. He said a number of couples were told that one of them needed to sit in the car. Ditto for mask wearing.

When infection rates are high, perhaps we should stop finding reasons not to comply with the rules and do our best to be mindful of everyone else's safety. That would also make life easier and safer for people who can't wear masks or shop unaccompanied, plus the retail staff, by removing people who aren't in that category.

I'm going to Tesco's today to do the weekly shop. I am hoping they might be bring stricter this week than last. I saw loads of families in there and even more couples doing the shopping together. I literally can't believe some of the excuses on here.

Basically no one in my local shop goes alone. It's all couples, full families, etc.

@withlotsoflove

Another example of customer entitlement. Me: We are requesting that you now try to shop alone... Man perplexed/ woman stunned Man decides he will go! Woman ( a few moments later) but l have the list! Me: ok, no problem- you can take it to your husband! Woman walks over , starts then shopping with him. I go in the store and remind them she will have to leave. Or him / doesn’t matter. She is fuming. Man tells me: fuck you - fucking .... blah blah - fuck this shit etc... I am just expected to accept it. This couple are middle aged normal looking people. This is the type of personality that rests just below the surface.

I always wondered how are these people actually functioning in life. They obviously aren't 🤦

There is always a queue outside our local M&S food shop. And usually almost everyone is shopping in a group of at least 2. So that means it takes twice as long to get into the shop as it should because they limit the number of people in the store. Then you see all these groups earnestly discussing whether to get cracked pepper crisps or sweet chilli, and how many bags of Percy Pigs, so they take longer than one person would. So actually the reason that there is always a queue outside our M&S, and people have to stand in the cold, rain or snow is that nobody shops there alone.

Another one:😂😡
“Give me one of those things you put on!”
Me: A sunflower lanyard?”
Customer: “ Yeah l want it for my friends Granddaughter!”
We have countless people keeping them in their glove compartment for shopping trips! We know these customers & they have never shown any additional needs / especially not autism previously...
So l remind her that these are for people with additional needs ( in any form) people that need extra help or consideration. They are for people with autism etc....
Customer looking blank:
“Er ... she has needs“ not even understanding why she was even there!
So.... we used to have massive bundles of these lanyards. We regularly get down to 2.
This is the situation. These are are people that will literally do anything to avoid a mask : do things the way it’s required at the moment.

My issue with this is the people who can’t shop alone ok I get that BUT
A local girl to here was on a huge rant back in first wave when only 1 adult was allowed in that they got in to an argument in Sainsbury as they wouldn’t let her partner in.
She apparently has asthma - anxiety etc so he was there to help her.
Why couldn’t he just go shopping ?
Why was he not capable as a grown man to do the shopping ?

I would certainly feel like I'd made a poor choice of life partner if he couldn't go shopping alone!

I think it's a mix. We can see on this thread that there are groups of entitled people who find spurious reasons to have someone else with them or just get off on finding "loopholes".

Having said that the trouble is you can't tell from looking at them what the situation is.

Take for example us. We always send one adult. The DC do not go to shops. Dp ar grown fully able adults so we have absolutely no need to shop together. So we don't. Amazingly we can both read a list ,we both know how the house runs and what we may have run out of and even more amazingly we have phones. So if we aren't sure we ring or text the other.

Having said that. For the next three weeks DP is away mostly. I have tried very hard to make sure we have what we need for 3 weeks. If however , that's a likelihood. We do unexpectedly run out of milk etc I will have to take DC with me.

It's a smallish area so entirely possible it will seem odd to others that I am usually able to shop alone and then rock up with 2 DC as if it's an outing.

I just think that people do take the wotsit (and some of the reasons people have cited on here are ridiculous) but you can't actually tell looking at them so basically we all need to butt out.