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AIBU?

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Original poster

To wonder what all the walkers would usually be doing

557 replies

CloseSchoolsProtecttheNHS · 17/01/2021 02:13

I live in a small village near a lovely green open space for walks. I walk every single day and have done since I moved here many years ago. It's always been very quiet - many, many times I've been the only person out and have walked for an hour+ and not seen a soul.

Since Covid - and particularly since the summer - it's been mobbed! I'm dodging people constantly when out walking and although the size of the space means I can keep 2 metres away, I now often have groups of people behind, in front and to the sides of me which makes me a bit uncomfortable. Most are considerate but some are arseholes that want to brush past you so you have to be aware and it's a lot less relaxing. I'm pretty sure that they are local people as it's not a 'day out' place or anywhere people would know about let alone go to, and it's nice that more local people are out walking but... why have they all just discovered walking? It's not like it was a closely guarded secret before and we are quite rural. What would they normally be doing (for example today on a Saturday afternoon) that they now can't do that leaves walking as their only option??

(Yes I do kind of wish they'd bugger off and yes IABU for that as I don't own this piece of land! But mostly I'm just really perplexed as to why so many people are now out walking!)

OP posts:
loobylou10 · 17/01/2021 14:33

I’m really irritated by your pretend ignorance

God, me too. Why shouldn't they go out for a walk - there's literally nothing else to do.

Sturmundcalm · 17/01/2021 14:58

I think if the govt said that the only reason you could leave your house was to eat oysters I'd suddenly develop a taste for oysters...

I AM SO BOOOORED!

User158340 · 17/01/2021 15:09

@Aloethere

I don't know why some people are so getting so defensive? Of course it is annoying when something you do all of the time suddenly gets really busy. Nobody is saying people shouldn't go out for a walk if they want to but walking around my local area is like queuing at the moment it is so busy(we are only allowed to stay within 5km). Yes I don't own the park but yes it also annoys me when families take up the whole path and seem shocked by the fact that people actually walk their dogs there.. It annoys me when kids on scooters ram into said dogs or try to stroke them while the parents are 100m behind them seemingly unable to remember that they have kids with them.

I really don't care that you find walking boring and am glad you will be fucking off at the first sign of things opening again but until then if you could keep your kids under control and let people pass you by every once in a while that would be great.

I like walking to relax, but it's just infuriating now when it's busy, added to the social distancing etc.

I went out yesterday on my own for a daily walk and there was someone walking the dog which you'd expect. The owner took up the left side of the path, the dog the right side and the lead the entire middle and they were walking slow. The road was busy and the other side of the road was lined up with people, too. It's just a pain.

A few hundred yards later there's a whole family all in line - therefore I cross road which takes ages on a double carriageway with busy traffic. Rinse and repeat.

This is the joys of walking around the neigbourhood for the thousandth time since March and in the freezing cold to boot.

Bookworming · 17/01/2021 15:15

I went out yesterday on my own for a daily walk and there was someone walking the dog which you'd expect. The owner took up the left side of the path, the dog the right side and the lead the entire middle and they were walking slow. The road was busy and the other side of the road was lined up with people, too. It's just a pain.

Oh dear, you poor thing. Isn't it just so irritating when you're so perfect and everyone else is a fool.

I'm not sure how you survive is such a desperate situation with so many fools around you?

Elphame · 17/01/2021 15:16

I'm another who will be glad when the new walkers retreat back to doing whatever it was they used to be doing.

As I expect will the owner of a local smallholding who is forever having to retrieve her straying animals due to the idiots who don't shut the gate where a public footpath crosses her land. It rarely happened pre lockdown but it's a regular occurrence now.

Notthis2 · 17/01/2021 15:22

Haha, the username is funny....
Well op like the schools being closed is now our “new normal” that we all have to get used to (maybe forever who knows) , I think all the newbies and “those people” who are usually in the pub or what ever it is “they” do will now be crowding your special walks. Yes, with their out of control kids etc 😂 , there’ll be more and more of “them”.

lljkk · 17/01/2021 15:25

In terms of 'busy'.. .once I get to half a mile away from town, the paths are very quiet. Normal quiet. If you live in a village, and can walk at least half an hour in one go, it shouldn't be that hard to get to some quieter areas.

Fembot123 · 17/01/2021 15:25

@Aloethere

I don't know why some people are so getting so defensive? Of course it is annoying when something you do all of the time suddenly gets really busy. Nobody is saying people shouldn't go out for a walk if they want to but walking around my local area is like queuing at the moment it is so busy(we are only allowed to stay within 5km). Yes I don't own the park but yes it also annoys me when families take up the whole path and seem shocked by the fact that people actually walk their dogs there.. It annoys me when kids on scooters ram into said dogs or try to stroke them while the parents are 100m behind them seemingly unable to remember that they have kids with them.

I really don't care that you find walking boring and am glad you will be fucking off at the first sign of things opening again but until then if you could keep your kids under control and let people pass you by every once in a while that would be great.

HYP O CRITE 😂😂
MissMarpleDarling · 17/01/2021 15:26

I'd be on holiday, theme parks, zoo, trampoline park,swimming, cinema, bowling. Now we go on lots of different walks in our local countryside. Are you ok OP 😂😂 everywhere is closed what are we supposed to do.

User158340 · 17/01/2021 15:26

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MissMarpleDarling · 17/01/2021 15:29

I walk to work everyday but my kids are stuck in the house everyday homeschooling themselves so weekends they need a long walk

CaptainMyCaptain · 17/01/2021 15:29

went out yesterday on my own for a daily walk and there was someone walking the dog which you'd expect. The owner took up the left side of the path, the dog the right side and the lead the entire middle and they were walking slow. The road was busy and the other side of the road was lined up with people, too. It's just a pain.

There's a phrase we use in that kind of situation - "excuse me" - I find it works quite well.

Bookworming · 17/01/2021 15:31

@User158340 aren't you delightful in every way? You're a real community spirited genuinely kind person.....GrinGrinGrin

Get yourself out for a walk, oh no you can't because of all the idiots that surround you.

So do everyone a favour and stay indoors.

Fembot123 · 17/01/2021 15:32

@User158340 We’re all the same boat though, trudging the same routes in the same weather.

Fembot123 · 17/01/2021 15:33

@Elphame

I'm another who will be glad when the new walkers retreat back to doing whatever it was they used to be doing.

As I expect will the owner of a local smallholding who is forever having to retrieve her straying animals due to the idiots who don't shut the gate where a public footpath crosses her land. It rarely happened pre lockdown but it's a regular occurrence now.

I can see why she would be frustrated, that’s just not on.
User158340 · 17/01/2021 15:36

[quote Bookworming]@User158340 aren't you delightful in every way? You're a real community spirited genuinely kind person.....GrinGrinGrin

Get yourself out for a walk, oh no you can't because of all the idiots that surround you.

So do everyone a favour and stay indoors.

[/quote]
There was no need to be so snarky with what I posted.

User158340 · 17/01/2021 15:37

@CaptainMyCaptain

went out yesterday on my own for a daily walk and there was someone walking the dog which you'd expect. The owner took up the left side of the path, the dog the right side and the lead the entire middle and they were walking slow. The road was busy and the other side of the road was lined up with people, too. It's just a pain.

There's a phrase we use in that kind of situation - "excuse me" - I find it works quite well.

That's fair enough, but i'm very socially anxious. The whole dodge and weave every time you leave the house starts to grate massively.
HazeyJaneII · 17/01/2021 15:38

Fuck off you snarky twat

This might be the title of the next lost Poem I find, I'm thinking with illustrations.

Bookworming · 17/01/2021 15:39

That's fair enough, but i'm very socially anxious. The whole dodge and weave every time you leave the house starts to grate massively.

Well go out at quiet times or stay home! You're giving out like everyone apart from you is stupid, they're not!

User158340 · 17/01/2021 15:41

[quote Fembot123]@User158340 We’re all the same boat though, trudging the same routes in the same weather.[/quote]
Of course. Never said any different. That's the point, that the joys of a nice pleasant walk have gone at the moment. It's not so much the amount of people, but having to distance, walk around people and keep crossing the road, walking the same routes. It's crap for everyone, i agree.

Sparklesocks · 17/01/2021 15:42

When all you’re allowed to do is walk, work and go for food/medical supplies it’s not rocket science to figure out why there might be a lot more walking locally.

User158340 · 17/01/2021 15:43

@Bookworming

That's fair enough, but i'm very socially anxious. The whole dodge and weave every time you leave the house starts to grate massively.

Well go out at quiet times or stay home! You're giving out like everyone apart from you is stupid, they're not!

I'm not. I just gave examples of why it's frustrating.

I do go out at quieter times, but it's important to get a bit of daylight.

Bookworming · 17/01/2021 15:43

Of course. Never said any different. That's the point, that the joys of a nice pleasant walk have gone at the moment. It's not so much the amount of people, but having to distance, walk around people and keep crossing the road, walking the same routes. It's crap for everyone, i agree.

Really, you seemed to say you were perfect and everyone else was a problem? It's your problem and no one else's responsibility to sort it. Sort it yourself. And stop telling people to fuck off.

vanillandhoney · 17/01/2021 15:44

That's fair enough, but i'm very socially anxious. The whole dodge and weave every time you leave the house starts to grate massively.

It's annoying for everyone, but we just have to deal with it at the moment.

User158340 · 17/01/2021 15:47

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