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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

If you're still sticking to ALL the rules/guidance - why?

999 replies

RaspberryCoulis · 27/03/2021 10:50

Will start by saying I am not sticking to the covid rules any more. Obviously I can't go places which aren't open. But we have had people in the house, kids are going out with friends probably in larger numbers than are permitted, we're crossing local authority boundaries which is supposedly illegal in Scotland. Why? Because we've been in lockdown for a year, cases here are very low, and some things are more important than Covid.

But on every thread there are people claiming that they are sticking rigidly to every single rule and guideline, never breaking ANY rule. They would probably say I was a selfish covid-denier who was hellbent on murdering their granny.

So if you're sticking to all the guidelines and rules, without fail - why? People who are clinically extremely vulnerable (officially) I can understand in part if they're not vaccinated. But the rest of you? Is it because you're scared of Covid, or scared of your neighbours, or scared of breaking the law by mistake?

OP posts:
SpringTimeDream · 27/03/2021 11:30

@SurferRona

It isn't 5 in 10K though as you say - it is 5 in 100,000 in my area - yep 5 in ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE...... think on that for a bit

That's despite many people mixing households now! Time for people to act normal again

SpringTimeDream · 27/03/2021 11:32

@MrsArchchancellorRidcully

Op. This Mumsnet. This REALLY won't go well. Enjoy!
Indeed, MN is full of quivering behind the curtains and pearl clutching - the OP @RaspberryCoulis brave to even bother since many of these will never mix as long a a single person in a population of 67 million have hushed tones 'the virus'
QueenPaw · 27/03/2021 11:32

CEV and no idea if the vaccine will protect me

moochingtothepub · 27/03/2021 11:32

Yes we are, and it's pissing me off that others are breaking them resulting in persistent community transmission. Groups of 10+ kids walking past unmasked is the norm sharing cans of drink etc meanwhile I haven't seen my dd in many months because she's over 18 (just)

If everyone had stuck to the rules this lockdown would not have been needed

FFSFFSFFS · 27/03/2021 11:32

You have to scale it up - these are public health measures that operate on a large scale. One person driving 30 minutes away won’t impact spread of the virus. A million people will

This. Surely you can see this. And surely you can recognise that you don't have the skills or the knowledge to identify what the risks are and what measures are need to prevent across the board.

Do you choose whether to go through red lights? If you can clearly see that there is no one else on the road do you go through the red light or do you sit and wait until its green? Same thing.

FreakinFrankNFurter · 27/03/2021 11:32

Because I’m not a selfish twat. The rules are easy to follow and no big deal. It’s just a tiny bit of life to be mildly inconvenienced for the good of society.

Whether people are sticking to the rules or not, let’s not pretend it is a ‘mild inconvenience’ and ‘a tiny bit of life’

It’s been 12 months which has affected every tiny aspect of our lives!!! It is far from insignificant and certainly not easy to follow the rules. They may be easy to understand but being denied meaningful and in person contact with our family and friends, and being unable to do anything other other than work and go for a walk, is definitely not easy!

CloudFormations · 27/03/2021 11:32

The rules are easy to follow and no big deal.

I do wonder about the state of your life pre-Covid if you think they’re no big deal. I’m pretty closely following them but to me it’s a massive deal and I have missed out on so much.

CarterBeatsTheDevil · 27/03/2021 11:33

"Only five people per hundred thousand tested positive for Covid in my area"

You do understand that this epidemic that is currently infecting 5000 new people a day who have taken a test, and still killing 70 people a day, started because a tiny handful of people came into the country with it?

AlfonsoTheTerrible · 27/03/2021 11:33

Because the virus still represents a threat to public health.

Original poster
RaspberryCoulis · 27/03/2021 11:33

@SomethingElse2

Because I’m not selfish enough to think that my ‘wants’ are more important than other people’s lives and health.

And I’m desperate for this nightmare to end.

Actually, I'd put socialising and getting out and about and interacting with other people in the "needs" category of mental health and general wellbeing.
OP posts:
RedMarauder · 27/03/2021 11:33

@stargirl1701

I'm a teacher.

It's been made pretty clear that not obeying the law would be a major issue. If I caught COVID, it would be discovered that I had not obeyed the law.

Not necessarily.

If you have to take public transport to get to school, which lots of teachers in cities have to do, you can catch it on there.

You can also catch it from a child you are in the same room as at school.

Obviously by you obeying the Covid regulations means you are unlikely to catch it other than going to work, and then spread it if you do catch it.

PastaAndPizzaPlease · 27/03/2021 11:33

I’m off to sit in a garden with a couple of friends today, not legally allowed till Monday.
However, one friends mum had been diagnosed with a potentially very serious cancer so for me, providing support to them is more important than waiting 36 more hours till it’s legal.
We’re all vaccinated and it’s quite a big garden, with a toilet in the garden, so I don’t see any risk.

In this sort of situation I’m happy to deviate from the rules, although I’m mostly sticking to them.

moochingtothepub · 27/03/2021 11:34

Ps the numbers now relate to the first week after school returned, its only going to increase from now because parents are failing to enforce the rules on their offspring

RedcurrantPuff · 27/03/2021 11:34

@Megan2018

Because I’m not a selfish twat. The rules are easy to follow and no big deal. It’s just a tiny bit of life to be mildly inconvenienced for the good of society.
Well it’s not a mild inconvenience for many. It’s a lot more than a mild inconvenience to not be able to work or for kids to be uneducated.
SpringTimeDream · 27/03/2021 11:34

@RichardMarxisinnocent

Indeed, I wish more would follow it they want to and let the rest of us do us where we adapt and amend some of the rules to suit our own circumstances.

The covid police appears still to be a thing. The tittle tattling, curtain twitching is so school bully stuff

Exhausteddog · 27/03/2021 11:34

We broke the rules when we heard MIL had a terminal illness. We all went to visit her and I cant pretend it was in a practical caring capacity because FIL and SIL were able to do that.
But we hadnt seen them for 6 months since the summer when we met them for an outdoor meal. I'm glad we did because that was the last time me and DC saw her, as she died several weeks later.

Otherwise we have pretty much kept to the rules. DS was invited to a sleepover and we declined. My DC have been bored senseless not seeing friends but luckily they're old enough to understand the reasoning behind the rules.

RiojaRose · 27/03/2021 11:34

I stick rigidly to the rules because I don’t want to be responsible for anyone getting covid. I have a friend who has long covid and hasn’t been able to work for months. Why would I take risks with other people’s lives and long term health? I think people who don’t follow the rules are very selfish and a bit stupid.

SoupDragon · 27/03/2021 11:34

Is it because you're scared of Covid, or scared of your neighbours, or scared of breaking the law by mistake?

It's because I'm not a self-important twat who thinks only what I want matters.

Spied · 27/03/2021 11:35

I love my family and want to keep them safe.
There's nothing more important than that.

RedcurrantPuff · 27/03/2021 11:35

If everyone had stuck to the rules this lockdown would not have been needed

Rubbish.

murbblurb · 27/03/2021 11:35

fucksake, pity this thing doesn't get rid of the unintelligent...

you could at least mitigate by meeting people outside (put a coat and hat on if you are cold). I hope this doesn't come back to bite you in the arse because long covid IS a thing, being permanently disabled by it IS a thing and even millenials die of it.

ThebirdsAndBeesWhereThere · 27/03/2021 11:36

I've stretched the rules.

I can't go on walks so I've had friends sitting on my front wall while I sit on the door step.

I've hugged family at my dad's funeral (Covid killed him - incidentally which he caught from a paramedic).

I care for my mum, I am often in the house at the same time as her other carers.

Borogroves · 27/03/2021 11:36

Yes, I'm not a selfish twat who thinks I know better than the scientists and epidemiologists. If people had followed rules from the start there might not be more than 120,000 people dead. Rule breakers piss me off.

SoupDragon · 27/03/2021 11:36

Because we've been in lockdown for a year

I had no idea Scotland had locked down for 12 full months.

Member · 27/03/2021 11:37

Because I’m capable of seeing that whilst an individual transgression might be fairly inconsequential for my community, if everybody acted with the same scant regard for the rules, we’d be returning to a position where the NHS was in danger of being overwhelmed.

It’s not just about COVID, people with a myriad of other health problems can’t get timely treatment while the NHS has to focus on rising COVID rates.

It’s an ability to act for the greater good rather than for individual desires.