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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Crowds in the parks yesterday

409 replies

Mrgrinch · 31/03/2021 10:42

I've been seeing pictures and videos of the amount of people gathering in the sun yesterday and I am genuinely shocked.

Has nobody learned anything in the past year?
Do they want to continue going in and out of lockdown forever?

I really do understand the people who just want their freedom back, I want mine too. But the pictures of Hyde park yesterday look like something from a music festival. Not to mention the mess left behind this morning.

Should I just shut up because transmission is low outdoors? Or is this a sign that warm weather means people ignore all the rules?

OP posts:
Hertsgirl10 · 01/04/2021 17:43

I’m more shocked about all the litter people insist on leaving everywhere.

SamW98 · 01/04/2021 17:52

@Flowers24

Only first dose and i dont think its safe and time to get on with our lives for some time yet!
Well you stay home then but I for one am embracing the small amount of freedom to get out and socialise with a few people again after months of being locked up

My local walk and talk group started up again this week and it felt fantastic to walk with other ladies chatting and feeling normal

The litter left behind by some groups is a disgrace but other than that its brilliant to see people out living again - long may it continue

Emma1234567 · 01/04/2021 17:59

We’ve got a vaccine and the most vulnerable have already been vaccinated. This is pretty much as good as it’s going to get. We just need to get on with our lives and unfortunately accept that covid is here to stay.

Jimdandy · 01/04/2021 18:01

I don’t agree with the mess and rubbish, but yabu about the covid issue.

Transmission is virtually zero outdoors anyway, lots of people have been vaccinated (what was the point of it if it doesn’t change things?!) and people have been cooped up for far too long.

It’s time we got back to normal

Roadkill666 · 01/04/2021 18:04

Seen friends and Co workers die of this knightmare virus, not a nice thing to of had to attend 3 funerals due to covid. My thoughts are that if you are stupid enough to go to crowded places and catch the virus and kill yourself or your family and friends then you should be held accountable. There is nothing wrong with going out, but if you see a crowded beach go somewhere else not join the idiots. But if you have never had someone close die from this or get very ill you won't care until it hits you. Good luck!

Peppermintpatty24 · 01/04/2021 18:09

Spot on.

UrAWizHarry · 01/04/2021 18:09

@Roadkill666

Seen friends and Co workers die of this knightmare virus, not a nice thing to of had to attend 3 funerals due to covid. My thoughts are that if you are stupid enough to go to crowded places and catch the virus and kill yourself or your family and friends then you should be held accountable. There is nothing wrong with going out, but if you see a crowded beach go somewhere else not join the idiots. But if you have never had someone close die from this or get very ill you won't care until it hits you. Good luck!
Oh do sod off with this.

I've lost people because of covid and I think that people going out to the park (twats dumping litter) is perfectly fine.

Transmission outdoors is virtually nil. How many times does this need to be said? You are at far more risk when you to go tesco to do your weekly shop.

diwrnachoflleyn · 01/04/2021 18:12

@Roadkill666

Seen friends and Co workers die of this knightmare virus, not a nice thing to of had to attend 3 funerals due to covid. My thoughts are that if you are stupid enough to go to crowded places and catch the virus and kill yourself or your family and friends then you should be held accountable. There is nothing wrong with going out, but if you see a crowded beach go somewhere else not join the idiots. But if you have never had someone close die from this or get very ill you won't care until it hits you. Good luck!
My father died of it. I didn't get to see him except on a video link. Didn't get to attend the funeral as he was abroad.

It's a virus, not a AK-47. People transmit viruses all the time. Such is life. It's nigh on impossible to pinpoint where you pick them up, so the idea that people transmitting a respiratory virus they may not know they have are murderers is as ridiculous as these ridiculous lockdowns.

Go somewhere else? What if there isn't someone else, you live in a pokey flat with no outdoor space and no car and that's your park?

SchadenfreudePersonified · 01/04/2021 18:17

I wasn't shocked by the numbers - I expected it. But I was shocked by the squalor people left behind!

Absolutely disgusting!

SamW98 · 01/04/2021 18:20

I have had a friend who died aged 48 with Covid. I also had a friend die of lung cancer 2 weeks after being diagnosed last month as she struggled to get to see a doctor and put it off.
And also have someone close who committed suicide due to losing his business thanks to continual lockdowns

There are far reaching issues relating to lockdowns that aren't just about COVID

Outdoor transmission rates are very very low. Cases are falling despite there being more than double the amount of daily tests compared to a month ago. Deaths and hospitalisations are falling week on week and the NHS is back to a normal level - though now very busy with the backlog of routine appointments cancelled through lockdowns

We absolutely need to accept there will always be a risk in life and get on with living.

nannykatherine · 01/04/2021 18:20

As a Londoner with NO outside space whatsoever ever I’m annoyed by the people with gardens telling us we can relax in the park !!!!!!

nannykatherine · 01/04/2021 18:22

So all you smug ones with gardens will be outside BBQ ing I suppose

randomer · 01/04/2021 18:32

It is quite unbelievable , given the atrocious lying government, that there hasn't been massive rebellion.
People gathering and dropping litter is no biggie.

blackrimmedspecs · 01/04/2021 18:36

Don't believe everything you see in the press

Vynalbob · 01/04/2021 18:38

I don't blame the people following the rules.... I usually blame the people setting the rules & those who break them (sometimes the same thing)
No excuse for litter.

For those saying crowds didn't cause spikes.... it's not a car crash.... it seems to take 3/4 weeks to filter through and spread...crowds cause spikes... obviously massively more indoors.

GintyMcGinty · 01/04/2021 18:38

The mess is unacceptable.

The rest of it - couldn't care bloody less.

Udaipur · 01/04/2021 18:38

@Hadjab

Has nobody learned anything in the past year?

We’ve learned that the BLM protests that took place last year, in the warmer weather, did not cause a spike in infections.

We’ve learned that people rushing to the beaches last year, in the warmer weather, also did not cause a spike in infections.

We’ve learned that the virus is less virulent in warmer weather and direct sunshine.

We’ve learned that the camera does lie - what you see from one angle can look completely different from another.

@Hadjab says everything that needs to be said. YABVU op.
UrAWizHarry · 01/04/2021 18:44

No, outdoor crowds such as people gathering on a beach or park do not and have not caused transmission spikes.

ParadiseIsland · 01/04/2021 18:44

@Mrgrinch

Thank you to those who who have posted. I can definitely see that my anger was misdirected. I should have focused it on those who left the litter etc, not those who were just enjoying some much needed time outdoors in the sun.

I have just seen that some parks have been closed due to tonnes of litter, fights and fires. This is so sad. I just can't believe that people think it's okay to behave like that purely because we had 2 days of sunshine.

Your OP wasn’t about the littering though......
Allabouttheangles · 01/04/2021 18:53

I think the vaccinations are to make it like the flu, make it less likely to get seriously ill from it, not eradicate it completely. People die from the flu, but we have vaccines for the vulnerable to protect them. There will always be some who die from it. Of course we wish that wasn’t the case but it is. All the figures in UK are now going very much in the right direction. The vaccines are working. The test numbers may be higher than we’d like with all the testing going on, but the hospitalisations and deaths are decreasing and this points to the fact that people will still get it but the vaccine is giving protection. We’ve now vaccinated half the population (at least first dose which gives decent protection) other countries haven’t done anywhere near this amount which is why we’re not just going into another wave just now. You can’t compare.

MojAlone · 01/04/2021 18:57

I think, out of respect to the people who are gradually getting us out of this situation - I will do as advised? I think there will always be rule abiders and rule breakers. I choose to be in the former. I choose to dispose of litter carefully. I will teach my children the same.

MojAlone · 01/04/2021 18:59

I’m also very willing to admit that my personal knowledge is far less superior to the experts, and the people who work tirelessly everyday to save others. So - I will do as I’m told.

howmuchistoomuch2021 · 01/04/2021 19:01

Absolutely couldn't give a toss about people meeting in parks on sunny days. The litter is an absolute disgrace though.

dramaticpenguin · 01/04/2021 19:24

here we go again! So So sick of all these posts about "crowds of people." Everyone exists separately, they have not ALL made plans to meet up and turn it in to a gathering, there's just limited places to go, and the weather is nice and not likely to be for long, of course people want to go out.

lockeddownandcrazy · 01/04/2021 20:10

A park in Nottingham they said was like a festival, the students complained the police were spoiling their fun taking alcohol off them in a no alcohol zone and the litter left behind was appalling so no, YANBU. We will all be back in lockdown not just the selfish people in the park - that is what is unfair

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