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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

OK, this isn't funny any more. Where's the army?

999 replies

Orangejuicemarathoner · 27/09/2021 18:53

One quarter of staff and students late to school this morning, and 10% didn't get there at all. It has been announced that, excepting physical disability, any student within 4 miles or adult within 6 miles will be expected to walk in, but Its expected to be worse tomorrow with a good chance we will be closed by Wednesday.

AA reporting over 100 "incidents" on the road within a 10 mile radius of the school - mostly roads blocked, and mostly by queues outside petrol stations.

I struggled to get home by bike, because of the chaos on the roads - I got off my bike and walked several miles of it.

I called in at a supermarket on the way home. The shelves were more than three quarters empty. No bread or milk. So I'm sitting here drinking black tea planning rice for dinner instead of cheese on toast.

I know its not a catastrophe that I spent an extra hour getting home, and dont have milk in my tea, but what is that saying about the state we are in?

AIBU to say the army should be called in. What have we got an army for? Surely, an organisation of thousands of fit, capable, organised individuals, with vehicles and capacity and skills in logistics is exactly what we need to be utilised in this situation right here right now.

PS, is it ok to feed dog food to cats? does anyone know?

OP posts:
Original poster
Orangejuicemarathoner · 28/09/2021 22:01

@Beastieboys

Plenty of food, petrol and kids at school on time here in the north ....... Sounds like lack of forward planning, powdered milk, long life milk, condensed milk evaporated milk & oat milk..... And have you all never heard of car sharing or getting the bus..... Not really necessary to call in the forces and spoil their day is it!
car sharing is banned under the covid risk assessments, and the buses are not running reliably. They don't have fuel
OP posts:
RosesAndHellebores · 28/09/2021 22:03

@BoofTheFloof no I'm not being deliberately obtuse. I am suggesting a reasonable alternative in extenuating circumstances. I believe wholeheartedly my dc at 18 could have caught a train and got a cab at the other end and would have thought it a great adventure. DH was put on the train with a suitcase and given a fiver in 1979. He survived.

Original poster
Orangejuicemarathoner · 28/09/2021 22:04

@DanglingMod

Buses were cancelled for several hours today and yesterday in our city. Nor because they had no fuel but because of the gridlock on the roads caused by people queuing on roads trying to get into petrol stations that HAD NO FUEL. The bus company prioritised school transport routes and set off earlier, aborting other routes.
yes, we have also had buses caught in gridlock for hours here.
OP posts:
Ddot · 28/09/2021 22:06

Orangejuicemarathoner
Yes dog food ok but not long term as it has less protein.

RufustheBadgeringReindeer · 28/09/2021 22:07

i believe wholeheartedly my dc at 18 could have caught a train and got a cab at the other end and would have thought it a great adventure

Im sure you’re right, assuming there are any taxis or buses…a number of posters have said there have been issues

Toomuchtrouble4me · 28/09/2021 22:08

@Mike500

What we need is to look at fuel gauges on all cars in the queues- more than half a tank full & queuing--fine them
Why? They may need to go further than you. I have a full tank to get mum back to the Isle of Wight and me home again - that will clean me out but I couldn’t do it in less. And I css as n manage her (89yr) and her luggage on a train.
Mike500 · 28/09/2021 22:09

The same idiots fill up when they already have half a tank on board, "just in case", stirred up by the stupid media, anxious to make a story when here isn't one to tell, but the media their importance, being on the air so long!

RufustheBadgeringReindeer · 28/09/2021 22:09

Fine them?

How?

Original poster
Orangejuicemarathoner · 28/09/2021 22:09

[quote RosesAndHellebores]@BoofTheFloof no I'm not being deliberately obtuse. I am suggesting a reasonable alternative in extenuating circumstances. I believe wholeheartedly my dc at 18 could have caught a train and got a cab at the other end and would have thought it a great adventure. DH was put on the train with a suitcase and given a fiver in 1979. He survived.[/quote]
yes it can be done in normal circumstances. This is how my children went to university. But in these circumstances, there are no cabs, and also amazon deliveries are also hit and miss

OP posts:
Ddot · 28/09/2021 22:09

It's not just England that is suffering from driver shortages. Its covid more than brexit. More people buying on line, drivers isolating and being poached.

Autumngoldleaf · 28/09/2021 22:11

We are in a very busy congested part of the South and as soon as a delivery comes in its all gone.

It's definitely getting worrying, school buses have been cancelled, people are worried. I am hoping it will ease by the weekend, I've got plenty for this week and we can work around as long as no extra stuff happens like accidents.

Flobbertybillop · 28/09/2021 22:12

@Harveyannie

All caused by panic buying. On Saturday the tankers were delivering petrol and there were no 'shortages' The same number of tankers are still delivering the same amount of petrol it is the people who are being crazy. Simple solution to me seems to be make all purchases of fuel cost a minimum of £30 pounds..
Great! So those of us on a budget just can’t get fuel because we can’t afford the minimum. Top thinking!

Are people on MN really this dim, that they can’t understand that ^, and that just because it’s ok where you are, does not mean it’s not a problem elsewhere. There’s no fuel anywhere here.

Autumngoldleaf · 28/09/2021 22:13

Too slow to react, immediately there should have been £30 limits as soon as the news hit. £30 also means people out faster.

IsHeLyingAgain · 28/09/2021 22:14

Are you actually asking for martial laws? Angry I come from country where it had been introduced and can i tell you, it's not fucking good Angry

marktayloruk · 28/09/2021 22:15

The army should be at least double it's current size.

MythicalBiologicalFennel · 28/09/2021 22:16

Saw on foreign news that 84% of petrol stations in the UK have had some degree of fuel shortages today. I have no idea of how this figure was arrived at but it contrasts with the heated denials of some posters upthread ("no issues here").

Nearly47 · 28/09/2021 22:16

Why people keep saying that is not only the UK? Can you show any news of EU countries of people queueing for petrol or milk shelves empty in supermarkets? I haven't seen any

Ddot · 28/09/2021 22:17

I'm sure little puss will be ok for a few days if you struggle to get cat food. Could you mix dog food with a bit of meat or fish. Try the corner shop, I find their overlooked for stuff like pet food. Ask them to get you some and put aside.

DameFanny · 28/09/2021 22:18

@3luckystars

There is no point looking back, people voted in the dark. The vote might be different if people knew the truth, but they didn’t. Blaming others is a waste of time.

The thing to focus on is where to go from here.

You were told what the risks were. People called it 'project fear'. And then blamed remainers for the brexiters inability to get their 'oven ready deal'.

So you don't get to weasel out of responsibility if you voted for brexit. And you don't get to rewrite history. You get to know what you did

jcyclops · 28/09/2021 22:18

Only mild cheddar. Not life threatening but it is inconvenient and frustrating and frankly not what people voted for.

I certainly didn't vote for only mild cheddar. I didn't agree with the Labour, Liberal or Conservative policies on cheddar at the last election, so I didn't vote. The Labour conference gave me some hope for the next election as Rachel Reeves announced a £28bn/year fund for all types of cheddar, and today they are voting on a 15lbs/hour minimum cheddar allowance for the low paid.

PeriChristmas · 28/09/2021 22:21

@Orangejuicemarathoner

One quarter of staff and students late to school this morning, and 10% didn't get there at all. It has been announced that, excepting physical disability, any student within 4 miles or adult within 6 miles will be expected to walk in, but Its expected to be worse tomorrow with a good chance we will be closed by Wednesday.

AA reporting over 100 "incidents" on the road within a 10 mile radius of the school - mostly roads blocked, and mostly by queues outside petrol stations.

I struggled to get home by bike, because of the chaos on the roads - I got off my bike and walked several miles of it.

I called in at a supermarket on the way home. The shelves were more than three quarters empty. No bread or milk. So I'm sitting here drinking black tea planning rice for dinner instead of cheese on toast.

I know its not a catastrophe that I spent an extra hour getting home, and dont have milk in my tea, but what is that saying about the state we are in?

AIBU to say the army should be called in. What have we got an army for? Surely, an organisation of thousands of fit, capable, organised individuals, with vehicles and capacity and skills in logistics is exactly what we need to be utilised in this situation right here right now.

PS, is it ok to feed dog food to cats? does anyone know?

Stop voting in the Tories.
Original poster
Orangejuicemarathoner · 28/09/2021 22:26

@IsHeLyingAgain

Are you actually asking for martial laws? Angry I come from country where it had been introduced and can i tell you, it's not fucking good Angry
no. I am asking for the army to drive fuel tankers. Which is now the plan, I understand
OP posts:
BreadInCaptivity · 28/09/2021 22:33

[quote RosesAndHellebores]@BreadInCaptivity for the price of a tank of petrol you could get Amazon to deliver a duvet, pillows, linens and towels.[/quote]

Really?

He's leaving home for the first time over 250 miles away and I'm expected to send him alone with a weeks worth of clothes on the train, cross fingers he can get a taxi at the other end because of petrol shortages and assume bedding (that we've already bought) we'd buy again would actually turn up on time?

And he'd consider it to be some bloody great adventure whilst he's lacking huge amounts of other things he needs for his studies such as books/IT equipment?

Seriously how many parents would consider this remotely acceptable?

It's actually a pretty seminal time for parents and children taking them to Uni.

I want to see his accommodation. Help him set his room up. Say goodbye properly, know he's as settled as possible and has everything he needs (items that we've been buying and packing for over the last few weeks).

But no - put him on a train, re-buy everything on Amazon and cross fingers he's not stranded at the train station.

FFS - going to Uni is supposed to be an exciting, positive event not an endurance event.