Early opening of supermarkets- wrong approach?

[gardeningwoe]

Have the supermarkets inadvertently and unintentionally created more of a problem by allowing the elderly to shop at specified hours?

2 lots of neighbours went out at the crack of dawn and spent hours in Sainsbury’s. I had told both of them at the weekend that I would get any shopping they needed.

Our little town was heaving at 8.30am, mainly elderly people. I know they are probably scared about getting supplies but if they’ve been offered help on by friends, family and neighbours (and I suspect the majority have - given what has been posted on social media) why did they not leave it to those people to try and get their stuff?

The supermarkets in my opinion should have specified that the only people allowed were those over 70 who have absolutely no support network and therefore no choice but to go out. No idea how that could have been monitored but i would like to hope some of them would understand the importance of the over 70’s staying home for the greater good of the country - particularly the NHS.

Here (Australia) the supermarkets are offering 7-8am opening for the vulnerable (elderly and disabled) and it’s been a bit of a disaster.

Pensioners and the disabled queuing from 6am as they’re so scared they’re not going to get what they need. You can’t have infirm people standing up for an hour waiting for a supermarket to open. It’s just wrong.

Add into that the lack of ability to use social distancing when queueing. It’s a recipe for disaster.

A lot of the "elderly hours" are 9am which is peak footfall here. I went to ALDI at opening (8am) and pasta was gone in minutes. (They seem to stock overnight)

I also tried Morrison's (opens at 7am) and by 7:30 it was empty shelves . Their deliveries are 12 and 4 (no idea what time it's on the shop floor)

I think that supermarkets need to do the elderly hours at opening time. It's going to get worse once the schools are closed and people who used to shop at 9am go earlier.

I agree its going to encourage a lot of the older people near me to think its safe and ok for them to go out when there are plenty of neighbours more than happy to help get them their shopping. I saw tons of them walking past with shopping bags this morning.

Our local bus company has also said that those with bus passes can now travel from 7am to allow them to get to the shops for early opening. Whilst great in practice its garnered lots of comments about how fab it is and how they can all now go out for the whole day instead of waiting until 9.30. I think most have spectacularly missed the point.

You don’t know whether they’ve all been offered help by anyone.

Good idea in theory but I heard today that it was packed, everyone scrabbling to buy things and empty shelves.

Unless, they've got security on the doors stopping anyone who doesn't look over 70 and they're going to ask for identification to ascertain age then it's open to abuse.

Surely they're not expecting the staff to police it; they get enough abuse asking for proof of age for tobacco and alcohol as far as I can gather.

Given the way people are behaving at the moment, I really can't see this working out the way the retailers hope.

My dad went out to Tesco this morning and said it was "packed full of old people" and that no one stopped him and asked for ID, he could have been 60

How do you prove these people have no other choice but to go out?
You can’t

I wonder how many are asking their elderly parents to buy things for them

That's the thing, there is no way of proving these people don't have support. But given the numbers out and about (hundreds) I honestly don't believe all of them don't have someone, my 2 neighbours are prime examples.
I truly don't think many of them understand why they are being asked to stay at home. In my experience (DM) she thinks it's because I'm worried about her getting ill (which i am) but she doesn't recognise the impact her getting ill will have on the NHS....

It can't be monitored. And it is also hard to Police the needs of the u70s who are also highly vulnerable.

If they started to open every morning for one hour, people would not all have to queue weekly. If all supermarkets did it that would spread queues too.

But the thing that will make a difference is people starting to believe that the supermarkets will always have enough (even if they don't always have everything). Then footfall will normalise

In my local town Sainsburys was full of younger people allegedly shopping for older relatives, they seem to think that gives them the right to shop when its open for the elderly only. Makes a complete farce of the whole operation.

OP, you're missing the point that a trip to the supermarket may be the only human interaction they have left because family cannot visit due to contact with children.

I've offered my neighbours help, and I'm sure they will take it if they become ill, but for now, the feeling of independence is desperately important to them.