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Covid

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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Go on, tell us why you’re special

189 replies

SeasonallySnowyPeasant · 23/03/2020 22:56

The lockdown rules don’t apply to my particular situation because:

  • I have a holiday booked and it’s in the middle of nowhere so we won’t infect anyone;
  • I’m worried about getting an overdue book fine from the library;
  • My dog has poor recall but needs off-lead exercise so I can’t stay local for walks because I live in a built-up area;
  • I need to socialise my puppy;
  • My DH wants to take the DC to see the ILs.

All seen on MN this evening. Anyone want to add to the list?

OP posts:
ShrimpyTheGnome · 24/03/2020 01:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

widdioisright · 24/03/2020 02:06

What a nasty thread this is,all the “experts” in one place.

Yet another thread to add to the hide list,there have been a lot of those tonight.

BilboBercow · 24/03/2020 02:11

On a Facebook group I was on tonight girl was like "we own a chippy, do we need to close or is that classed as essential?" No lie.
Naw then sausage suppers aren't essential.
Btw totally understand upset at having to close your business but let's not try to pass deep frying potatoes as an essential service.

agonyauntie2020 · 24/03/2020 02:31

I don't think this is an unpleasant thread at all, I have found it very cathartic reading it. I almost choked on my coffee when I read some of the stuff on other threads, the dog who's got no recall, the puppy who needs to be socialized, thinking to myself OMG a vulnerable person could die, more than once, because you think your puppy won't ever be able to be around other dogs if it's not socialized in a certain window, what? So when I read this thread, and realized I was not alone in thinking these things were crazy, I felt a lot better. Sensible people abound. Why is it mean to point this things out? Like a PP said, it's not about others getting their head round it and working it out, rather it's about people trying to come up with crazy excuses as to why they should be exempt (I can't work my heart beat enough when I walk the dog three times a day so I have to be allowed out on my bike as well?)

Be kind yes, to vulnerable people who could die.

Why's the thread unpleasant for pointing out, in a funny way, the nutso excuses we've been reading?

Like someone else said, you have to laugh...

Hereforthenamethreads · 24/03/2020 02:34

What a nasty thread! Sadly reflective of what is happening to MN.

ChiefClerkDrumknott · 24/03/2020 02:36

The pub I work in has shut down so I want to spend all day on the yard with my pony (despite the fact the rest of us want to care for our horses too and are trying to stay away from everyone else)

DressingGownofDoom · 24/03/2020 02:36

@BilboBercow takeaways are still allowed to open, but don't let that get in the way of your sneering.

HulaHoop2 · 24/03/2020 02:58

I agree that you shouldn’t go out for stupid reasons, but why are some people getting angry at others for going out for walks? In every other country under lockdown (including where I am) that’s still allowed, as long as you keep your distance from other people and avoid touching anything. Fresh air and exercise are important for our mental and physical health.

Itsnotthatcomplicated · 24/03/2020 03:13

No people are getting angry because people dont want to just go for a walk. They have a special reason why the 'leave for exercise once a day' doesnt apply to them. They must leave several times a day and must go off somewhere far away.

Theres excuses all over why kids have to go to school, when they actually dont. I am yet to see one person say their wife has said they couldnt possibly work from home AND look after the kids. But theres plenty of men whose wives are key workers, who spend 8 hours a day 'locked in an office' and cant possibly watch the kids.

Some of these kids were older. Talking 8 plus. Not a chance does the same man spend 8 hours a day chained to his desk, without making a drink, going to the toilet or chatting to colleagues, every day all day, when they are in an office.

Most of us are trying and struggling to WFH and have the kids. But so many men cant even contemplate trying. So their kids are out putting others at risk.

People keep banging on about advice not being clear. What they actually mean is they have dissected what's was said and are trying to manipulate a loophole and use it to show why the rules dont apply to them.

You could see it in the news this weekend. Affluent 30 somethings exercising, less that a foot from eachother on monkey bars doing pullups etc, in london parks saying 'well no one said we couldnt come here, we were told we could exercise'. At no point was anyone told you can crowd into an outdoor gym and exercise within a foot of eachother. No one was told 'well if you absolutely must do pull ups, then you can do it almost touching someone else'. Social distancing isnt hard to understand.

People just could have been sensible. But the news was full of people, ignoring advice with some vague excuse about how, actually, they were told they could do this.

SociallyDistanced · 24/03/2020 03:21

What is nasty is people determined to find a loophole, excuse,scenario or reason to bend the rules which could result in potentially killing someone.

We'd all rather be living a different life doing different things right now but whilst most if us accept this some just seem determined to have a "yeah but...."

Quarantine/lock down or whatever you want to call it, isn't much fun for any of us. Just get on with it.

The message is simple. Stay homes as much as you can. Only leave your house when absolutely necessary. Minimise everything you do out of the home to reduce the risk.

GatoradeMeBitch · 24/03/2020 03:35

let's not try to pass deep frying potatoes as an essential service.

I take your point, but apparently drycleaners are staying open. I imagine more of us would see a chippy as valuable to the town than a drycleaner.

Gingerkittykat · 24/03/2020 03:41

@ErrolTheDragon I work in a vets and we will still be vaccinating puppies and kittens (or at least that was decided by management today) we will not however be doing yearly boosters, seeing anyone without a telephone appointment and then we will be expecting owners to remain outside the practice while the animal is treated. There will be no routine surgery and repeat medication will be delivered, with only controlled drugs requiring face to face hand over

What about PTS? My cat is close to the end with cancer. Will we able to be with him at the time? Will 2 family members be allowed in the room and not just 1 since that would make it a gathering of 3 people.

JayDot500 · 24/03/2020 04:09

Just yesterday on FB: 'we went to McDonald's for the last time in a while but they moved all the tables and chairs from the food court. That's so unfair...' Confused

I went to a local supermarket yesterday:
1- briefly overheard 2 staff members talking, one said '... so I should be isolation, I thought the sick person stayed at home?' and the colleague she was talking to had to run through the guidelines. Turns out the sick person was her child. They were both about a metre from each other refilling bottles of oil. The one who knew the guidelines "jokingly" stepped back from her colleague, but I do think she was alarmed.
2- husband and wife were walking next to some closed tills towards the open ones. I was following behind them. The husband coughs around 4 good coughs. I sharply backtrack into an aisle
3- mid way through scanning my items, the (otherwise lovely) staff member coughs into her hand then continued scanning. I wanted to cry, DH is on the vulnerable list and needs to self isolate for 12 weeks. Throughout my shop I had been extremely careful to stay well away from others and used my antibacterial gel religiously. I couldn't think of a pleasant way to abandon my shopping, especially as it contained much needed baby formula. Said shopping has had to be wiped down very vigorously with detergent

People thinking they are the exception to the rule is what is unpleasant. It is extremely dangerous!!!

Monty27 · 24/03/2020 04:40

I've run out of stuff because I hadn't stockpiled i haven't been out of the house for 6 days. So I suppose.im going to have to take the risk like the rest us that had the intelligence to listen. And pick up your freaking germs and start from scratch. FUCKWITS 😡😡

CJsGoldfish · 24/03/2020 04:55

Meh
Personally, I find the anxietythroughtheroof
cryingalldaylong
weareallgoingtodie

imanexpertbecauseireadtwitter

ijustknowihavethevirusbecauseicoughedyesterday
mykidwillbescarredforlifebecausetheycanthaveaparty whiners just as bad
Not to mention those who you just know are getting off on spreading fear and watching certain types panic and self destruct. Target the vulnerable and feel oh so self important whilst doing so. They're almost like cult leaders.

Message is lost if you are an arsehole when delivering it.

daisychain01 · 24/03/2020 05:06

Mike Ashley of SportsDirect is deluded enough to class his staff as key workers because SD supply sports kit and equipment to the nation - during a global pandemic!! Give me strength.

Putting the lives of his employees and customers at risk, just to keep his bank account topped up, more like.

Eireni · 24/03/2020 06:51

Message is lost if you are an arsehole when delivering it
Brava, well said.

I really haven’t seen anyone determined to break the rules and looking for loopholes damn the consequences....I see people trying to figure out how things that are essential to them fit into the new and bloody terrifying world we find ourselves in. Yes, I agree that to some of us it is pretty obvious that getting gel nails soaked off or returning library books is not ‘essential’ right now, some things people will differ on their opinion of ‘essentiality’ (should be a word!) like caring for horses, getting dental braces adjusted etc. But FFS #BeKind - assume the person asking is unsure and as scared shitless as the rest of us. If you can’t say “no the nails are not essential, here’s some ideas of how to manage it at home” nicely then don’t bloody say anything at all.

What is fairly clear is that not everyone understands or can interpret the rules to their particular situation immediately, and if you hurl abuse and laugh at them, that’s not likely to help them understand and comply is it.

Eireni · 24/03/2020 06:52

Putting the lives of his employees and customers at risk, just to keep his bank account topped up, more like.
It’ll backfire spectacularly though. He’ll be forced to close anyway, and when there’s some semblance of new normality in a few months time, no ones going to be buying anything from SD because of this.

OrangeTwirl · 24/03/2020 06:53

Will 2 family members be allowed in the room and not just 1 since that would make it a gathering of 3 people

Think carefully now.... will those 3 people be 3 people who live together? That being you, the vet and one other. If you don’t all live together then NO!

Itsnotthatcomplicated · 24/03/2020 07:00

Message is lost if you are an arsehole when delivering it.

Well that's bollocks. The messages have been coming in a way that been a request. The government have delivered messages hoping people will actually just do it.

But people didnt. The message hasnt been delivered by the government, being arseholes and it's still been irgnored/lost.

I really haven’t seen anyone determined to break the rules and looking for loopholes damn the consequences....I see people trying to figure out how things that are essentialto themfit into the new and bloody terrifying world we find ourselves in.

It's note about whats essential to them. It's about what's essential.

What you have described is exactly someone looking for a loophole to do the things they want. They are trying to make the clear rules, slightly different do they can go about lives in the same way.

Walking your dog 3 times a day is not essential. Not for any dog. I have working dogs. They will be fine with one walk a day. Yet some people insist it is essential. It's not.

It's not essential to swing from monkey bars within a foot from eachother, but people went out and did it, because there werent specifically told not. The people interviewed this weekend felt it was essential. It's not.

People need to understand what they thi k is essential, actually isnt. They need to start learning the difference between want AND need.

NuclearWinter · 24/03/2020 07:03

Message is lost if you are an arsehole when delivering it

What is fairly clear is that not everyone understands or can interpret the rules to their particular situation immediately, and if you hurl abuse and laugh at them, that’s not likely to help them understand and comply

Absolutely agree. There are posters frothing at the mouth just to be rude and unpleasant.

DesdemonaRosa · 24/03/2020 07:08

I really haven’t seen anyone determined to break the rules and looking for loopholes damn the consequences....I see people trying to figure out how things that are essentialto themfit into the new and bloody terrifying world we find ourselves in.

Absolutely. A massive change was made only last night and I don't think it is a crime to spend a bit of time online mentally working through what it means for you. Silly questions and all.

Being kind lasted all of two seconds, didn't it.

Stellaris22 · 24/03/2020 07:12

I reckon dogs will suddenly be getting much more exercise as people will be 'just walking their dog' a lot more and using it as an excuse.

As a dog owner I already know who will be doing this (ours gets one walk a day since isolating, but we have a garden).

foamrolling · 24/03/2020 07:14

I agree Eireni. It's vital we all follow the guidelines, of course it is. But all I see online at the moment is constant vitriol being spat at everyone and anyone. There's a thread on here at the moment where the op is sneering at people who saw boris's announcement and are still going to go to work as normal. As if anyone who is employed has a choice in that?

I really hope we go to full lockdown - not just for safety but because people will have nothing to rant about and maybe we can all start pulling together.

Wolfiefan · 24/03/2020 07:14

I’m special. No. I really am. I have health issues and this virus could well kill me.

So I am hiding away in my house. Getting nowhere near anyone I don’t live with. Doing all we can to try and slow the spread and reduce the numbers dying and how overwhelmed the NHS is.

I’m fed up of all those who CBA. We get it. It’s shit. None of our lives are what they were. Kids and parents and work and school and stress.

But we are all in the same boat. One community. Doing our bit.

Or we should be. Sad