The ‘essential’ police - please stop

[TheDogIsKeepingMeSane]

Until we are issued what is deemed an essential shopping item ANY food/drink item is ok to buy.
I’ve been working today outside. It’s hot.
On my way home I stopped at my local independent shop & bought myself 2 bottles of cold beer.
I live alone & work alone & it felt great to chat with the shop owner (2m apart) .
When I left the shop a cyclist said me ‘ hardly an essential item is it’

Just stop it .
I’m ashamed of what my fellow human beings have become.

The beer is cold & I shouldn’t be made to feel ashamed for buying it

I went today as had ran out of sanitary products - essential

While I was there I bought wine, crisps and other stuff Because I was there

Should I have just bought what I needed and matched out after?

Don’t feel bad about this at all. It’s so petty . You could have been petty back and said is your bike journey really essential ?
Some people seem to think they are vigilantes for the greater good or something

Enjoy your beer. Your bought it in a responsible way and helped a shop keep going. No problem.
Me- I bought an inflatable chicken costume purely to keep up morale at work - not essential to many people. But essential for us to be able to do our jobs.

This is bringing out the worst in people. Stupid cyclist.

MN is particularly bad right now as well.

Hear hear. I am royally fed up with the essentials police.

@Figgygal no because you were out buying something essential anyway.

Actually, beer is essential if you’re an alcoholic.

The reason offies are still open is if you cut off alcohol there is a large subset of people that will go into withdrawal. Which more often that not needs fairly intensive medical management.

Not what the NHS needs.

Fuck 'em OP enjoy your beer, were all going to hell in a handbasket, might as well enjoy it with a ice cold beer in your hand 🍻

It’s the trip out that is essential or not. - not the items bought

It’s essential I go to the shop to buy food for the family. While I’m there I can buy whatever they’re selling

The problem comes with people ‘nipping out’ for stuff

@Clymene exactly. Whether people like it or not, the government has decided that alcohol is essential.

Incidentally (not saying this is the case for you OP) people with severe alcohol addiction do need to keep drinking to survive. So for some people it is literally essential.

I went to the co-op just for bread and milk yesterday on the way back from work, and I bought chocolate bars and wine too. I've been at work, deserve a wine, my kids have been working hard on their school work, they deserved the chocolate. I could buy bread& milk every other day easily, but I bought two loaves yesterday to last a bit.

Essential trips for shopping, not trips for essential shopping.
Big distinction.

If the government wanted to restrict what is deemed ‘essentials’ they would surely stop shops from selling them. People in the aldi I visited this morning where lingering around garden pots and hose pipes in the special buys aisle. This is apparently ok because they were out anyway but the longer they take in the shops, the bigger the queue outside!

Yet on another thread earlier today someone was blasted for wanting to go to boots to get her eczema prone child some suncream for the good weather we are expecting this week so she can do the right thing and stay at home with her children enjoying the garden!

It's ridiculous & what I find the most baffling is the "when I went for a walk, the streets were packed", "popped to the shops, shocked by how many people were in my supermarket" comments. Don't they see the irony?!

it didn't matter what you bought. The issue is that you made an unnecessary extra contact with someone else. Yes, we all want to chat but that is what the phone or video calls are for. The poor bastard in the shop had no choice.

next time you need to go shopping, buy beer and put it in the fridge.

The guidence is shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.

It means you cant go clothes shopping, but you can buy whatever food you like. Thats why clothes are not available to buy but wine and chocolate are. What goes into your trolley is nobodys buisness - if its for sale in the shop, of course you can buy it!
And the frequency you can go is not stated - it says infrequently as possible. For some thats once a month, for others its three times a week. So many factors - storage space, when you are paid, no of people you are shopping for (lots are buying for several households), what was available when you went.

Like the OP, I live alone. I have not had a face to face conversation with anyone since March 10th.
I dont have a big fridge and freezer. I never usually need to have all my meals, every day, at home. I dont have a corner shop to stock up at - I live beside a large supermarket. So I go about twice a week to get fresh veg and milk and bread. Sometimes I throw in a bottle of wine and peanuts.

I would not begrudge the OP a couple of beers and a few minutes conversation - life is shit enough. The cyclist was an arse.

Where is the government list of what food is essential?

@Micah I don't think that was the reason, as such. It was more to reduce the pressure on supermarkets, because they couldn't keep up with demand for alcohol. Most of the people buying it won't be dependent on alcohol - but I can imagine the risk of civil unrest would increase significantly if alcohol supplies dried up, with everyone stuck indoors and stressed out.

Is cycling essential? Asking for a friend.

My friend was shamed she bought herself some booze and crisps for her film tonight her 3 dc are at their dads, some busy body tutted and said yeah your essentials ffs leave people alone !

Let’s do what they do in China, bolt doors shut so people can’t leave.

I think some won't be happy until that happens

Yes food fascists, just stop. It's pathetic - get a life.

Tea is essential and I haven’t heard anyone say otherwise yet. Twould be highly unBritish to do so

^This

@ManchesterChidless God don't give the crazies any more ideas. There's already a poster on the non essential milk thread that wants armed soldiers on every street!

I hope you told him to get on his bike.