Why is it so hard for people to stay at home

[pissedoffretailworker]

I have just got home from work. It has been manic today! People have queued for hours to come buy crap! I feel like people just aren't listening and are just freely out shopping for all these goods that are not essential. Browsing for over an hour in store and buying goods that we really shouldn't be selling.
This board and my other social media are full of people justifying their need to go buy gardening supplies or paint or walk their dog 6 times a day. As if they are special 🤷🏻‍♀️
Mental health is cited as a reason for people to continue to be selfish and put their own desires first instead of doing what is needed to help the nhs and protect the vulnerable.
I am feeling more and more angry at these people. I wish I could stay at home and keep my children safe. I certainly wouldn't be taking them to the shops to buy crap. My kids have not left the house other than to play in the garden since the 9th of March. I only go to work. I'm lucky in that I have a reoccurring delivery slot from a supermarket and have done for a long time so don't need to go shopping. I know I'm the grand scheme of things I'm better off than some people but I'm so stressed by other people's lack of care. What will it take to get these people to listen?

We can’t just give up work

To voluntarily give up work would mean you would not be entitled to any support from the government

Some people have to work

Oh OP stop moaning, it's a minority right to come into shops in groups for cushions, then return to swap for the red ones, no back again forgot the candle holders. Kids bored and need a football for the BBQ we've just arranged for the street. Get a grip OP, it's not like there's a pandemic taking place.

You might be pissed off OP but there’s nothing wrong with people buying what they want from the shop work in. They aren’t going to stop because you are annoyed. People have a multitude of reasons for buying what they do.

I’m pretty sure I shopped in a place like where you work and lots of people were buying home improvement items and various other things. Why not? It will help keep focused on something they can do at home.

Tbh I am not sure why people cannot understand that in situations where lots of people have been asked to make a judgement on what is a basic necessity, they will all tend to make different decisions. Which will include some outliers that think nothing is a necessity or that think a cushion is.

I work in retail ( let’s put it this way, there is a lot of protest about this particular store remaining open & actually I know of at least one colleague who has pulled out because customers are buying non essential items). Personally I have chosen not to work because of the risk of CV. I only get 80% of my wages if the store closes. Apparently they are taking all possible precautions but I am putting my health & that of my family first.
As for people going out, I can understand how difficult it must be for some. We’re lucky here as we have a reasonable size garden. We try to go for a walk most days & everyone’s practising social distancing. DH goes for solo bike rides.

*To voluntarily give up work would mean you would not be entitled to any support from the government

Some people have to work*

But what happens if the work isn’t there.

I have 2 adult children.

Both have lost their incomes over night

One might be eligible for the self employment handout but won’t get anything till June at least and even then it will be a fraction of what she would have earned. She had just started to get a lot of high paying work and the figures are from last year when she was just getting going.

Ds hasn’t been self employed for long enough to qualify so his income has been reduced to zero

Dp was looking for work after retiring at Christmas and finding retirement hard going and finding himself vegetating and without an income so was trying to cash in some of his pension so that’s been brought to a halt.

I was returning to self employment after years looking after Dp who was diagnosed with terminal cancer 4 years ago and having to spend all our savings on an operation and treatment to save his life.

NHS refused to give him the operation

So I don’t qualify for anything either.

It is not the case that you work and lose your job you qualify for money or you choose not to and therefore don’t receive a penny.

Those with extra cushions and a tan from lying in park can have the double award for spreading the virus and pushing us towards a tighter lockdown.

But it won't be their fault, it was probably the retail staff they are spreading it by serving customers. They are also Nazis if they look at our cushions with a confused expression, of course we needed them to match yesterday's new ornament.

People are so quick to blame each rather than the government.

The government and NHS could release guidance... oh they have.

Well they could police every individual...impossible. Could we just follow the guidance put the cushions back they aren't essential

dunno ... ask Scotland's CMO ... enthusiastically confining the plebs while enjoying her second home.

I’m well aware the work isn’t there

I deeply sympathise with those that have lost their income or can’t get benefits or having to wait especially when they have young families to feed

But who is going to give up their job when they know they won’t be entitled to anything unless they have savings

A few in my team wanted to and considering we didn’t have adequate PPE and what was considered adequate only changed this week when a mh nurse died (first nurse to die from contracting COVID-19 at work in the uk) it’s an awful situation to be in but the choice really isn’t there to just give up work for many

Unfortunately you have said that perfectly, we should be staying in our homes, but some people need to escape, for horrible reasons

I find it hard to stay in as I have an overcrowded damp flat with a baby. Your very lucky to have a garden not all of us do

@frillyfarmer

I have been out three times in the past 2 weeks
You really know nothing of my daily life or habits .

Are you the OP ? I was addressing the OP.!

@Enough4me yes the government issued guidance but a lot of it was too late so serves no purpose people pointing the finger at each other.

I go out every day sometimes twice, I have mask and gloves.

There will always be a small minority who flout instructions. Usually because they are too thick to understand them or just selfish.

@Saysaysay2 I don't think it was too late and don't think it should be ignored. I can see why people would point their finger at those ignoring it.

It would be great to see common sense prevail. For example, if people want Easter eggs or beer add them to the trolley when shopping alone for bread and milk etc. Go for a walk, not a picnic and sunbathe.

It is possible to compromise our lives and still have a life, but the CF who aren't will force a significant lock down on us all.

The majority of people are not being CF though. Pointing the finger is not helping anyone.

Sometimes fingers need to be pointed and reactions do count.

Those who have reported street parties and similar may have helped save lives. The checkout operators making sure people take 3 of essentials have helped more people to have essentials.

I'm not saying check everyone's trolley for a hidden chocolate bar, I'm saying there are definite CF out there who are being ignorant or arrogant. They are in the wrong, not those identifying them.

Shouldn't we just be considerate of others . Ops complaint is the family of five who decides that they've been in lockdown for a week so shopping for scatter cushions is their right. Please remember op is a key worker, providing a frontline service to you and your family. She's not complaining about people having their daily exercise. My husband works in retail and this weekend he's constantly asked the large families visting his store to consider the welfare of themselves, his staff and other shoppers when asking only one of them to come into the store, only to be met with a barrage of abuse. Please remember your necessary visit to the store, for essentials, puts you, the retail staff and their families at risk.

@Enough4me what purpose has all the finger pointing on MN served? Its the government and some NHS staff. My brother called 111 with symptoms and was asked to go to the hospital because they suspected the virus. On arriving he was asked to wait in the general waiting room with all the other sick people. He was seen by three different doctors all who diagnosed the virus. He was then sent to make his own way home. That’s the real issue here, not someone going on a second bike ride.

I think a lot if people don't actually watch the BBC news or whatever and get all their news from social media. Watching news programmes on telly are terrifying. If you watch them you don't go out for a wander to look at cushions, you rummage through the freezer till there's nothing left and your forced to go to the shops.

Also, supermarket staff aren't heroes, they are low paid workers who don't have a choice but to go into work to pay their bills. They don't want to be there, they just haven't been given any choice. And the stupid supermarkets are raking it in on the backs of it.

Saysaysay2 - Exactly. The government has done a fantastic job. Underfund the NHS for years and years, fail to appropriately prepare for a pandemic then engineer through the media a climate where it seems that Amy from no 23 Chestnut Drive is killing people by buying a cushion and we should all rummage through our freezers for food we clearly haven't wanted to eat for years because there's nothing else in the house to 'save lives'.

'Also, supermarket staff aren't heroes, they are low paid workers who don't have a choice but to go into work to pay their bills.'
Oh but they are, #minimumwageheros.