Got shouted at on street

[chokerchain]

Myself and my young son we're out for a walk today getting some exercise, keeping to ourselves, trying to be respectful of others, moving out of the way to let folk past, and generally trying to mind our own business.
We were walking side by side and coming to a busy underpass.
A couple starting literally shouting at us for not respecting social distancing rules.
Apparently we should have been walking single file and moving further out of their way. I was go smacked and so so upset. As was my wee boy. It was so unreasonable.
And I couldn't think of a good reply at the time.
Just want to vent really. I think if you are so anxious or paranoid to be in an area where other people are sharing a road/footpath, then you really shouldn't be out of the house at all...
I had been reasonably upbeat and sensible about the lockdown in general, but this has made me really really low...

I've felt totally frustrated today at big groups of 4/5 adults all cycling and walking in groups, they may all be from one family so not breaking any rules exercising together. However if it's just you and your child I can't see what on earth the problem could be, you can hardly leave a small child trailing behind you on a busy road can you ? I'm just totally fed up with cyclists zooming up behind me and having to stop and wait for whole family groups to pass because the bigger the group the harder it is to keep clear without going off a footpath, crossing the road etc.

They shouldn’t be shouting at you. But you can’t walk abreast in a busy space so no one can keep their distance to you.
It’s not paranoid to want other pedestrians to give you room.

Not really on for them to be shouting but you should have put your child in front of you to pass people.

Also I just think this virus is completely bringing out the worst in some people. I did get cross at one dog walker I came across wo told me to keep my dog away from his as his wife was at home with the virus. I was fuming because he should have been isolating and wasn't and I probably was a bit rude to him but felt awful afterwards as he just may not have understood the rules.

I kind of get it - depending on how narrow the overpass is. I wouldn't challenge anyone over it, but would raise an eyebrow at people taking up more space than necessary

How old is your son? If its a toddler than needs hand holding, this is different to an older child that could walk infront of you for a short period. Also, if I saw a mum and toddler, surely the nearby adults could move away themselves?

I'm more annoyed my joggers huffing and sweating, but going past close enough to touch

People chatting on either side of the footpath- keeping their distance. I've either got to walk between them, or walk around them both and go into the street.

My son is 8, so old enough to walk in front of me. In hindsight that's probably what we should have done, but we were at least two metres away from them. Can't quite work it out, what exactly the problem was and why they picked on us.

When you said wee boy, I assumed you meant a toddler!
Some people have been tense and more stressed lately. It hard times for us all, but being considerate to others is all we can do. There are still some rude people about though.

Can't quite work it out, what exactly the problem was and why they picked on us.

Well you have managed to explain it well enough for others to understand, why are you not getting it?

My daughter is 8 and she knows to go in a single file in front of me if we spot other people coming towards us, but the shouting was rude and unnecessary.

We were at least two metres away from them

There were rude twats in this world before lockdown and there are still rude twats around now. If you were 2m away then you were doing absolutely nothing wrong.

Christ, sounds like they were completely overreacting.

Tossers. You were 2 meters away, if they were that bothered why didn’t they stand out of your way? Oh because they are tossers. Why is it always the other persons responsibility to move. Don’t be upset by it.

I think it's really inconsiderate not to walk in single file in a busy area, even if you're 2m apart. The advice is a minimum of 2m but further is better. Obviously if you were 10m apart, fair enough but 2-3m, go single file while passing others.

I assume the couple went single file? If not, they were total tossers. If yes, they were extremely rude but had a point.

They shouldn't be rude but I share their frustration.

Only about 10% of people where I live seem to bother to even attempt social distancing and its really hard to navigate paths and streets because of the lack of people doing it.

I'm also not sure people understand what 2 metres is. They seem to think it's more like 2 feet

If you'll forgive my cynicism, I'd bet good money that, if instead of being a single woman on her own with a young child, you'd been two great big 'rough-as' blokes they wouldn't have picked on you. Its taken me three very long weeks to work out that too many people are using this crisis to pick fights and cause trouble. Its very difficult not to get distressed by other peoples' nastiness especially if you are being meticulous about social distancing but please don't let idiots ruin your day.

Solo parent one child = easy target

My sen child didnt move over fast enough in a shop for someone to storm past me and tell me if I couldn't cope I should have kept my legs shut a women opposite said her mama should have fucking learned to swallow we moved pretty fast at that point

People have zero tolerance at the moment it's no excuse but it's what's happening

Well you have managed to explain it well enough for others to understand, why are you not getting it?

She said they were at least 2m away so yeah, hard to understand why they shouted at her. She was following the rules.

I’m wondering where these things happen

In my part of London, if we had to stay 2m from each other at all times, we’d be running one way pavements.

Some people just love having the opportunity to get all self-righteous, even if they're actually in the wrong. I wouldn't give it another second's thought, they sound like complete twats to me.

She said they were at least 2m away so yeah, hard to understand why they shouted at her. She was following the rules.

Isn’t this completely missing the point as to why they were shouting at the OP?

The point is, you were heading towards a narrow underpass and you didn’t move your child to walk in front of you.

Whether they shouted at you whilst you were 2m away or 3m away or anywhere else is irrelevant. They shouted cause you weren’t making the necessary preparations for the narrow underpass.

Whether they shouted at you whilst you were 2m away or 3m away or anywhere else is irrelevant. They shouted cause you weren’t making the necessary preparations for the narrow underpass

No. The point is that noone should be fucking ‘shouting’ at anyone. So many threads on here about people shouting and yelling at others. What’s happened to people speaking calmly to each other? If you’ve got a problem about the ‘necessary preparations’ that people aren’t taking, ask them to take them. Calmly.

Not that this makes it ok to shout at someone of course, they could have said it in a friendlier way.

People are loving having an excuse to shout and yell at others, and to make them feel shit.