The “I just had a sit down in the park with crisps” brigade

[Candodad]

You are the problem. The rules are simple. Go out and exercise and then go home. Just that, nothing more than that.

To be fair then problem is actually bigger than that and has been brewing for years as we increasingly become a country with rules but almost everyone has an excuse for why that rule shouldn’t apply to them/their child/family.

Some of you though are acting like defiant children, hell bent on proving just how tough you are. Remain in denial but as it stands, touching an object and then touching your face (eg sitting on a public bench and then eating) is a route of infection. Of course, you are free to take your chances but you are putting others at risk by doing so. I'm failing to see what's so funny about that?

The amount of viral load you get from touching a surface (like a bench) is minuscule compared with the load you get from being directly breathed on/coughed on/sneezed on/talked at, by an infected person. There is a case for saying that it is better for healthy people to expose themselves to very tiny viral loads and develop some immunity this way, rather than cocoon themselves 100% and risk getting a severe case the first time they come across someone with the disease. It's believed that the many asymptomatic cases of COVID19 probably tend to originate from these kinds of exposures to very small doses of the virus, esp from touching surfaces. I practice very good hygiene and wear a mask, but yes I do spend a reasonable amount of time outdoors in the fresh air, and it's partly for precisely this reason.

These are the people who are on here, insisting that it's their right to sit on the bench and eat. So, the very people who you say yourself are the problem

Literally no one here has said that they touch the bench with their hands. Unless I’ve missed it and you can point me in the direction of a post?
Floaty likes to jump on them with their her though.

Why are people touching benches anyways?
I get touching it with your butt, but that is surely a safe distance away from the mouth/eyes anyways.

You do not need hands to sit down? Or have I been doing it wrong this whole time?

Able bodied people are perfectly capable of sitting down without touching anything.

And yet most people on here aren't talking about able bodied people needing to sit on a bench - they've been talking about the elderly or people with mobility issues who can't go.out for a walk without sitting down. So very much not able bodied. Very likely in fact to use their hands to steady themselves as they sit down or to lever themselves as they stand up.

Wow this is a massive change from a couple of weeks ago! I remember posters on this thread arguing that a walk through the local woods was “not allowed” because you might trip over a tree root and require Mountain Rescue, thus wasting resources. And now not only can we do box jumps on benches, but in fact that is preferable to using them to sit and take a rest?

If my husband gets it then he risks bringing it home to me.

Don't let him have crisps and instruct him to keep away from benches then.

they've been talking about the elderly or people with mobility issues who can't go.out for a walk without sitting down

Well when it comes to using the bench to sit and eat crisps, then yes, they’re mostly talking about able bodied.

Are you ok with an able bodied person who can sit down without using their hands to eat crisps on the bench? Yes or no?

user1477391263

And then those asymptomatic people happily go around spreading it in the community? How is that a good thing?

My husband, before he goes into a client's house, has to ask if anyone in the house is displaying symptoms. If they are he doesn't go in. No protection if there's an asymptomatic super spreader inside is there?

Once again for those having trouble understanding the "roolz"

You are allowed to sit and take a break from exercise, say, on a bench or sitting down in a park. However, this must be for a short time only and, as before, you must spend markedly more time exercising than resting

For anybody about to say "aha but it doesn't say you can eat though does it?" No it doesn't but likewise it doesn't say you can't either.

Don't let him have crisps and instruct him to keep away from benches then

He doesn't. He still has to go into clients homes though, who might well have been sitting on benches and eating.

I don’t think anyone on this thread has said they’d put their hands all over the bench after/before eating crisps. I don’t touch benches, and like any sensible person I use hand sanitiser before eating.

If someone is stupid enough to put their hands all over a bench (when we’ve all been lectured at plenty about the importance of hygiene and hand sanitiser) then that’s on them. Even then, the risk of contracting COVID is incredibly small; there’s probably more risk going into a supermarket.

If anyone cares, this is today’s offering:

Well when it comes to using the bench to sit and eat crisps, then yes, they’re mostly talking about able bodied.

How have you reached that conclusion? Plenty of people on here have spoken about elderly people or those with disabilities or young children who touch benches because they aren't tall enough to just sit down, they have to scramble on to them.

If someone is stupid enough to put their hands all over a bench (when we’ve all been lectured at plenty about the importance of hygiene and hand sanitiser) then that’s on them. Even then, the risk of contracting COVID is incredibly small; there’s probably more risk going into a supermarket.

Yes, I agree, people doing that are stupid. Funny how it's ok for you to say it and that you agree with me, yet aren't being jumped all over isn't it?

Because no one is talking about smearing their hands over a park bench before eating! And no one has said they don’t use sanitiser before eating those crisps!

How have you reached that conclusion?

Oh jeez, instead of the endless rabbit holes, would you just answer this question

Are you ok with an able bodied person who can sit down without using their hands to eat crisps on the bench? Yes or no?

Are you happy for an able bodied person to sit on a bench, without touching it, using hand sanitiser then eating a packet of crisps?

Honestly HearHooves, you're constantly in a tizz about this or something else you've decided is a risk to YOU despite the government saying it's fine.

You're clearly very worried so maybe your husband needs to move out till you can both be vaccinated rather than you continue to try to impose your ill-thought out restrictions on an entire nation.

Honestly HearHooves, you're constantly in a tizz about this or something else you've decided is a risk to YOU despite the government saying it's fine.

Show me where the government has said it's fine.

As for my husband moving out - great. Where to? Who's going to pay for it? He's also vulnerable, but not shielding, so he is still at risk if he catches it. Him moving out doesn't eliminate his risk does it?

Hearhoovesthinkzebras genuine question, how do you think you’re going to cope when lockdown is lifted and the virus is still in circulation?

Hooves, I have a disability too, and from your username I think possibly we have the same underlying disorder (though mine is relatively less severe). So believe me I do understand, and I absolutely empathise with you.

But I still think logic and not giving way to panic is crucial. People need to use common sense. No one is advocating going out for a picnic, but stopping for a snack if necessary during exercise is not risky if people take precautions. I take responsibility for myself and others by being vigilant about hygiene, using hand sanitiser, and not touching anything. If a disabled person knows they might need to touch a bench in order to stand, then I think the onus is on them to ensure they carry and use hand sanitiser or some other option.

He doesn't. He still has to go into clients homes though, who might well have been sitting on benches and eating.

If he goes into clients homes where everything has been touched and undoubtedly many things have been eaten then who may or may not have been in contact with someone who may have been sitting on bench eating crisps is the least of his problems.

I'm worried about the virus, but I realise I cannot avoid all risk, and neither can you, sadly. We can try, but we cannot eliminate it.

So, touching a bench and then eating food is very much a risk

Touching an bench with your arsenal and eating with your hands is very much a risk?

But those are the very people on this thread.

Not there aren't. There is not one poster who said they sit on a bench and rub their hands all over it and don't follow personal hygiene rules. And you would need 2 of that person type, doing it within a short window to catch it.

The only person who is suggesting actually touching with the bench, is the poster saying its perfectly fine is the person who thinks doing tricep dips are a fine. Jumping in benches are fine.

The vast majority disagree with that.

You are just making stuff up.

I'm never sitting on a bench again, for the rest of my entire life. They have become an entirely different entity to me after this thread.

Funny how it's ok for you to say it and that you agree with me, yet aren't being jumped all over isn't it?

No one has said you are wrong for saying that people shouldn't smear their hands all over a bench.

The majority are saying you don't need to touch it with your hands. That's the point.

Indeed WilburIsSomePig. I can see bench manufacturers going out of business as the social stigma now attached to bench sitting is so strong.