At the garden centre....on home oxygen

[Clemmieandareallybigbunfight]

Went to buy plants. Lady in the queue looking frail and with husband carrying her home oxygen tank. Life is for living

I'm sure many would say she should stay at home but I applaud her.

I hope she has many happy visits to buy plants.

It's really awful that some people think they have the right to judge people for doing exactly what they are doing. Nobody knows whether she would be more likely to use resources than they would. She may have a higher risk of dying but that doesn't mean she is more likely to spread it or require hospital treatment than anyone else. She may not have much longer to live and has decided to stay at home if she catches it. She may also recently have had Covid and actually has a lower risk than those who are judging her.

*The comments that upset and anger me are the ones that discuss the financial impact of covid and the impact of education as of shielded people don’t also experience this. There seems to be this unconscious idea that shielding people can’t/don’t work or have children who are missing school.
*
Exactly. Plenty people I know won't guess I'm shielding. I'm not 'ill' most of the time and don't 'look' ill. I'll have to tell people when things change enough with the restrictions that it'll become obvious I'm not joining in with the new normal.

Well she's probably less likely than the rest of us to become an asymptomatic carrier of corona. I hope her new plants flourish for her and she enjoys her (possibly last) summer.

I had to get out of the way for a woman in a mobility vehicle the other day in the supermarket. She said sorry - I should hope so breathing the precious air reserved for the worried well with sharp elbows that just can't get the precious Ocado slots.

Oxygen garden centre lady is my new local hero - I shall clap for her and all the usual heroes next Thursday as we celebrate all that is good in our all too brief life twixt the cradle and the grave.

Wrong "My dad has terminal lung cancer and is desperate for garden centres to open. I hope he enjoys his visit like this lady."

I hope so too. These things are important. My dad's last takeaway dinner with us all was special to him.

If I had a life limiting illness and my time was running out. I would not be staying at home for what little life I had left.

^Wild women who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave women, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.^

Lovely sentiments, Vera99. Very apt. I probably first heard this 40 years ago, and it still moves me.

Buggered up the metre though, haven't you?

I like how the dementors are now dividing people into the 'worthy sick', and those 'taking up a much needed bed'.

Yes. I couldn't dislike mumsnet more, right now. I can't believe the number of posters who do not have a clue about risk, about age, or about terminal illness, and would subject this woman (if she is terminal) to spending her last week's in isolation. Because in their minds she is of no value.

When my husband was terminally ill, going to the cafe at our local garden centre was his only possible outing. We went every day off as long as it was possible. It gave him huge pleasure.

I can't begin to imagine what life would have been like if lockdown had been in place at that time. And if finally he had the chance to go and people had been spiteful enough to give any impression that he shouldn't be there...well I'm tearing up even thinking about it. Those who think that way, you should be fucking ashamed of yourselves.

A lot of the more elderly people are behaving selfishly including my own mother. My mother received the shielding letter but seems to think it isn't really that important.

Those with shielding letters are more likely to need hospital resources etc if they do shield as whatever condition they have will continue to need treatment. If they get Covid they will probably die with very little medical input.

I guess why it feels selfish is nothing to do with use of the nhs but rather because we are all in lockdown in order to protect the elderly and vulnerable so we expect them to respond appropriately and not put themselves at risk.

I guess why it feels selfish is nothing to do with use of the nhs but rather because we are all in lockdown in order to protect the elderly and vulnerable so we expect them to respond appropriately and not put themselves at risk

We're not, though. We're in lockdown to prevent everybody getting it at once and people not being able to access services. The elderly and/or vulnerable have been advised to isolate themselves for their own protection. It's advice, not house arrest. They are free to ignore it, even if people think that is foolish or downright idiotic.

Bless her. I bet that was the first time out in ages. It's a tricky balance just now ☹️

because we are all in lockdown in order to protect the elderly and vulnerable so we expect them to respond appropriately and not put themselves at risk

How many times does this have to be said? That is NOT why we are in lockdown,'@Aesopfable. We are in lockdown so that there isn't a sudden peak in infections that overloads the NHS. It's not about saving old people.

Why are so many people making things up? Expecting terminally ill people to 'do the decent thing and make our sacrifice worth it' is unspeakably cruel and selfish, and against all that the government has said to those unfortunate people.

For clarification - they opened garden centres because Tory supporters go to garden centres.

Ridiculous.

Anyway I hope the lady had a lovely time at the garden centre 🌳 💐 🌱 🌲

How many times does this have to be said? That is NOT why we are in lockdown,'**@Aesopfable. We are in lockdown so that there isn't a sudden peak in infections that overloads the NHS. It's not about saving old people.

In Ireland, we are in lockdown to avoid the hospitals becoming overwhelmed and to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

The elderly and high risk groups are cocooning because there is a much higher chance that they will not survive the virus if they get it. If the rates increase and the hospital wards are full, we are acutely aware that our medical workers will have to make difficult decisions about who to give ventilators to, just as they had to do in Italy and Spain when over 65 year olds were not the priority. We are doing all we can to protect the most vulnerable in our society. and in turn, we expect them to adhere to the guidelines.

I understand that may not be the case in the UK because we, along with the rest of the world, cannot make sense of how the UK is ‘managing’ the pandemic.

Perhaps she's on oxygen as a result of Covid.

@Swingingontheswing lots of us in the UK can't make sense if it either!

She's selfish. As are my 89 year parents who have twice been to the garden centre 'for a day out' in the last week and then moaned that i was being selfish and uncaring for refusing to do the shopping for them now. We are self isolating at present but one of us was doing essential food shops for them.

Perhaps she's on oxygen as a result of Covid

Or FFS not, given there are strict criteria who gets oxygen prescribed at home, and even stricter for ambulatory.

'I've just had COVID' is not one of them.

It's selfish to expect people to stop living their lives - especially when in all likelihood they have significantly less time than the majority of us to live it. Life is for living.

@antipodalpizza

Are you refusing to do their shopping now because they went to the garden centre?

I really don't see the problem with an elderly/old lady on oxygen therapy going to a garden centre. The Govt have allowed it, subject to social distancing, and even the OP visited the garden centre. Heck, even I went to one yesterday.

Is the lady any more likely to contract Covid or pass it on than the OP or anyone else there?

It was not irresponsible of either of them to visit the garden centre. The guidelines at the one I visited were more strictly adhered to than they are when inside any supermarkets I have shopped in.

AnnaMagnani it is possible. Covid might've left them with ongoing lung or breathing issues. We don't yet know the long-term effects but experts have been researching potential long-term lung damage. It's very possible. See the My Lungs 49 Days threads.

Fwiw I think if someone's very old and/or very ill it's up to them if they choose to take the risk of not completely self isolating and visiting a garden centre. Particularly if terminally ill. As long as they take care not to put other people who don't want to take risks in unnecessary danger. They're no doubt aware they'd likely not get treatment if they catch Covid (due to low risks of survival) so have little personally to lose by taking the risk. antipodalpizza's parents are free to take the risks but as she's self isolating (perhaps she or her dh or DC have an underlying condition) she has the same right to choose not to take the risks of visiting them.

It's a bit like drink driving. Drink yourself into a stupor if you like but don't get behind the wheel of a car when in that state and risk other people's lives.

"No one should be visiting garden centres. It’s hardly essential whether you’re dying or not."
You do realise the lockdown rules have been relaxed somewhat and that Garden Centres are allowed to open? No point them opening if customers cannot visit.

We are allowed to do other things apart from just the essential ones now. We can even be out of our homes all day for exercise or recreation. We are allowed to sunbathe or picnic in a park or on a beach if we want. We can even meet up for a socially-distanced chat with one other person outdoors.

My mum has COPD and has home oxygen. She’s been stuck in two weeks longer than lockdown as she hadn’t had a chance to go out before. If she decides to go out with her oxygen because she is going slowly crazy alone at home then that is her choice and risk but she certainly isn’t a threat to anyone else and it’s likely the same for the couple in this scenario. This might be their first trip out and to get some plants now they’ve opened.

I think it’s awful how we keep judging one another and it’s easy to see how Nazi germany and all the tale telling began when you see how lockdown is affecting some people. We don’t know the whys of other people’s lives .