Have you asked anyone (a stranger) to keep their distance and what was their response?

[MNnicknameforCVthreads]

I asked a couple (man and woman) to keep their distance while queuing for something yesterday. The man started swearing at me and trying to tell me the rule was 1m not 2m.

I’m still glad I said something but he was so horrible it set me on edge for a while afterwards.

Should I just keep my mouth shut in future?

I asked two older ladies really really nicely to move back a bit in M&S food hall at the till. They both told me to F off and then started giving out to me for wearing a mask saying " they don't even protect you" I said " no they protect me you- you're welcome" As I was packing my shopping ( really quickly!) one of them shoved into me. I should have told them the truth- I'm a nurse who is nursing Covid patients , I see myself as a risk...do you WANT me to take off my mask and stand right beside you??" But I didn't think of that until I was in the car

I was out walking with a friend and we stopped to talk to a women sitting in a chair by the beach and she said to my friend (hand up) ' excuse me I'm distancing' and my friend leapt back and apologised - she had only gotten slightly too close but it only took a raised hand and a couple words for us to understand and move.
Why people should be abusive is beyond me.

I haven't done this but I have told many people, who have been close to me on public transport, to put their masks on properly, when they have had their masks on their chins, or under their noses. I have always done this politely and everyone has complied, although sometimes with annoyance.

Covid or not, we don't have to be within touching distance of anyone, anytime. We have the right to expect someone to give us space when we alert them they are too close. I have yet to receive any abuse but imagine I will. I am staggered at the number of people in the UK not wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces. Also shops not providing hand sanitiser - they shld do it for their employees if nothing else. Just got back from Portugal where it was much better. Why do people in the UK struggle with these simple actions?

Yes. Someone sat on a sun lounger right next to me. The club had tied them together in pairs so he was touching elbows with me. Loads of signs saying same household members only to share a pair of loungers.

I pointed out due to Covid he couldn’t sit there and he didn’t speak but got up and moved away.

I was at Chester zoo this week, and they have footprints on the floor showing where "bubbles" can stand.
It was feeding time for the chimps and they all came outside. Everyone was stood everywhere.

A member of staff come over, told everyone one the rules and a lady just stood in the middle of two footprints. He asked her if she was with either of the families to her right or left, she said no.
He then said "get the fuck away from them 🙄" He didn't quite use those words but he got her moved.

We went around the corner, which was empty, and watched a baby chimp playing in the trees ☺️

I've generally moved myself where I can to ensure the right distance is there and not had a problem. However I think there are a lot of quite selfish people showing their colours. In aldi recently with DC (had no choice as DP was working away and we needed a couple of things...knew exactly where they were no faffing ) there was a woman by something we needed to get.

No problem we stood politely 2 metres away. It probably was fairly obvious we were waiting bu I made sure not to look impatient. She promptly glared and then spent (I am not exaggerating) at least 5 minutes turning over every damn quiche she could see . Now fair enough I get that she was there first. So still hiding my frustration as it was the last thing I needed. She seemed to be going slower and slower moved her trolley to block another section where another man started waiting.

Eventually he got annoyed and said he needed to get there and could she please choose

She harrumphed and stated she had every right to choose and would be there as long as she needed to. She was vile. Eventually she decided to move and he politely waved me first through ,I grabbed what I needed and carried on but I could see her doing it on the next aisle.

By all means keep the distance but I do think people take the mick sometimes with it . I've seen a few now who dramatically insist on the 2m but then spend forever blocking the area. It hasn't been me they have affected but it has become a bit of a power trip for the less pleasant human specimens I have seen.

@SqidgeBum

No, because the risk of getting someone from someone who you are near for a matter of 1 or 2 minutes is very low. You need exposure for about 10 minutes onwards, and then of course if they are wearing a mask that risk goes down again. Logic and science says getting coronavirus from someone standing slightly close to you in a queue is so minimal you would have to be the unluckiest person on the planet to contract it.

I think people are a bit obsessed with this whole 1m, 2m thing. Its not worth snapping at a stranger for.

I was in a queue for 40 mins the other day, so I certainly didn’t want the people behind being so close. Thankfully once I said something they kept their distance.

Had a guy ramming a trolley up my arse in a queue. Pointed to the paving slabs and commented that 2m is about 4 of those. He muttered and backed off.

I told a man about to join me in a lift that it was for one person only, got a mouthful of abuse and the he yelled at me for looking miserable. I was wearing a mask so not sure how £I managed to look miserable, told him to fuck off.

I think you shouldn't confront people like that. Where I live you would probably get stabbed. It's best to keep your mouth shut and if people can't keep their distance then you can. Plus the transmission of the virus in a packed queue is minimal if you are standing their less than 10 minutes. You have a mask on and so do they and that lessens the risk too. I hate being told what to do as I have anxiety and when some woman told me to back off when she was wearing no mask I told her to shut up and reminded her I have a mask and she has more risk than I do.

Wish people would stop thinking making it it "told off", more a gentle reminder.

Same thing

@yawnsvillex

Because they were at the back of the queue so needed to be the ones to step back.

Trust me on the situation, I obviously would have moved if I could!