I am special/exempt/don’t have to follow the lockdown rules because......

[Watermelon999]

Just waiting for all of the above to start...

What reasons will be bandied about this time? And when will people realise that the more of us that do it, the quicker it will be over?

[ivftake1]

@burritofan

Although the ethics of people who take up more housing than they need is for another thread....
I think the Venn diagram of “people with second homes” and “people who are soooo special they can bend the Covid rules” is a circle. A circle full of Tories

Ahhhh the tolerant left being so tolerant again

[Watermelon999]

@Fizbosshoes

“I'm wondering when people will start making up extra rules like last time
eg you could only exercise for an hour, or you had to stay within x miles of your house”

Yes that’s almost as entertaining as the excuses!!

[Completmentfille]

I'm not remotely special, but I'll still be seeing my mum because she's terribly mentally unwell and frankly I don't give a shit who judges me for it. I mean is that alright with you OP or am I entitled?

[dryoldparty]

I'm not making up excuses or trying to justify why I'm doing it. What I'm saying is that I'm not following the rules this time, absolutely not. And if the rules are only there to prevent the spread of a virus and protect the vulnerable, I can say hand on heart that I'm not compromising that, at all.

I understand the rules have to cater for the lowest forms of intelligence, and that's why they are the way they are, but I'm not following them. The chances of people reporting us are fairly minuscule as we are miles from neighbours, but I suppose it's a risk.

[HelloMissus]

I could not be less special or important but I shall be inviting my foster children’s mother to visit them so she doesn’t tip herself.
In fact I’ve already asked her to Xmas dinner.

Sorry that I’m not sufficiently community minded.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

@Vintagevixen

Do I get bingo if someone says the word "snowflake", please someone say the word snowflake!

Okay on MN we can read from a number of snowflake posters. Some genuine posters and some snowflake posters and some who aspire to be the next Katie Hopkins

[bloodywhitecat]

Because DP is 90 minutes away, in hospital having had one of the most complex surgeries they do in a vain effort to save him from the cancer that the fear around COVID meant it took months to diagnosis him. Some days I don't see another adult and sometimes, on those days, the news about his health is more shit than we ever thought possible. On those days I tend to need to offload to a friend and if that means they come into my house and actually comfort me like I am a worthwhile human being then so be it. If the doctors who dealt with him locally had done what the NICE guidelines say they should've done then we might not be in this mess but hey, he has cancer and that doesn't count any more does it.

[BartlebyTheScrivener]

I’m a teacher and I know the difference between a cold and Covid so I can come into work and cough all day long where social distancing is almost impossible. Oh, and I will also encourage children to attend if they have a cough with what is obviously just a cold as I can judge with my superior knowledge.

This is the reality where I work

[MrsMigginsMate]

@bloodywhitecat. I'm so sorry about your husband, I hope you can get the support you need and he has a good outcome

[MrsMigginsMate]

@bloodywhitecat. Sorry I should have said partner rather than husband, apologies I rushed my reply. x

[Sonnenscheins]

Some teachers were saying on another thread that they can still meet up with their friends for drinks as they work in a school.

[Sonnenscheins]

@bloodywhitecat Sorry to hear about your dp.

[CrunchyNutNC]

I find the people who are reasonably are the exception to the guidance the most frustrating sometimes.

E.g. An OP in lockdown says she intends to go on a tour of supermarkets with her 3 children (because they like a trip out and just don't want to stay at home with their other parent) to find a particular brand of cucumber she 'needs' for a salad.

Cue posters saying she's being unreasonable. There then follows a slew of posters getting really riled up when nobody said anything about them, in their particular circumstances, being remotely comparable with the OP. E.g. a single parent then gets very heated because she has to take her child to shop because no child care, no car, no delivery slots, etc. Or someone whose autistic child will only eat cucumber getting irate because 'what are they meant to do - starve'.

The thing everyone forgets is that everyone can't ignore the rules or we're screwed. If those of us who reasonably can follow the guidance do, those who can't are able to have more leeway. The people who are clearly exceptions to these rules should be just as keen that the rest of us follow them because that allows them more freedom whilst maintaining the effectiveness of the measures.

[Watermelon999]

@HugeAckmansWife

It's not about being special or selfish, but realising that for many many people, the impact of lockdown is far far greater than for others, in numerous different ways and having some empathy for that. I also have zero patience for those who sanctimoniously announce that they are keeping the rules when the ACTUAL impact of what they were doing was worse than someone who was technically breaking them but in real terms having fewer contacts - eg "rule of 6"
- the poster who was planning on seeing about 4 different groups of 6 over Xmas and Boxing day who thought that was better than someone who would have one group of 7 or 8 including small children. As a pp said, this will not be "over quicker" if we all do things "properly". It just won't. It won't be over until there is an effective vaccine. As before, the lockdown is to slow the spread to allow hospitals to cope, to allow T&T to be fixed, if that's even possible - it will not make it go away and individual infringements of single adults are not going to be the tipping point into NHS meltdown.

I do agree with everything you say. There are rightly special allowances for people who are vulnerable for whatever reason.

I especially agree with you about those who keep the rules but in a way that causes even more impact and don’t seem to understand this.

The post was aimed more at the people who aren’t vulnerable, but pretend they are to find a loophole, I find it infuriating!

Sorry, I didn’t explain myself about it being over, I meant the lockdown, not the virus.

[Mimishimi]

because the whole thing is a manufactured farce to get us back into a WW3 fascist state.

[wheresmymojo]

Because if we do we'll be bankrupt and lose our house.

[Completmentfille]

An OP in lockdown says she intends to go on a tour of supermarkets with her 3 children (because they like a trip out and just don't want to stay at home with their other parent) to find a particular brand of cucumber she 'needs' for a salad.

Yeah except no one actually makes posts like that, do they.

[Watermelon999]

“Why don’t you find yourself some empathy op and stop stirring up trouble?”

I have empathy for the genuinely vulnerable (mentally ill, disabled, terminally ill, recently bereaved etc etc)

I have zero empathy for those who feel they deserve the same special dispensation as those in the above categories for no other reason than they’re fed up. Or they don’t agree with the rules, or they don’t like the government...

[Completmentfille]

I have empathy for the genuinely vulnerable (mentally ill, disabled, terminally ill, recently bereaved etc etc)

So you're the bestower of empathy on those you consider sufficiently vulnerable, mentally ill or disabled enough to warrant sympathy then. Good to know.

[Watermelon999]

[quote SeverusSnape1]**@Watermelon999* what is your response to me and @user1471588124* ?[/quote]
@SeverusSnape1

See the post above

[CrunchyNutNC]

Completmentfille they really did though.

The point is that some people were, in the eyes of probably 99% of people, acting unreasonably. But the discussion gets sidetracked by irate posts by those whose circumstances are in no way comparable, and who need the rest of us to comply with the guidance so they are able not to.

[DownThePlath]

@Completmentfille

I'm not remotely special, but I'll still be seeing my mum because she's terribly mentally unwell and frankly I don't give a shit who judges me for it. I mean is that alright with you OP or am I entitled?

Same here

[Jrobhatch29]

What a very unpleasant thread. Well done OP

[Watermelon999]

@Completmentfille

“So you're the bestower of empathy on those you consider sufficiently vulnerable, mentally ill or disabled enough to warrant sympathy then. Good to know.”

Not really, just giving an opinion!

Happy for people to disagree.

Btw I have complete empathy for anyone seeing their mentally ill mum or any other relative. That was not the point of the thread...

[user1471588124]

So you have no empathy for me then op good to know because i dont fit into any of those catergories. Im not mentally ill, I'm lonely and very worried about the future, but thats just probably me being "fed up" in your eyes.

What is actually the point in following any rules at all? Ive sacrificed my chance at ever being a scientist because my final degree year is all online and so i havent learned the requisite lab skills. Spaces at the library must be booked weeks in advance and are harder to get than Glastonbury tickets. I sacrificed 5 months with my partner as he is not British and was forced to return to his home country in lockdown . I havent seen any family, including my parents in months. I'm risking my health in an essential job, the job market is bleak and my partner and i also have a potential no deal Brexit looming over us. I cant see my friends, go shopping, or go to the gym. Yet I'm apparently selfish and not deserving of empathy if i break the rules to see my boyfriend.

Ive now lost faith in not only this government but also in the idea we really live in a functioning democracy at all and i know im not alone in this. I used to want to help people with my life, now i see that no matter what you do it will never be enough so even trying is a falacy. Everyone is just looking out for number one, especially the people leading our government.