Honestly, I wish people would think before going crazy over the rules

[WankPuffins]

Just a little rant really.

Dh went to pick up my dad this morning. T4 area, 150 miles away.

My dad is in our support bubble. We see no one else, he sees no one else. We've all been isolating for nearly two weeks as a precaution. It's allowed.

My dad lives in a little development of housing for over 55's. As they were loading the car, two of the neighbours started bashing on windows shouting that it's tier 4, it's illegal to take him. One visiting carer started shouting from a doorstep that she was going to report him to the police, that she has taken the number plate.

Dh did very calmly call over that he's in a support bubble that it's allowed. He said she didn't listen just kept on shouting.

Fucks sake.

I now have a very upset 86 year old sat on my sofa. Dh said he was shaking all the way down and is dreading going home.

@GetOffYourHighHorse

'OP has done the right thing legally. She might not have complied with the rules you've made up in your head, but that's irrelevant.'

I agree. However I would have expected others to be pissed off tbh. Many, many people aren't seeing family. A support bubble 150 miles aways is a stretch unless he needs care which he doesn't.

People in tier 4 should stay in their own local areas, sad though that is. He could have perhaps been in an actual support bubble with one of the other residents.

This might be your opinion but it is not the guidance.

The guidance is that people in Tier 4 can travel to their support bubbles. It’s preferable to have a support bubble close by if possible, but it’s recognised it often isn’t possible - like when you’re 86 and your daughter lives 150 miles away. Support bubbles are about company as well as care, and recognise that no one is meant to be entirely alone, even now.

So telling us all that people in Tier 4 need to stay where they are should be stated as opinion not fact.

We were tier 2 until Sunday now tier 4. My 90 year old df is tier 3 and we've driven over today.
It's changing so fast that I'm not surprised people are confused.

Support bubbles are about company as well as care. If they were just about care then that would be stated.

I imagine if you are single in a city, it’s very possible all your friends might be partnered up and bubbled with their own parents, so your own family a hundred miles away are going to be your bubble. It’s not ideal but there it is.

I don’t imagine you know the relationships between all these people in your town either.

@movingonup20

The biggest issue is that they didn't carefully define support bubble back in May, they suggested they are local but didn't define it in law. I am personally annoyed at the Londoners who have turned up in town over the last week claiming to be visiting their support bubble aka parent they ignore for months on end. Those of us who have sensibly not travelled to parents are now going to be banned from seeing them because of people travelling. If someone needs care and support that's fine but you can't do it from 150 miles away

Support bubbles are about company as well as care. If they were just about care then that would be stated.

I imagine if you are single in a city, it’s very possible all your friends might be partnered up and bubbled with their own parents, so your own family a hundred miles away are going to be your bubble. It’s not ideal but there it is.

I don’t imagine you know the relationships between all these people in your town either.

Sorry that they frightened your father, but glad to hear that he is staying with you. Ignore the knuckle draggers and enjoy your Christmas

I think it's a case of so many people breaking the rules that people jump to negative conclusions too quickly.

Aww your poor dad. Bless him. Even if it wasn't in the rules they have no idea what is going on and no right to behave like that. I find it very very worrying people appointment themselves as covid police. I believe this virus is serious and we need the various rules. But I also don't think it's the place of the general public to enforce them.

@ComDummings

Honestly the morons screeching about the rules (always fucking incorrectly I must add because they don’t seem to understand how to read properly) are getting on my last nerve. There was a thread here the other day, a struggling mum with a young baby wanting to visit her parents. Perfectly fine to make a support bubble even though she is in tier 4 because she has a young baby. The amount of incorrect info on the thread and people calling her selfish was SO frustrating and so uncalled for when she was doing absolutely nothing wrong! Anyway OP I hope your dad is OK and manages to relax a bit. I would definitely want to try and report the career, it’s not on for her to be shouting at anyone.

What was especially galling about that thread was the posters saying “I brought up five children under 5, on a desert island, with no support from my DH who was working overseas. If only you were a great mother like me, you wouldn’t need to risk murdering your parents via a support bubble. I hope you can live with your guilt”.

Competitive parenting plus insane levels of health anxiety plus busybodying. Peak MN.

That's interesting - I had thought that in Tier 4 you can only join a support bubble in the same tier. Clearly not. I thought people in tier 4 simply could not leave that area. I am beginning to lose the plot here.

WTF I would be having words with those doing the shouting when you drop him back home. They have no right to question what you're doing, let alone shout at him and your DH.
Your poor dad, I'd be furious.

I'm firing more and more Puritan Covid attitudes lately, but only for the bits that suit them, it's dreadful, people should mind their own bloody business

@Mischance

That's interesting - I had thought that in Tier 4 you can only join a support bubble in the same tier. Clearly not. I thought people in tier 4 simply could not leave that area. I am beginning to lose the plot here.

Tbf, I think a lot of people thought / think this. They made out in the announcement, that Tier 4 was in some sort of uber lockdown situation where nobody could leave. Hence all the "those fuckers leaving London on the news" threads that popped up on Saturday night.

If you look at the actual guidance, it is actually a lot less dramatic imo.

I live in Tier 4 fwiw.