All of you up in arms over people taking key worker places?

[Wontdothisagain]

Do you also think that non essential businesses should be closed? Or do you think that they don't contribute to spread?

For example Greggs, McDonald's, Burger King are all open.

I have family who work in factories and warehouses in crowded conditions making and packing very non essential goods.

B&Q is open and today is busy and full of family groups.

No doubt The Range is the same.

Do you feel as angry about all of this than for example, an NHS admin worker using a key worker space?

Of course takeaway food is essential. If you think it’s not you are clearly privileged and have no idea how some people live. If your a family stuck in B and B accommodation are you really not supposed to have a hot meal for months because middle class people with a house and kitchen and the ability to order online from Waitrose think that Mac Donald’s etc are not essential? Hot cheap food is as essential as it gets and all the big chains have pretty good non contact collection systems

@Toomuchtodo21 so if you think that takeaway is essential, then presumably you will also think that the person who delivers the food to the takeaway is essential, and the guy who fixes the fridges, and the electrician who fixes the lights and the cooking equipment.

The factories where the food is produced.

Yes i think they should at least for a couple weeks or so to help drive numbers and employers should be keeping those that they can wfh, too many having to go in that could wfh realistically or very least part of the week.
Needs to be more like first few weeks in march one

Also Op people were complaining about those that are wfh or even have a sahp taking places more than those with 2 out working.
Or those with a full time nanny or childcare sending to school.
Not the same everywhere as some schools have a lot less in than others

I think that in most cases (apart from vulnerable) the main question is - is one of you if a couple, or just you If single parent, able to stay at home? Clearly if a couple both work in McDonald’s their kids have to be in school if the McDonalds stays open and they are there working.. However at my v middle class school (all white collared jobs, can mostly home work) loads of people have a kid in school when one parent is a key worker but the other parent doesn‘t work or has an office job they can do from home. And some of the key worker category rules include being a journalist or civil servant or a uni worker, but in the kids go. This just seems bizarre, because the rest of us in apparently non essential jobs will have simply have to work 15 Hour days to teach and do our jobs while these groups won‘t, over a longer period because bigger classes will mean higher transmission. It’s hell on earth doing 15 hrs so I totally get why people take the places, but it really is inexplicable logic in some cases why they are being offered

Op we also managed it in march so why not now ? There are a lot of essential jobs but short term some can be halted also and if a job can be wfh then it should be and if you can manage your kids at home again you should , so that people that truly need the space get one.
Also quicker we get numbers down better for all of us.
Takeaways should be drive thru/ del only as then min contact is needed.
B & q etc could be click and collect like before , again means not loads in.
Builder merchants open means builders can get essential repair items and general population doesn't normally go around browsing in these.
There is more we can do and even getting 2% less people going out, mixing would help.

Also OP having an opinion doesn't mean people want to run the country and its no different to you having an opinion ?? The first lockdown worked and sage are saying we haven't gone far enough so maybe people are taking it from that .

@donewithitalltodayandxmas I honestly haven't got strong opinions on these issues. I'm not blinkered enough to think that I know it all.

I realise that everyone individual families circumstances are different and although you might get a few piss takers, we have no idea what's going on behind closed doors.

It also isn't for me to say what businesses are essential or not.

But we could do all of this and people like my aunt and MIL will still have their mobile hairdressers round, like this week. Those hairdressers say they are desperate to keep business going.

But people are taking the piss, OP. Only we are not allowed to criticise a definition of 'critical' worker now. 22 out of 30 are in a primary class, keyworker position blagged by somebody who works in an e cigarette shop. This short changes everybody else.

@middleager funny you saying that there's an e cigarette shop open nearby and I was thinking all this over these key worker places but the e cigarette shop is open.

I haven't read the full thread, but I certainly agree that people should not be going shopping in family groups. If people need to go into a shop they should do so alone unless (a) they are disabled and can't reasonably be expected to shop without assistance from another person; or (b) care for someone who cannot safely be left home alone and there is no one else in the household who could take care of that person. I think it would be sensible for the government to toughen the law in this area.

@Wontdothisagain the thing is lots are struggling and when they see someone getting a place who could manage it annoys people.
I know of someone with nanny and wfh partner also( part time) , yes they are keyworker but could easily manage to keep dc at home but have taken a space and in them circumstances doesn't seem right, when there may be a single mum who might be wfh but has 3 kids to also try and teach.
I think with shops its more that some people seem to be going to browse as opposed to going to get what is needed. Whole families doing food shop.
We are all bored and all struggling with cabin fever but some do take the piss and no I don't mean the person who is struggling with mh who goes to meet a friend for a walk or something like that.
Just we all want restrictions lifted and if people bend / twist rules too much it may take longer, scotland and wales seem to have stricter lockdowns I guess we will see in weeks to come which is more effective.

@Thisisworsethananticpated exactly it’s ridiculous. And to the poster who said it’s hilarious about the restrictions being short term- they won’t be short term because people like you make excuses for everything to keep going and because of that it will never fucking end!

The longer people carry on making excuses for why they must visit non essential stores, why their children must be in school and bending the bubble rules to suit themselves, the longer this will continue. And all those not sticking to the rules will be the first to complain, as per. It is boring.

@SendHelp30

Yes, they should all be closed. Pharmacies and supermarkets only.

I rarely hand out one but here you go.

It's just shit. If too many people keep going to work, we end up with health service collapse. But for most people, it's not a choice they have, it's survival. I think people think there is some decision that can be made that makes this painless for everyone, and there just isn't. It sucks. It's a natural disaster, however much we argue about how much the government response exacerbated or mitigated that disaster.

I think at this point, we need to start aiming our gaze forwards - how do we recover from this? How do we minimise the effects of lost jobs, lost education? What does the future look like? Does it look like Clement Attlee, creating the NHS from the ashes of the 2nd World War? Does it look like a New Deal? Or does it look like endless austerity?

*My friend is a nurse, her husband works from home but is on zoom calls all day and can't entertain their 6 year old, who isn't a "sit down and be quiet type"

Ah another important MC man
Buy the child a tablet or PS4 like every other sucker has had to
Set out Lego , crayons
Get him a headset

It just enrages me . I’m on my second lockdown as a single
Parent

Compromise cunts
Compromise and sacrifice

For me, my issue is this.

Both myself and partner are keyworkers and my two DD have places at school. School have said there are so many children in the school now they may have to reduce us to a rota that allows us "some" days in school and we'll have to have some at home.

At the moment our school are allowing children with one keyworker in the household but the other is not working. Be a SAHP or for example someone who owns a nail business, hairdressers etc which is currently closed.

So. My issue is, as a critical keyworker we will have to stop work whilst others watch Netflix.

As a side point they are not on the vulnerable list either so this isn't an excuse. Yes I personally know these people as a family member is one of them.

@Thewithesarehere thank you! Gratefully received. As I explained on the first page, I am probably biased as we buried my 34 year old cousin yesterday with her 3 young children in attendance and a friends 7 year old is in ITU. It does cloud your judgement somewhat when you’ve lost 4 family members to a virus some people don’t view as dangerous.

I have heard similar. Front line workers losing essential place to others. That’s why a definitive and prioritised list is essential for the school lockdown to have any impact. Evidence should be required to prove working hours and to prove that there is no alternative

When it comes to school places, I don't blame anyone seeking to use the provisions made. I blame the government for setting such lax rules.

Parents have been in a no win situation throughout. Many parents wanted to keep their children home throughout but were threatened with fines if they did and were offered no help. Then the numbers soared and parents who need and want their children in can’t get them in. Surely the government good have came up with better in nearly a year than what we have now. A second lockdown we knew way back was inevitable

I don’t blame the parents who are using the provisions as they should, I blame the parents who are taking advantage of the flaws in the system.

I know Somebody who is a lodger. She needs takeaways because she has very limited space to store food in the fridge.
Takeaways should remain open because they ease the burden on the supermarkets. The first lockdown supermarkets were running short, massive queues etc because takeaways were closed too so the supermarkets were under too much pressure.

@ScrumptiousBears

For me, my issue is this.

Both myself and partner are keyworkers and my two DD have places at school. School have said there are so many children in the school now they may have to reduce us to a rota that allows us "some" days in school and we'll have to have some at home.

At the moment our school are allowing children with one keyworker in the household but the other is not working. Be a SAHP or for example someone who owns a nail business, hairdressers etc which is currently closed.

So. My issue is, as a critical keyworker we will have to stop work whilst others watch Netflix.

As a side point they are not on the vulnerable list either so this isn't an excuse. Yes I personally know these people as a family member is one of them.

This really needs stopping. I feel bad taking a place as it's just me as a key worker, but my DH can't work from home. Schools need to stop it being used when there is a parent at home, especially if that parent isn't working. That is outrageous.

@Wontdothisagain of course factories that make food are essential unless you don’t want to eat? Do you eat food? I’m assuming you do? So that food has to come from somewhere so the people that make food have to work.

And yes electricians etc are essential - not having heating in January can be pretty fatal.