To burst all of these bloody bubbles

[kirktonhouse]

A single person can bubble with one single other household, yes, I get it, it's really useful for those living alone, however there are so many other bloody fake bubbles.

Single elderly parents having 'bubbles' with every one of their children's families

Work bubbles

School bubbles (different in the morning and the afternoon)

Sport bubbles (stupid fucking footballers)

Camping bubbles (yes really, some friends in the summer)

Play bubbles (with whoever happens to be at the park/beach)

Dog walk bubbles

You can't call everyday life a fucking bubble. Just stop seeing so many bloody people and calling it a bubble to pretend that it's ok when it really, really isn't.

I feel better for that. I'm going back to my miserable bastard bubble, does anyone want to join me?

As someone said the other way. There are more bubbles in their street than in a jacuzzi!

I agree. Some people may see this as negative but people are abusing this bubble thing aswel. No wonder th UK is in such a bad state! I understand its hard for an person who is alone all the time to bubble up with a family. But everyone else doesnt need to bubble up.

I agree. People seem to see their bubble as some kind of forcefield. A bubble is meant to reduce the number of people you can infect, that's all.

Unfortunately there’s too many grey areas, and too many people bending the rules to suit themselves.

It reminds me of the AIDS related ad campaigns in the 90's saying if you have sex without a condom then you've had sex with everyone they've ever slept with.

I know people who claim to have work, family and friend bubbles but they're really just living their normal life.

I get that they are confusing but I’m just frustrated and angry with people right now.

Care workers not wearing masks getting sick as ‘well the people we work for don’t go out so we thought it would be ok’. Secondary school child sent home from school to isolate as friend tested positive got bored at home so mum takes her to pick up time to pick up primary school sister. Then pops to see friends newborn.

Yup.

My cousin works in a care home. My uncle delightfully told my Mum that she had all of her 'work bubble' round for a NYE party.
I fucking give up with that side of my family. They surely must know that they are deliberately twisting the definition. I reckon they get off on it.

The care workers thing worries me as my 94 year old MIL has carers in twice a day, and my DH has to visit her twice a week.
If they’re not wearing PPE that is how our house would get it.
And the MIL hasn’t had the vaccination as she’s house bound and they don’t have the capacity to do home visits.

A bubble for every occasion is just an excuse to carry on as normal whilst pretending you're not part of the problem.

It is an abuse of what is a lifeline for many. I am staggered that so many are buying into this - it is definitely not the case around here.

Most people are just getting on with it, and looking forward to the spring.

Unfortunately it's people taking the p*ss that give everyone actually entitled to a support bubble a bad name.

I am a single parent and bubbled with my partner as soon as we were allowed (he moved in with us during 1st lockdown but he has his own place he pays rent on so not sustainable now and although we are very much together, we don't wish to live together for various reasons). We spend time together when my kids are with their dad and I would otherwise be alone.

I don't want to take away anyone's needed support but it does seem like there are bubbles for everything now.

I would say I would heavily judge someone for abusing them as well, because if they have to be removed due to this kind of behaviour we will definitely see a rise in suicide, children being removed and all the rest.

It is totally disgusting, and I would definitely call out any friends or family that were deliberately misunderstanding the point and meaning of bubbles.

Totally agree, it's absolute bullshit and whenever I do something with my legitimate bubble I feel guilty in case people think we're one of those people!
To be completely honest, whilst it's been good to have one I would happily see them scrapped for a couple of months if it meant we could get other restrictions lifted sooner.

It’s a absolute joke!!
Meanwhile my kids are kicked out of school!!! But Sandra down the road can carry on with her 12 bubbles

Bubbles for single adult households, bubbles for childcare, bubbles for work and school, bubbles for the vulnerable, bubbles for those with very young children. We aren't in any bubbles, except dh at work who is in a bubble of 3.

Wish they would just say every family can have 1 bubble and that's it. My ds is 7 and likely won't see his friends for months. So an adult can pick and chose a number of bubbles and go to work, but children will only see their parents or siblings for months at a time. If we qualified for any bubble I'd chose a friend from school for ds.

Yes, people are not adhering to the spirit and purpose of bubbles which was to support those living alone, or single parents. People are 'bubbling' willy-nilly in order to socialise.

Agree i have a genuine support bubble who are also my childcare bubble (technically according to the guidelines i could have two different bubbles)

but as myself and husband both keyworkers with DH directly working with covid patients we have one set of grandparents to be both childcare and support bubble to minimise spreading but allowing us both to work. We don't want to send DS to childcare yet due to risks of further spreading. I am worried what will happen if they cancel bubbles as it means one of us will not be able to work despite both being front line workers.

All because other people take the mick with the bubbles or have multiple ones!

I agree, and I'm a lone parent so stand to lose out hugely if they tighten up bubbles.

There's a huge amount of "magical thinking" with this. You convince yourself you're OK because you're in a bubble with "one other household" but you're not in control of who that other household interacts with.

Even if that other household is observing the rules to the letter, for example, and not having any other contact, you can still become infected from their visit to the supermarket.

And that's laying aside the fact that in most cases the other household will have its parallel bubble going on with another household. Or let's say the adult in that other household is working.

It's a recipe for self-delusion.

I don't know what the answer is because many people do need the support. But I'm convinced this, alongside large numbers of people in work and children in school, is a key reason why the numbers are so scary at the moment.

@FOJN is spot on.
The 'bubbles' on my street are a joke. It's mainly the older residents who seem to be in a bubble with every member of their extended family. They have different visitors every day and have done since last March. Other neighbours seem to have a revolving door of random people coming over for childcare and all night parties etc.
We aren't in a bubble even though we'd benefit massively from help with childcare for our baby, but we're struggling along instead. There's always the risk that your bubble are mixing with people they aren't telling you about.

The problem with having the terms support bubble and childcare bubble is that the rules of social interaction are different for each of them. Better to have stuck with extended household and providing child care.

Threads like this are just going to make people feel guilty for having a genuine support bubble, and they shouldn’t.

Bubbles were introduced for a reason. Of course people will bend rules and I can see that people are taking advantage sometimes, but I really don’t think there is a huge percentage of the population that is deliberately and defiantly breaking rules all over the place. People are mostly trying their best.

I agree op, proper support bubbles are important, but the word 'bubble' now seems to stretch to cover 'anyone I want to see'.

We are in a pretty bad mess as we are less locked down than in March, even though things are worse.

Meeting 1-1 for exercise is also being exploited, plenty meet different people every day, creating a lovely long transmission chains.

Single parent bubbles, I’m not seeing anyone, however my exH is seeing his family, they have a child in another bubble ( dad) he has bubbles of his own.

It’s all pointless as I’m linked to all of them, so my safe little bubble of three ( not going out at all) is actually over 15 people, three of whom work in schools! So hundreds of people.
One bubble should be allowed.

My neighbour has more bubbles than fairy liquid. Four adult children, 10 grandchildren. Siblings, parents. A different car everyday! They still feel sad that they are suffering socially.

A friend posted about her bubble on Facebook asking if she could still be in one, she’s married (living with her dh) and has a child aged 8/9, pretty sure she shouldn’t be in a bubble?

My mum is my bubble (I’m a single parent and I also pay my mum as respite for dd) but have just found out my brother has been using her for his bubble, my brother lives with his partner and 2 kids so they shouldn’t be in a bubble? It’s made me worry about how many people have been in contact with my mum and now I’m not keen on her looking after dd (but I don’t have much choice as I have no one else).

The bubble thing is pretty clear so I’m not sure why people are stretching the rules.

I feel no guilt for my support bubble. I'm a single parent with two children 10 & under. To clarify, my support bubble doesn't have to be another single adult household as per the op.

I see no one else. I do not have multiple bubbles. My ex husband on the other hand can fuck off with his bubble as he isn't single, just taking the piss.

Agree, people are either very ill informed or generally don't care. Stop ruining it for those of us that genuinely need it.