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?

I agree - people on our street certainly seem to take the jacuzzi approach to bubbling, and I have a friend who is 'bubbled up' with 3 different families. I feel like a broken record saying this but it is why I don't believe in lockdowns, people bend the rules to suit themselves as they see fit.

I agree. Also, just because a single person CAN form a bubble, doesn't mean they have to. I know many people who've formed a bubble because they can and now see the people in their bubble more than ever before just to make the most of the bubble. Single people working and interacting with people definitely shouldn't be forming a bubble with CEV people either, but somehow people think bubbles make you immune? I see a friend who works in a supermarket going with all 4 of her kids to her elderly parents home every other day, sitting next to each other and hugging when they see each other. She posts it all over SM saying 'So glad for my bubble'. Her parents won't be when they have metal tubes jammed down their throats

A support bubble is where you extend your household, so it's the same as if you lived with that person/household. You can only have one.

A lot of other things are called "bubbles" which aren't an extension of your household in which there is some mixing but with restrictions depending on the circumstances. It isn't helpful.

I think it's the support bubble which should maybe be renamed to make things clearer, because people like the bubble language for everything else such as school, work and exercise and I can't see them stopping using it!

Im allowed to bubble up but refuse to do so with this new mutant strain. I dont use my childcare bubble and stay home as much as I can. Its really hard not seeing my Mum and Dad and for them not to see the kids. But i believe its for the best because the government has made so many errors and they cant see it or its too late until they do. Such a tough time. But for results and improvement we have to work hard as with everything in life.

@BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou

Absolutely agree OP. They aren’t bubbles anymore they are huge Venn diagrams of viral spread.

My SIL posts on Facebook all the time. One minute it’s a picture called “my bubble” with her and her DH plus one of their daughters, her DH and their two children. Next day it’s “my bubble” again, another grown up daughter, her boyfriend and his son. Then later on she’s visiting her Mum, stepdad, sister & nieces. None of these as legitimate reasons for bubbles but she puts the pictures all over Facebook while sharing “Clap for Carers” and ranting about a woman she saw with her mask under her chin in the park. 😡

This is the reason it is spreading.

Yes Prof Whitty is probably wasting his breathe he is dealing with people that are either very stupid or very selfish.

I've just been invited to join a 'Costa bubble' this morning! 3 friends meeting up for Costa takeaways and a chat. I said no.

The bubbles now are ridiculous and it's so wrong that it's being abused. They're a lifeline for people living alone.

The bubble thing is absolute bullshit, and most people don't understand the rules and just interpret them as they wish.
Scotland were much clearer by using the term "extended household" but recently seem to have picked up on the use of "bubbles" too and its all going to shit.

Scotland were much clearer by using the term "extended household" but recently seem to have picked up on the use of "bubbles" too and its all going to shit.

Really? That's a shame.

@Lovemusic33

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.

Childcare bubble for kids under 14? Particularly as they are now off school?

Can people stop spouting stuff that’s not true?

It is no longer true that only single adults living alone that can form a support bubble - rules changed late last year to include those with children under one, those with a disabled child under a certain age etc.

I wish we had a support bubble. People have absolutely no idea what it’s like to have two young disabled children in this current situation. We went months with no respite at all this year, now again as they are isolating due to a positive case in their class at their specialist school, and the school have now had to introduce a rota for all children because of the impact on staff, every single child there is very vulnerable by the govt definitions.

People taking the piss at Christmas and with bloody bubbles are driving me insane. Some people genuinely need them and are not exploiting the rules - those who are are risking the support that very vulnerable people need, and it’s incredibly selfish.

If you’re saying “oh well, it’s okay to do x because technically we can be a bubble”, stop it. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. The system is there to ensure support for those who are not coping for various reasons, and it’s going to be gone if people can’t take some bloody responsibility. We should all be thinking “can I manage without this?” and if so, not doing it.

My single elderly mother is in a bubble with my disabled sister who lives nearby. All good. Except that my sister is 'bubbling' with god-knows how many other people: neighbours, friends, friends-of-neighbours ... It's driving me mad the risk she's putting my Mum (and herself) in. But if Mum doesn't see her, she doesn't see anybody. It's infuriating.

@89redballoons

Am I the only person who hasn't seen anyone abusing the support bubble/childcare bubble rules?

I am in a support bubble with my mum, who lives alone. We also have a childcare bubble with MIL and her partner. (My mum can't do full time childcare - she's only in her 60s but has an illness that makes her very fatigued some of the time). We have a one year old and both work. DH genuinely drops our son off with his parents when he goes to work, doesn't stay to chat when he picks him up. My mum comes round to our house once or twice a week and watches DS or we have a meal together or watch TV together etc.

We moved house in May 2020 and mum is genuinely the only guest we have had inside the house since we moved in.

I actually only know of one other household with a bubble - my best friend has a baby and a 2 year old, and they have bubbled with her parents now her DH is back at work. I haven't seen my friend face to face all year, apart from in the park/garden during summer.

As far as I know my neighbours aren't having visitors. I'm not a curtain twitcher but I do live in a terrace so it would probably be quite obvious if my next door neighbours were at least.

All I see on social media is photos of people outside for walks with one other. (And screenshots of zoom calls, and people moaning about not seeing anyone).

Just thought I'd add some perspective.

No, I said that too 😊

@HarrietteNightingale

A support bubble is where you extend your household, so it's the same as if you lived with that person/household. You can only have one.

A lot of other things are called "bubbles" which aren't an extension of your household in which there is some mixing but with restrictions depending on the circumstances. It isn't helpful.

I think it's the support bubble which should maybe be renamed to make things clearer, because people like the bubble language for everything else such as school, work and exercise and I can't see them stopping using it!

This exactly

My dad is in our bubble

Everyone i know are not seeing people in their houses and are trying to follow the rules but i do have one friend who has been using the bubble term ever since it came in to describe friendship groups

Shes got masses of bubbles!

We should all be thinking “can I manage without this?” and if so, not doing it.

Yes and people will have a host of reasons why they feel they can't manage.

God, here we go again. Loads of people clamouring to end support bubbles whilst claiming that their own situation is of course genuine and above board. It’s a bit like the ‘schools are not safe and must close’ threads before Christmas and then everyone claiming to be a key worker and sending their kids in. Then people blame the government because ‘it’s not clear’ and ‘they don’t understand the rules’. The government cannot legislate for every single individual’s circumstances so rely on people having some element of common sense.

People know in their hearts if they are taking the piss and those who are not have nothing to feel guilty about.

Bein in a bubble gives you carte blanche to do what you like. It was madness.

You can’t socialise with your work bubble. And even at work you should social distance / wear masks. These aren’t bending rules they are blatantly breaking them.

Grandparents etc can only form a bubble if they are single or providing childcare so parents can work.

Footballers, however, can sod off to Dubai to boost their morale....

I think you should change the title of the thread because it is not bubbles that are the problem per se. It is people making up their own rules and abusing the bubble rules. People who genuinely need support and childcare bubbles could get frightened by a thread title that implies someone wants to get rid of all bubbles.

Compliance is still extraordinarily high (though understandably not quite as high as in spring).
This obsession with the minutiae of other people's existences doesn't help either "side" of the argument; it just makes people resent each other, which is exactly what the government wants.

@Bohemiagirl

I've just been invited to join a 'Costa bubble' this morning! 3 friends meeting up for Costa takeaways and a chat. I said no.

The bubbles now are ridiculous and it's so wrong that it's being abused. They're a lifeline for people living alone.

This is just made up rules! You can’t just choose a bunch of friends to meet with. Maybe last summer - not now. I despair

I think you should have to register on website and declare your ONE bubble with ONE single person household in case of any police issues*. The if you try and log on again for a new bubble, with any of the same email / home address details / phone number you are told NO.

*(this would be un-policeable and very shonky of course but it might make it official sounding enough for people to understand the rules and own the fact they are breaking them)

Wish they would just say every family can have 1 bubble and that's it.

@Frouby Errr, no! Why do you think every family needs a bubble?

@Dongdingdong

Wish they would just say every family can have 1 bubble and that's it.

@Frouby Errr, no! Why do you think every family needs a bubble?

This is it. Everyone thinks they are entitled to a bubble, or several even. Bubbles should only be used when absolutely necessary. I'm a single parent, I could form a bubble with another family. I haven't, because I haven't needed to. It would be nice to extend our household but its not completely necessary. (I have, on occasion broken the rules to see someone, but won't pretend its a 'bubble')

So strange isn’t it !
We as a family of 4 have no bubbles we stick with us as a household and we have stayed away from everyone including grandparents on both sides of the family because they are vulnerable I couldn’t live with myself if I infected anyone and they died !
I stay at home and only go shopping once a week my kids 20 and 18 have been brilliant they know the risks of not mixing because of their grandparents.
I do feel for people living on their own and I do respect some need a bubble for many reasons it’s a shame people can’t just think of others isn’t it x

Just because you can form a bubble doesn't mean you have to.

People just need to keep thinking about whether what they are doing is increasing the risk of transmission.

Are you in close proximity to other people? Then you're at risk of transmitting the virus if you have it or catching it from them.

If you do not live with those people, in most circumstances, you shouldn't be close to them, unless in the limited 'bubble' circumstances or you're both wearing PPE (properly). If in doubt, stay away from others, it's not hard.