Rules that make no sense

[Pissedoff1234]

My DH is seeing friends at the pub this weekend, outside and there will be 6 of them. All within the rules, yes. Except what about social distancing. They will be sat at a picnic bench, 6 grown men.

I get that pubs need to open but the rule in gardens is 6 or 2 households which we do but we are sitting very far apart from people not in our household. At pubs, they are sat very close.

I have and do follow all the rules because I believe that's what I have to do but there are some really strange ones. What other rules do you wish you could ask the scientists what their reasoning is for allowing it, not allowing it?

Hmm I think I assumed people have to socially distance still if they aren’t from the same household, but from your message I’m guessing they don’t?

Buses.

We are allowed on buses. 20 or 30 people inside a bus. Unrelated people are allowed to sit next to each other. For long journeys. But I’m not allowed to go inside my parents house? Just 3 of us. For 5 minutes? Nope. Doesn’t make sense.

Social distancing is required at pubs though. It's up to each person to make sure they're doing it. 6 men from different households shouldn't be sitting squashed together on a picnic bench, some common sense is needed.

@Overthebow

Social distancing is required at pubs though. It's up to each person to make sure they're doing it. 6 men from different households shouldn't be sitting squashed together on a picnic bench, some common sense is needed.

I agree, which is what I said to DH but it is 'allowed'. The rule shouldn't be 6 people from 6 households if they don't have the space at their tables to make this safe.

@EasterEggBelly

Buses.

We are allowed on buses. 20 or 30 people inside a bus. Unrelated people are allowed to sit next to each other. For long journeys. But I’m not allowed to go inside my parents house? Just 3 of us. For 5 minutes? Nope. Doesn’t make sense.

My DD had to isolate for 2 weeks as her app beeped. She'd been on the bus to college and no one at college had tested positive so it must have been the bus. She said she wasn't sat next to anyone and no one sat that close either.

Why can I go inside a Starbucks and order my coffee at the till, but not at a pub or restaurant?

All of them

It is allowed if you take precautions, like social distancing?

The rules are about reduction of risk, not elimination of risk.

Wearing a seatbelt in a car is not a guarantee that I won't be injured in an accident but it reduces the risk whilst still enabling me to drive around.

The only "safe" way of avoiding infection is Lockdown and we have all had quite enough of those thanks. I'll be very glad to see the back of all of these rukes, but if it means that we can have some semblance of normality back then I can understand them balancing one thing against another.

@roguetomato

It is allowed if you take precautions, like social distancing?

By fairly often you aren't sure what table set up is like. So you book for 6 expecting to be able to social distance and then they take you to a tiny table

Plus before it was only those who didn't mind breaking the rules doing things. Now there will be more because 'it's within the rules'

The thousands of people landing in the country from countries such as India and getting onto public transport to attend their quarantine .

It's personal responsibility. You are supposed to social distance between different households. Pubs can't spend all their time policing it so it is down to individual groups to use common sense. Unless it's somewhere you've never been before you know what the seating is like, so choose somewhere appropriate for your group.

In Scotland:

Soon you can go to a restaurant/bar that's open until 10pm outside serving alcohol, but only until 8pm inside with no alcohol. Does food make people rowdy inside after 8pm? Absolute madness stopping restaurants making money after 8pm. If booze is the problem, being open inside until 10 should make NO difference whatsoever.

Also next easing you will apparently be allowed alcohol inside but only 2 hour sittings at a time. Making people go to multiple bars on a day/night out instead of just one 🤣🤣🤣 who comes up with these?!

I'm just frustrated with all the nonsensical rules though tbh. Why, on easing restrictions do we still have all these rules making leisure activities miserable. If they were so effective at stopping viral spread then why close the leisure facilities in the first place over winter.

The evidence for outdoor transmission is very weak. It seems the virus doesn't easily spread outdoors. I think therefore they’re trying to give pubs and restaurants a fighting chance.

I think there’s an element of common sense turning of a blind eye to not distancing at a restaurant. Already the hospitality sector have been massively affected. Most of them still can’t reopen. Those that can are still suffering due to not being open indoors and losing significant capacity - after having been shut for half of the last year even in areas that weren’t shut under the tier of system last summer/autumn.

I think that’s why it’s “allowed” or tolerated at a restaurant - to balance the harm already suffered by hospitality. I would want evidence of massive spread outdoors at a table before I would think it was anything other than perverse to enforce 2m social distancing outdoors at a restaurant.

My current favourite nonsensical nonsense is... only the outside things at various local attractions can be open (eg play areas), the indoor bits can’t (eg HUGE airy tram depot, large show caves)... but the small poky indoor gift shops can be open.

I know that in England 'non-essential' shops opened last week. Prior to that Garden Centres were open, and our local garden centre stocks all kinds of household items - all inside and apparently allowed.
I came back with a frying pan!

Scotland
You can go get your hair and nails done but you can't get a kids feet measured or order a takeaway inside!

Something tells me might be something to do with NS wanting her hair done.

I think it’s a balance, and generally I think they’re doing their best to make the rules manageable and rational. You can’t for example just shut down public transport completely because they are required for essential purposes. So the non-zero risk involved in bus trips is just something we have to attempt to minimise and then live with.

However I agree that I’ve seen a lot of groups of six mates squeezed onto a picnic table outside a pub in a sheltered spot with windbreaks, having a lovely time and laughing together for a couple of hours in the last week or so, and I have slightly mixed feelings because they’re so very close and so loud for such a long period of time. It’s the only outdoor setting which I do feel presents a significant risk of transmission. Mind you things were exactly the same last summer and we didn’t have a huge beer-garden-driven wave so I’m probably overreacting. Especially since a significant proportion of the youngsters will now have been vaccinated. (7 million under 50s have had their first vaccination)

Probably the fact that Marks and Spencer refused me access to their customer toilets yesterday when I’m very VERY visibly heavily pregnant ‘because covid’.

I think most of the rules can seem non sensicle on an individual basis overall but the bigger picture usually finds a way for it to make sense.

Ie scotland allowing people two hour drinking slots in bars actually doesn’t mean anyone HAS to visit multiple bars in a night (as mentioned upthread by a previous poster) does it. It means people may choose to do that if they insist on getting hammered or if they feel like two hours isn’t enough time to socialise. I’m not saying they’d be right or wrong. I’m just saying, the bigger picture is that people could choose to meet up and spend two hours then leave it at that. And presumably they hope people do that. Which WOULD limit time spent mixing etc and limit the amount of drunk people they have to police for social distancing etc.

The toilets thing made no sense in my situation. I am heavily pregnant and felt so angry and upset stood in the middle of Marks crying behind a stupid mask, desperate for a toilet and having someone stand in front of the customer toilets door saying ‘no we can’t allow you to use them sorry it’s because of covid’.
But I guess it must make sense on a bigger level somewhere. More likely to expel aerosol, staff having to be freed up to deep clean them regularly. I don’t know. But it felt bloody shit for me individually at that moment.

That’s awful brabraboo. Lots of public toilets are open now, so I think M&S should get a grip on that one.

We eat out with others last year and phoned ahead asking for two tables next to eachother, which we separated slightly. If your DH and friends do this, then at least it'd be only three on each table.

@ChekhovsWorkshoppedShooter

That’s awful brabraboo. Lots of public toilets are open now, so I think M&S should get a grip on that one.

Yes it’s disgraceful.

This is one of my fears - that restrictions which may have been introduced with the best of intentions when rates were high/we didn’t know much about the virus will end up hanging around for ages.

My baby just had their 1 year check from the health visitor (never met) by phone. Surely health visitors have been vaccinated and can see children for their development checks? Because the phone one was a waste of time. Which doesn’t matter for thriving children but plenty of vulnerable children will be slipping through the net. My fear is that round here it’s been an underfunded and struggling service for ages so they’ll keep things remote for that reason, longer than they strictly need to for infection control reasons.

The social distancing is probably because it’s advice not law so the pub doesn’t have to do it

There’s one at my workplace, I’ll try to explain without giving too much away.

Both events are interview/audition-like situations, they are observed by everyone in the company. The most senior members are voting and deciding who goes to the next round/joins us, juniors and apprentices watch for training. It is hugely beneficial to attend these, especially at the start of your career.

We are all allowed to watch the ‘senior recruiting’ events where there is about 100 of us, the space we’re sitting in has almost 3,000 seats so plenty of space to socially distance. Everyone is tested before going in, FFP2 masks on all day long. So far great.

We are not allowed to watch when apprentices are being recruited. Only about 10-20 people ever watch these, it’s in the same huge hall, we’re tested on that specific day anyway... The reason given: it’s too risky.

We’ve given up trying to ask why this rule exists. No one can actually explain it.

@Lazierdays

The thousands of people landing in the country from countries such as India and getting onto public transport to attend their quarantine .

This