People's behaviour in London

[catandcandle]

NC for this, because I probably sound like a bit of a loon. We left London as the lockdown 2020 started and have been living in deep rural bliss in an EU country ever since. Here we still have social distancing, madatory masks indoors everywhere, sanitisers at every entrance. I have spent a lot of the pandemic not going anywhere much, I WFH and it has been possible to pretty much isolate throughout. I did get on a holiday to another European country in the summer (after being double vaccinated) but it was country with low rates, I wore an FFP3 on the plane, and because it was a hot country I spent nearly the whole time outdoors and only went to eat at outdoor places etc.

We decided (after DS aged 12 has now been double vaccinated), to come on a trip back to London (DH for various reasons including fetching things he had to leave behind, me and DS just to see London again and see some friends). DH has gone today, DS and I plan to join him on Friday, for the weekend.

DH has just arrived in London and he called me telling me I am going to freak out, there are people in the shops without masks, no sanitiser at the doors, and when he asked someone to please social distance in a shop they mocked him. He is right, this will be very difficult, I have not encountered these things through the whole pandemic!

I am not asking AIBU, I very possibly am, but this is how I feel, and I hve been managing the pandemic this way because I could. I still want to go to London, and I realise I can take my own sanitiser and keep myself away from people. There is no way I am going to go indoors or on public transport without a medical-grade (FFP3) mask. The rates are just too high for me.

So, I just wanted to ask, are there still people who are going to be as cautious as me there? Will I be stared at and mocked because I (and DS) are wearing masks, shy away from contact and sanitise our hands? I don't suppose I should really care what people think of me, but I would just like to be prepared. I feel incredibly nervous about this trip now.

@tempester28

|t is time to move on if you are not ready stay where you are.

But for some of us, we are still having to wear masks and distance. There are people who the vaccine hasn't worked for or living with things like blood cancer who are waiting for their 3rd and 4th vaccine I'm still wearing an FFP2 mask and distancing and I can't see an end to it at the minute for myself

It feels like different areas of London must be different! People on this thread are giving widely differing accounts of percentage of mask-wearing, for example. And some people are clearly still distancing whereas others are saying no-one is..

Of course my friends will have been out and about, and could pose a risk, as anyone could. But spending time with four fully vaccinated people surely has to carry less risk than being unmasked in crowded public places or trains? I have to pick the level of risk I am comfortable with while still trying to maximise my mental state by (at last) spending some time with people I have not seen in a long time. It is not all or nothing.

I have forgotten what London is like. You generally have to be pretty unusual for anyone to take much notice of what you are doing

That is so true. I found it delightful. I live in a small town where literally the woman at school who annoys you most is probably your neighour's cousin and best friend's with the post office manager and new chair of the football club. Constantly tripping over connections between the people you meet. Everybody either knows or tries to know each other's business.

London: Red haired 6'8" tall guy in a gorilla suit at Leicester Square? Barefoot Aussie tourists in tuxedos in Trafalgar Square? Mad packs of cyclists whirling around Regent's Park at 7am? Burka clad women having a laugh with scantily clad men in the boating lake? Barely remarkable for 1 second. Nobody cares.

I am missing DH and so am spending way too much time on MN this evening! I think I will go and watch TV now! I have found this thread very interesting and much of it helpful (even those people who do not agree with me, all food for thought), thanks for replying.

Friends visiting from Paris said the same thing. England has done a great job of convincing itself the pandemic is over while 1k people die a week. Just another example of how messed up this country has become

I also live rurally in a very compliant part of the U.K. and visited london last week for work.
Lots of people are wearing masks and there certainly no inkling that you will be mocked or abused for doing so.
Social distancing is really not happening any more, the best you can do is to stick to quieter areas. You'll be crammed in on the plane over anyway. Ryanair are definitely racking, stacking and packing them; haven't travelled with Aer Lingus since it all kicked off.

But lots aren't wearing masks and the same on public transport including the tube where it is supposedly mandatory. Avoiding rush hour will help there along with the deeper tube lines. We used the Thames clipper just after 9am and it was empty and very quick. Everyone was masked too.
Hope it goes well.

...I have not quite stepped away yet! Just to say @TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams I flew Ryanair when I went on my summer holiday, DS and I wore FFP3 masks throughout both airports and the plane, and I felt OK about it. We were fine.

I live and work in central London. I do an hour commute each way. In my experience during rush hour most people (90%) wear masks. Outside these times less so. Maybe 50% or less.

I was at the cinema the other day and virtually no one has a mask. I have also been to the theatre a couple of times recently where most comply. Supermarkets maybe 50/50. Shopping centres (both Westfields) maybe 10% or less. I haven’t seen social distancing for months.

My borough (Kensington) has one of the lowest vaccination rates - less than 60% - but a low infection rate. I think many people have actually had it. My impression is that the current infection rates are mainly among the young - school children etc.

No one in my immediate family has caught it despite being exposed to known cases. We are all double vaxxed. All the people I know who have caught it appear to have caught it from close contacts.

Frankly, I think the benefit of sanitiser are negligible. I give masks the benefit of the doubt and will continue to wear one.

Unfortunately it’s a question of balancing a semblance of normal life with the risk of catching it and running the small risk of being seriously ill.

@Tal45

That'll be why we're having 35,000 cases a day and most of Europe are on only a few thousand. It's so easy to wear a mask in a shop, sanitise your hands and give people a bit of space, but there is no social responsibility in the UK, people are far too selfish and entitled for that.

No the reason we have 35,000 cases a day is because we test around 10x more people than the ROW.

@lljkk

I have forgotten what London is like. You generally have to be pretty unusual for anyone to take much notice of what you are doing

That is so true. I found it delightful. I live in a small town where literally the woman at school who annoys you most is probably your neighour's cousin and best friend's with the post office manager and new chair of the football club. Constantly tripping over connections between the people you meet. Everybody either knows or tries to know each other's business.

London: Red haired 6'8" tall guy in a gorilla suit at Leicester Square? Barefoot Aussie tourists in tuxedos in Trafalgar Square? Mad packs of cyclists whirling around Regent's Park at 7am? Burka clad women having a laugh with scantily clad men in the boating lake? Barely remarkable for 1 second. Nobody cares.

All of this with bells on. Where I live I went to school with everyone or taught their children , or they are friends of my 2 adult children who went to the primary and secondary schools I went to as a child. It's home and it's where I belong and I bloody love it ......but London is fantastic. Middle aged men skateboarding under the walkway on the South Bank. A shirtless body builder filming a tik tok dance video, the household cavalry riding through Hyde Park in their full regalia. You walk round a corner and there are more policemen than I have ever seen in my life closing all the streets for a convoy of someone important to whiz through. Last week we stayed near Westminster Abbey. Went for a walk in the evening to look for a restaurant.. We found one we fancied opposite the Home Office. Politicians we only see on the tv were walking in and talking loudly about stuff that is totally different from my daily life. Brilliant people watching ,fantastic food, waiters wearing masks (if that eases your nerves Op.) As Arnold Schwarzenegger would say Op " Do it.....DO IT NOW ".

@AngelinaFibres. What a lovely post. You've summed up being out and about so well. I'm in NW England and we've been out to country houses and coach trips away. Sometimes I've worn masks, sometimes not. I've always taken into consideration how people around me are feeling. But I love having my mask off, chatting with strangers (at a suitable distance!) and generally just getting back to normal life. Of course there's a risk. But I can't live in a bunker in my back garden til the risk is gone...because when will that be? I still sanitise my trolley handle and my hands - not for covid really but just for cleanliness. I can't believe that I never used to! What was I thinking?! I just love the UK. I love British people. And I love being out and about savouring everything this country has to offer. Oh no, I'm going to wave the union jack in a minute. Hehe.

London: Red haired 6'8" tall guy in a gorilla suit at Leicester Square? Barefoot Aussie tourists in tuxedos in Trafalgar Square? Mad packs of cyclists whirling around Regent's Park at 7am? Burka clad women having a laugh with scantily clad men in the boating lake? Barely remarkable for 1 second. Nobody cares.

Until I read this, I'd completely forgotten that a naked man cycled past me when I was walking home through the City from the gym recently. Then he stopped and was just sitting on his bike chatting to someone standing on the pavement. This was at Aldgate. Naked cycling, as you do. That's London for you.

I was in Liverpool at the weekend and it was no different from London - people are just cracking on.

People in London are on the whole just following the latest government guidance OP. What do you expect them to do? 🙄

@HundredMilesAnHour

London: Red haired 6'8" tall guy in a gorilla suit at Leicester Square? Barefoot Aussie tourists in tuxedos in Trafalgar Square? Mad packs of cyclists whirling around Regent's Park at 7am? Burka clad women having a laugh with scantily clad men in the boating lake? Barely remarkable for 1 second. Nobody cares.

Until I read this, I'd completely forgotten that a naked man cycled past me when I was walking home through the City from the gym recently. Then he stopped and was just sitting on his bike chatting to someone standing on the pavement. This was at Aldgate. Naked cycling, as you do. That's London for you.

This is why I love and miss London so much. Nobody cares, or at least they don’t show it. You become anonymous in London, but at the same time can feel like the most important person in the world, because all you experience around you is amazing and unique to you.

2 more nights and I’ll be home again!

@Lotusmonster

People in London are on the whole just following the latest government guidance OP. What do you expect them to do? 🙄

This doesn't make sense. The op is worried about people not wearing masks, etc.The govt has issued guidance that people should wear masks, sanitise their hands and keep social distancing in several different situations, such as shops, inside buildings, in large gatherings. So if people were following govt guidance, the op wouldn't be worried.

@HundredMilesAnHour

London: Red haired 6'8" tall guy in a gorilla suit at Leicester Square? Barefoot Aussie tourists in tuxedos in Trafalgar Square? Mad packs of cyclists whirling around Regent's Park at 7am? Burka clad women having a laugh with scantily clad men in the boating lake? Barely remarkable for 1 second. Nobody cares.

Until I read this, I'd completely forgotten that a naked man cycled past me when I was walking home through the City from the gym recently. Then he stopped and was just sitting on his bike chatting to someone standing on the pavement. This was at Aldgate. Naked cycling, as you do. That's London for you.

I still fondly remember the bloke with shoulder length brown hair wearing jeans and a T-shirt carrying a full size crucifix through the streets of Westminster one night in September. He stopped for a pint at the Two Chairmen then went on his way.

No idea what he was doing with it; I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking.

"I still fondly remember the bloke with shoulder length brown hair wearing jeans and a T-shirt carrying a full size crucifix through the streets of Westminster one night in September. He stopped for a pint at the Two Chairmen then went on his way."

😂😂😂 Gotta love London. ❤

@MrsLCSofLichfield

I knew this thread would bring all the charmers out.

Quite.

@madisonbridges

This doesn't make sense. The op is worried about people not wearing masks, etc.The govt has issued guidance that people should wear masks, sanitise their hands and keep social distancing in several different situations, such as shops, inside buildings, in large gatherings. So if people were following govt guidance, the op wouldn't be worried.

This is the same Government whose party conference occurred entirely and shamelessly without any Covid restrictions....

DH and I are on a short break in London at the moment.

We're cautious because we're in an at risk age group and although double-jabbed it would also hugely disrupt our work lives as we're self employed.

On the whole it's been fine, enough social distancing and/or mask wearing to feel safe.

BUT tonight we walked out of the Gillian Lynne Theatre where Lloyd Webber's Cinderella is showing before it started because:
It was rammed, we didn't see anyone being asked for a COVID 'passport' or negative test result status and few people were wearing masks. I was shoulder to shoulder with a young man not wearing a mask, people coughing all around us.

The theatre specifically tells people to bring the proofs stated above and asks people to wear masks but we were told on our way out they can't enforce this and don't keep a record of how many people are asked for their status on entry.

It just wasn't worth the risk and hassle for us, not sure if we'll be able to get a refund or voucher as the tickets were a gift and via an agency. I do feel we were misled by the COVID precautions information the theatre issues though - no point in having this if they shrug shoulders and make little to no attempt to follow it through.

You will be ok wearing a mask in London. It's still a very acceptable thing to do here even if lots don't. I have had to accept that I can't hide away for ever and so I'm out and about now days in London. I think once you cross the threshold you'll be ok. It will feel uncomfortable for a day or two but then you sort of give up and go with the flow x

Also I wear a N95 mask when I want to (on the bus). I don't care and I don't think anyone else notices either to be honest.

I live in London and have family in the north and I would say the lack of social distancing and mask wearing was far worse in the north. Although, yes many people are getting very rude about asking them to move away especially in lines where people will literally stand over you mask-less hacking away.