phoenix
I don't want to shoot you down but you commented that you'd read that the average reading age in the U.K. is below 12.
By 11 a child is expected and tested to see if they are a Level 4 in reading. I'm going back a few years but nationally , in reading, 89% reached Level 4.
Take a look at a piece of Level 4 reading. cdn.oxfordowl.co.uk/2017/03/30/09/42/41/727/2749604_Reading_Comp_A.pdf
I believe it is not poor reading but ignorance rather than stupidity with some people.
Gransnet forums
AIBU
Aargh! What DON'T they get?
(176 Posts) Just listening to the News on Radio 4, Simone who had travelled an hour and a half to get to their favourite beach, complaining that there were too many people, and that they were not complying with social distancing guidelines 


We were watching the news yesterday where they were interviewing people on a crowded beach. They were all surprised how crowded it was but didnt stop to think that they were part of the problem!
And there is the herd mentality in that everyone crowds together near the access points. Where we go on holiday (in good years), I'm always amazed that people stay crowded together in the area near the steps. Sure its also nearer the toilets/cafe/ice creams but if they were to walk along the seawall in either direction they would find more steps a couple of groynes along and have all the space they want!
Plenty of different models of portable camping toilets available.
If you need the loo every hour don’t travel.......simples.
I agree with you railman yet the papers online are getting on the bandwagon with this miss information, article they will have an vaccine by September next article it will be next year and so forth...
Why the statistic numbers are low, make the most of it, because I cannt see this country getting away without a peak at some point. I guess someone is creating a portable car toilet as I write this.....??
But we haven’t got people dying on the floors of our hospitals, as they are in Spain and Italy.
It’s the ‘can’t happen to me’ attitude.
Railman, I always thought I had a spare tyre in the boot!
Now I realise my mistake. Note to self- put loo roll in car?
What a good job we have an effective 'test and trace' policy, in England, with test results sent back to you by text within 48 hours. We can all rest assured that the tests were carried out in British Laboratories, accredited to British Common Sense standards.
Don't know what all the fuss is about - surely it's safe to drive around anywhere in England, and all English registered cars have toilets installed, for just that purpose as we hurtle from one beach or beauty spot to another.
Ahh - lockdown easing - but only in England where we can go to work, as long as we don't have the capacity to work from home, and we can meet anyone - one at a time - including people we may be related too - abiding by social distancing.
No need for a risk assessment of workplaces or schools, or even cafes and bars in England - just good old British Common Sense.
England - under these idiots who pretend to be a Government - is becoming the European social pariah. Most newspapers I have read are just amazed at the stupidity we are deploying in England.
I give up - really

People at the beach complaining there are too many people at the beach? Mmmm...
Yes we watched the report on tv as well and like most people thought doesn’t she realise she is talking about herself as a problem. I’m in Scotland and the only measures we have lifted at the moment is to be able to exercise more than once a day but close to your home. I’m sure she didn’t need to drive an hour and a half to get out and not to expect other people and don’t liken it to Tesco. Our local Tesco have been brilliant
Obviously some people (and Gransnetters) have neither read the Government’s advice or think they know better?
Stupid or self-centred?
Reading ages: Mirror = 9yrs, Times = 14yrs when I last measured them
It's just a general problem in this country - there are rules, but quite a few don't think they apply to them!
Dim as a Toc H lamp seems to cover it rather well. If only some of our younger citizens even attempted to read we might advance just a little.
I was just as astonished by the interpretation of the rules by the people who had travelled over from Wales!
How did they escape?
This is what is now allowed, so the 2nd point would cover that person travelling to that beach, albeit she hadn't realised so many people would be doing the same, and couldn't therefore make use of the beach.
Spend time outdoors - picnicking or sunbathing, for examplen
Travel to an outdoor open space irrespective of distance, but not with someone from outside your household unless you can observe the two-metre social distancing rules - for example by cycling
Take day trips to an outdoor open space in a private vehicle
Meet one other person from a different household outdoors, while following social distancing guidelines
Exercise outdoors as often as you like - again keeping at least two metres apart
Use a tennis or a basketball court, or a golf course with members of your household, or one other person
Go to a garden centre
@phoenix this made me laugh...I heard the same article and had the same reaction...I was shouting at the radio, using words no lady should say 
phoenix I do wonder if the woman interviewed on the beach yesterday is cringing, with her head in her hands thinking "WHY on earth did I say that????" It may have been taken completely out of context to anything else she may have been saying.
Its happened to me more than once...... 
I'm sitting here and the people who own the ground floor flat use it for short breaks but rarely visit maybe a couple of days in the summer. They live in London and have just parked their car at least an hours drive. They are elderly near 80 or older. So don't visit when they can but break the rules to visit when they can't. Age doesn't always bring wisdom
Some of my children turned up yesterday to give me my Birthday presents. One of them had been going to come round with a piece of cake and we were going to stand in the drive because I am not going out and about. When the other child turned up, we were a bit concerned and considered going to the park which we would have been within the rules but after some discussion, we went into the back garden where the children could use their slide which we never touch and you didn't have strangers passing too close. Both my husband and I felt very uncomfortable but none of us had been anywhere else for the last fortnight. I suspect we did what most people did. We weighed up the risks of "open public place" (allowed) and "open private place" (not allowed) before deciding the latter was much safer. We were able to socially distance in a large garden and nobody stayed long enough to need to come inside.
My son pointed out how it was the longest time ever that we haven't hugged and how hard he was finding it. We agreed that it was difficult but that was a step too far! He is now realising how difficult it must be for his wife who lost her mother 3 years ago and is still struggling.
Which is why other measures need to be put in place Tweedle24 until we know more about the virus. So much is being done here, and in other countries, to help us understand and patience is required.
I worry about the ‘herd immunity’ as it has yet to be proven that immunity following a case of Covid 19 lasts for any length of time. If it does not last, there will be no herd immunity
'Everyone' is flocking to their favourite open spaces, be it beach, park or open spaces. I would love to escape to a peaceful open space, but with 'everyone else' there, I will stay away, depriving myself because so many people are being selfish in not being careful and respectful for others. It comes down to what people want and only thinking of themselves. We will all be able to go to our favourite places in time until then I will continue with my daily exercise close to home
PamelaJ1 I can empathise with your friend. We also live in an apartment block on the coast and are slowly seeing second home owners coming down to stay in our block. Several permanent home owners who have various health problems feel trapped in their flats as they are afraid of contacting the virus if they use the lifts or stairs.
I am lost for words about the stupid people who think rules do not apply to them.
They are, and that’s understandable, FarNorth.
If someone is told to get a bus to work so that the economy doesn’t suffer, putting their lives at risk, are they going to feel that at weekends they should stay indoors or go out in a city, so that others who live nearby can enjoy ‘their’ beaches without having outsiders cluttering them up?
People aren’t saints, and whilst self-sacrifice may be a worthy thing to do, human nature does tend to get in the way.
The ‘what do they not get?’ arrogance is even more likely to make those who have been stuck in an office or factory all week feel that it is they who should be able to walk along a beach or country lane, and it is hard to argue with that.
A proper lockdown would make more sense to me, but I ‘get’ that this would mean fewer profits for those who make them.
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