So called "sssential items"

Our local Tesco has been brilliant there is always a queue but it moves along quite quickly. The man in charge offers to clean your basket or trolley and there are free gloves if you want them. He's so cheery and constantly apologies for the wait. I'm finding shopping quite stressful now there's all the arrows to follow and now a place marked out to stand at the checkout. It's like an X factor audition to pay for your shopping. Don't move from that circle. I can't imagine all the hustle and bustle of a Primark just now. Like many others it's my garden that's keeping me going.

I was surprised to see Easter eggs in the supermarkets. I consider them nonessential, they are a luxury. Having said that because they are available I bought one for each of my granddaughters. They will not be getting them tomorrow though as I will not see them until the lockdown is over. I have taken photos of them which I will send to their mothers phone tomorrow with messages for each of them. I do fear however the availability of them will mean a lot of people will decide that they will visit family to deliver in person

I guess Easter eggs and other seasonal items are planned way ahead of time and need to sell if they are taking storage space in the supermarket.

Hithere
People can buy what they like if the item is in the shops.
If I’m in buying my normal groceries ( and don’t forget this is not a time of rationing) then I will. It’s keeping the economy going.

Well, Daddima, your sons friend made an unnecessary journey and interacted with people when he didn’t need to.

The bottle of milk and loaf of bread might get him out of the fine but it won’t change the fact that he doesn’t care about spreading the virus ?

Anyone else agonising over buying a daily newspaper? I don’t want to pay for one to be delivered and am perfectly able to go to the newsagent’s. I’m justifying it in my head by making it the half way point in my daily walk! Essential for my mental health. The cheery newsagent is wearing a mask and has a screen on the counter. No money changes hands as I am a subscriber so only have to hand over a voucher.

Minshy
I agree, if it is available and you want it, why not?

I really wish that people would stop policing one another (and now, it seems, that includes the police!) and moderate their own behaviour.

Against whose moral scale are we to be measured? None of us can see inside the heart of mind of others, so it is quite breathtakingly arrogant to decide whether what they are doing or buying is essential or not.

The people being castigated for sitting in the park might have SAD or a vitamin D deficiency. The people getting shopping delivered might have invisible health conditions that weaken their immune systems. The ones shopping regularly might have no car, or be shopping for others as well as themselves. The person buying chocolate might be diabetic, and do it goes on.

We all have different ideas about what is essential, so unless we are to be doled up gruel from a communal pot we have to accept that there will be different items in other people’s baskets.

The thing that has shocked me most about this crisis is the willingness to criticise, report and generally meddle in the business of others that so many people have shown.

If people stay 2 metres away from us, why don’t we leave them to live their lives, and assume that they will allow us to do the same?

The main problem is what a person consider essential, it puts others in danger.

The example about sad or vitamin d deficiency, how about other options? Is going outside the only option?

The problem is that the 2 meters or 6 ft is not enough to protect ourselves. It has been mention it is 10 to 12 ft.

What would you all say if my " essential need" for my mental health is to have my family over while observing the 6 m distance every weekend?
Or have my hair cut and dyed every month?
I need a favorite coffee place open because I need my special coffee they can make?
Go to visit my adult child's home as there is a new baby?
Go on vacation?
Celebrate mother's day, Father's Day, Easter, birthdays, etc with family and friends?

Where is the fine line between "essential need" vs not willing to modify my routine to make sure my mental health is in track while not endangering anybody else?

That is why some policing.
The subjective definition of essential is the problem.

Doodledog Absolutely, thank you! I typed a long post saying pretty much what you've said but lost it and couldn't be bothered to start again. So many on various threads claim to have a way more intimate knowledge of their neighbours' needs and actions than I have of some of my family!

Hithere, the things you mention can’t be done whilst observing a 2metre distance.

If that’s not enough, increase the permitted distance between people, but don’t differentiate between one activity and another.

That way, nobody gets to force their priorities into everyone else.

Hithere we are being told we may not sit, however briefly, on a park bench. If a person can only walk for ten to fifteen minutes before requiring a rest should they be forbidden from exercising outside? Of course your other examples are rightfully covered by the rules we in the UK are required to keep.

Janipat

Then you walk only for 5 minutes and turn around to minimize the chances of needing to rest in that bench and you make sure you can rest at home.

You adapt yourself to your limits.

If after the first 10 min walk and you are rested walk again 5 minutes and turn around.
Rinse and repeat.

We have ways to adapt our needs to the new rules.

If you ask me 3 weeks ago, I would tell you it would be impossible for me to work from home while taking care of my very young kids (no daycare)
It is very much possible. We just have to be creative and try new ways

Doodledog,
I can provide you with threads where travelling to help dd or dil/son after childcare became justified and rationalized by being an "exception"
The same to care for the gc while their parents work from home

The mental gymnastics some people can go through to justify their own wishes is jaw dropping and unexplainable

After childbirth, not childcare. Sorru

When we visited Cuba our guide explained how generally speaking the shops stocked only essentials and how prices were based on necessity. All I can say is the shops were relatively scarce on choice but Havana Rum was incredibly cheap!

Clothing stores are closed yet the supermarkets with all and sundry and clothing sections are being allowed to maintain these. I know of a female who works with one of those areas in a supermarket and she is driving the length and breadth of the country in her marketing/supervisor role. Definitely not essential work. I thought she had been seconded to help in the food side of the supermarket but no continuing with the clothing section. Why is this allowed yet other stores are closed? I think the Police have enough to do without checking shoppers' trolleys.

Maybe designated shops should sell (let's say) 200 items, excluding clothing and assorted tat. We could all be electronically tagged and keep a mandatory log of our activities. We could have ration books and curfews after sunset. That's what will happen if smart ar*es and barrack room lawyers keep on taking the pee.

I don’t understand why some supermarkets are allowed to sell clothes, but clothes shops are closed. The same with plants and garden centres.
At the moment gardeners are being deprived of essential gardening items, but you can buy a jacket in a Sainsbury’s.

I agree with the comment above.

Maybe designated shops should sell (let's say) 200 items, excluding clothing and assorted tat. We could all be electronically tagged and keep a mandatory log of our activities. We could have ration books and curfews after sunset. That's what will happen if smart arses and barrack room lawyers keep on taking the pee.

I think that’s what a lot of people would like. They would form an order queue to sign up for the roles monitors, and offer rewards to those who reported their neighbours for infringement. That sort of mentality is never too far from the surface, is it?

For the record- I am in voluntary lockdown, and have been since before we were all asked to stay indoors. I am not arguing from the point of view of one who is flouting the rules. It just terrifies me how quickly the population has turned on each other, and how many people are showing a very worrying dictatorial side.

Garden centres here are open but they are just garden centres. They do not have restaurants, have shop concessions or sell food. You are not allowed inside but must queue 2m apart in the car park. When it's your turn the girl takes your order and returns with it and the bill. You pay and go. Obviously they are mainly selling plant and vegetable seedlings, compost etc because many people grow their own vegetables here. DH went last week and bought 20 tomato plant she said there were 15 of one variety and 5 of an other. I just hope the 15 are not cherry tomatoes. Next time I will have to give him a list of veggies in Portuguese.

Doodledog There are some people who seem to take a delight in getting one over on any form of authority. They couldn't care less about public health or the common good. They're the bores who love to tell you how they got out of paying a parking or speeding fine. I guess in their sad little minds it proves they're important.

That may be so, growstuff; but what it has to do with all of this I’m not sure.

The guidance is to observe social distance and to stay indoors other than for essentials. What counts as essential is open to debate, and a judgement on someone else’s definition of essential would require an in-depth knowledge of their personal circumstances which most us would only have with close family.

My objection is to those who pass judgement and vilify others with no such knowledge, potentially adding to their distress.

If we all look to our own conscience and stay out of others’ business (providing that social distancing is being observed) there would be a lot less bad feeling all round.

Hithere how dare you. If you have very young ‘kids’ then you are not old enough to understand the aches and pain that come with old age. If someone on this forum needs to rest on a bench then that is none of your business and certainly not up to you to tell them not to.

There is a world of difference between groups of youths or young mothers gathering together in parks to have a natter and an elderly person having to take a pit stop when trying to get some much needed exercise.

We don’t need MN-like sarky comments on here.