UKC

Seems to be the case that hugging will once again be the expected norm. What a fuss the media are making.

I'm off to see if I can find a top with lots of spikes on it, and maybe I will stop showering too. 

I will continue to enforce social distancing, it suited me just fine thanks!

youtube.com/watch?v=qX5DqgkFshQ&

Yes, this! Appart from I'd rather not shake hands either! Lol.

Personally I like a good cuddle. However I'm not a magnet for unwanted attention off those I'd rather stay away from - so possibly a different experience. When its a two way win win kinda hug - I'm looking forward to a few more. TBH im looking forward to a few pints too, so not really very fussy. Climb, hug, pint. Tick.

I do think itll be weird going back to physical contact having significantly altered behaviours for a year though. 

Yes, one of the upsides of covid and social distancing has been only to bother showering about once a week or so and, with no chance of visitors, hoovering only every few months when the toe nail clippings start to get annoying with bare feet.

I'm glad it's not just me.  I'm quite happy in my hermitage personally.

Well, I only hug people close to me who like to receive hugs.

I shall be glad to return to being able to do that.

The first statement I saw was rather vague on who we could or should hug, which I put down to Boris himself being somewhat unsure on the accepted norms around social touching.

Satire isn't dead.

I had no idea the Hug Embargo was still in place! I hugged my mother last week. I'm dreading a knock on the door now from the Inappropriate Emotional Display hit squad ....

I've never been too keen on hugging other people outside of family or in a relationship, and find the action of hugging someone you hardly know and kissing the air some two inches away from their ear faintly ridiculous. I also wouldn't be sorry to see hand shaking disappear, It's the 21st Century in Britain now, so the likelihood of the person you are meeting having a sword in their right hand is pretty slim, and any way when you stop to consider what that person might have been doing with their right hand before they met you doesn't bear thinking about, not to mention all the other people they have been shaking hands with. It must be a great way for transmitting all sorts of bugs, let alone Covid.

I much prefer the eastern greeting of pressing your own palms together, making eye contact and smiling, like the Indian/Nepalese "Namaste"

Indeed. We're British, not French.

when I was at school hugging was definitely not a thing.  We even called our best friends by surnames.

Ironic and frustrating in equal measures that the greater the restrictions, the more they forced me to stay closer to others in the Central Belt. As restrictions have eased my ability to get further from others has increased dramatically.

Media has been full of indications of what "everyone is looking forward to", most of which I'm entirely ambivalent towards. 

Don't choose the same Top as me.

I'm one of those sinister types who carries his sword in his left hand...

I did not think that hugging was ever actually illegal?

I am proud to say that I have been hugging my family and some friends throughout, particularly when some of us have been going through some very tough times this year. I'm not some sort of unfeeling robot and can't quite get my head around why you would not hug the people that you love.

Luckily my family have mostly felt the same way and we all cherish our relationships, time spent together and support for each other over and above our individual needs for personal safety, or whether we are at risk of catching this or any other disease.

I was listening to the news about this on the radio the other day it was certainly one of the most surreal thing I have ever heard come out of a public broadcast.

It could have easily been part of a comedy podcast written by Ben Partridge. It had that feel of taking something mundane and making ridiculous statements about it.

I love my mum as well so was happy not to increase the risk of killing her for a few months. Thought that was as great a demonstration of my affections as much as the hugs we had to do without, personally.

The most obvious reason during a global pandemic is out of concern that you might risk passing on an infection to them that could do them serious harm, perhaps even kill them.  YMMV, but it really isn't a concept that's all that difficult to get your head around is it?

https://www.behance.net/gallery/12573867/Spike-Away/modules/89406243

This reminds me of the time Peter Lilley (if you're under 40 he was a minister in the Thatcher / Major governments) suddenly appeared at my front door canvassing. I wonder if he would have been quite so enthusiastic about shaking hands if he'd known I was in the middle of fixing the toilet.

But we could have done that at any time in the past with many other dangerous viruses and we never used to give it a second though? It should be personal choice at the end of the day for the individuals concerned. It is not our governments business to start micro-managing our lives at this sort of level. 

So perhaps our government, rather than continuing to pour endless billions into vaccine passports and the testing of the healthy etc, should instead now maybe start getting to grips with this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57092797

Seen on a tee shirt.  "I was Social Distancing before it became cool."

Hello new poster with a covid agenda.  Not seen that before.

Because none of those viruses had the potential to fill every intensive care and hospital bed in the country 7 times over if we didn’t take exceptional control measures.

This is not a difficult concept to understand.

Are you just making shit up or do you have evidence to back that up?

What the **** do you think the point of taking exceptional measures to reduce cases and hospital occupancy was?  So all the medical staff could have a year off, or so they could start working through the backlog of non-covid work caused by having the entirety of all hospitals devoted to covid care when we lost control of covid cases?

Honestly I don’t think someone could be this dense and use a computer, so I’m just going to assume you’re either trolling or agitating.

Edit:  Re: my “dense” comment - unless you’re mattmurphy, who previously claimed disease induced immunity was enduring because of an experiment where he and his brother licked each other.   

> and can't quite get my head around why you would not hug the people that you love.

Each to their own, but in many cases if the person they love is much older, because one didn’t want them to die on an overloaded covid ward with one heavily overworked nurse their to hold their hand, whilst in full PPE, so they don’t die alone?  

Fist bumps.

Much safer, and they’re propa gangsta.

Yeah, I did wonder if you were telling porkies when you said you "couldn't get your head around" why we might be choosing not to hug our loved ones.  Confirmation here that the post I replied to was somewhat dishonest and you were actually pushing a bit of 'anti-lockdown' type guff.

Ironic that you started that paragraph by claiming not to be an 'unfeeling robot', we have seen this point of view put forward on here by an awful lot of 'bots over the last year.

Have you been bingeing on the Vitamin D again .... ?

Safer and safe.

Wow I read this thread, found it interesting and then posted a link to a BBC article. I have an opinion on hugging being a normal activity that should not be controlled by the state and you have reacted in quite an aggressive fashion there. I am sorry if I appear to have stepped on someones toes, or if I have the wrong sort of opinion for you, but in answer to your questions, then I don't know I am afraid.

I would point out to you though that old people have been dying alone this last year, and in large numbers, shut in their rooms in care homes and unable to see their family. Our gran was one of these. She died at 85 not of Covid but of dementia. She had been deeply distressed last year that our grandad (her husband of over 60 years) had not been in as normal see her. She couldn't understand why she had been abandoned and as a result her faculties declined quickly. As a family we have been devastated that because of the cruel Covid rules surrounding care homes then she died alone, probably thinking that we must not love her any more. My grandad pleaded with the care home to be able to see her one last time before she died. He was refused access. We all feel deeply guilty that this was allowed to happen even though there was nothing we could do. Our grandad, a previously healthy 83 year old is now quite ill with all the guilt, worry and stress the whole situation has caused him. 

So there we go! This is the stuff that is going on behind the scenes caused directly by our governments Covid policies. Our elderly are already giving up their dignity to protect the NHS. Families have been shattered because of Covid policy. This is one of the reasons we have been hugging each other throughout last year and this. Is this still okay by your precious rule book?

So there's my opinion. I think I'll leave this topic here as I have no further wish to engage with you.

Is your outrage as fake as your earlier claim not to understand why one wouldn’t hug someone, given the obvious evidence over this disease?

You’d almost have got away with your most recent message seeming genuine, but for...

Its the fault of the virus, not the government’s policies intended to limit the spread of Covid.  Take those away and your relative would likely have died of covid with you driving them round looking for oxygen and a hospital, as we’re seeing in India.

You can dress it up in personal emotions, but it doesn’t wash with me for a moment.  We control the virus, or more will die from direct and indirect consequences.  This all sucks, in many ways for many people, but without policies to control the spread, there can be no reasonable doubt it would suck far worse.

Fake outrage, how dare you. I am not sure what you are trying to achieve but please leave this here before I say something to you that I regret.

I like hugs, I'm kinda 'youngest sibling' about them, or dog like, but I register when people aren't keen to reciprocate.

I'm half expecting another 'oops' and restriction of things soon again, though, possibly it's the Indian variant, or covid seeming to be something that's a fixture now.

I am saying that you as a newly signed up account are making serious misrepresentations around the risks and the alternatives to control measures and using an emotional argument to give this misrepresentations undue gravitas.

I have sympathy for your relatives awful situation and for everyone else affected by the awful year.  It in no way justifies your stance on control measures or faux nativity.  Your illogical dismissal of control measures is part of the pressure against control measures that has made this whole situation worse than it needs to have been.

Your posts look like the kind of organised misinformation or agitation seen each time the threat rises, just as it is doing now.  Perhaps it’s total coincidence that you signed up very recently and got straight on it with a misrepresented stance against control measures.

Calm down! Calm down!!

youtube.com/watch?v=STIvNjWobzA&

Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey!

Isn't long covid another good reason not to risk transmitting covid to your loved ones...?

It sounds like we will be far enough away from each other that no one will notice! 😃

Yep, that one looks good!

Even in ‘normal times’ I’ve often been amazed at teenage sport events to see both sides encouraged to line up and shake hands afterwards. 22 fourteen year olds clasping right hands seems a recipe for virus spread.🤪 I recognise, and applaud, the reasons behind it mind. Hopefully soon other way can be found. Clapping in lines as in Rugby?

At school it was first names for friends. As I've got older I find the surname used more often but ironically!

Don't know why you'd want ticks, but each to their own.

I'm missing hugs too.

Say it, say it, say it!!

In a semi-formal setting like that, it would easy enough to have hand sanitizer at the end of each line. Shake hands, then immediately sanitise.

Shaking hands alone doesn't cause infection; it's hands subsequently into soft openings that causes infection.

Yes- good point. I suppose it could be managed. 

MATRON!!

With a shower afterwards. For teenagers, such facilities will be a league requirement.

I'm reading this with Kenneth William's voice in my head

Good