How much social distancing do you do?

[JoeA]

It's just me and my wife, for now. We both work from home and the only time I have left the house is to pick up groceries and a very quick, sneak trip to Home Depot to pick up a few flowers (I HAD to have some color around). Our daughter and her husband are essential (nurse and nat'l security respectively) and their day care just closed so my wife is going down to TX to play nanny for a month.

I am not sure what I think about sitting here alone for the next month! I have plenty of cigars, beer/wine and food...heck, I may not wear pants for the entire month of April!!

 

[StephMK]

We are similar. It's been once a week for groceries. In and out, and I was completely on edge the whole time. We couldn't wait to get home. With this crisis, you can really distinguish between the introverts and extroverts. We have one neighbor, SAHM and husband rarely works, they've been in and out all day every day. They just can't help themselves to be around people. The introverts (like us) have rarely been seen, if at all. My good friend even invited my kids to hang out with her family yesterday, absolutely not.

I am on edge in public places now as well. I wonder how many people are going to have lasting effects with anxiety while being in groups of people after this is over.

Right now, i am at home with my son since his college went online. My husband has already relocated and we are preparing to join him. We are selling our house so that complicates things.

The pest inspector did a walk thru last week and the appraisal will be a drive by. We have a repair so they will need attic access in my son's room. Yesterday, I had 2 people pick up items that needed help loading up. Otherwise, we have been to a few drive thrus or pick up places, the storage unit to pack it up, and I went to the grocery store once.

I am both stressed about getting it and worried about giving to others so trying hard to be safe and limit contact.

 

[Wendy31]

It’s just my DH and I. We’re both working from home. We get out and walk a bit. I shop for groceries (now once a week). We talk to neighbors from a distance of over 6 feet.

Is anyone social distancing from their families at home?

My brother-in-law & sister-in-law are. He is an essential employee & still working, & she has an immune disorder. So, he’s doing his best not to bring anything home to her.

For our family, DH is also an essential employee, so he’s still working. He has a bag packed that he keeps in his car in case they get sequestered at work. But around 2/3 of their employees (if I’m remembering correctly) have been sent home to work, so he doesn’t have a lot of people contact while at work.

He feels since he’s already out working that he should do the grocery shopping, so the kids & I can stay home. I went once w/ him on 3/16. We didn’t find everything we needed, so he went out again the next day to 2 different grocery stores. Since then, he’s been once more - but, again, to 2 different grocery stores. He’s also gone to Ace Hardware once to get the propane tank for our grill filled.

DD & older DS came home from college on 3/13, so we’re considering 3/14 as our 1st day of social distancing. They are doing online instruction for the remainder of the year. Our younger son’s weekly co-op has also been suspended.

Other than DH going to work & the grocery store, we are at home & are seeing no one else. I talk to my mom on the phone. We did take a drive the other day to the lake but stayed away from others.

 

[cobright]

I stay at home. I have an aditional 2 adults and 2 teenagers in our very small house but none of us have done anything for 2 weeks that involved interacting with humans.

Went on a road trip last week with immune compromised person. I wiped gas pump handles and touchies in the bathroom (parts of the process you have to make skin contact with ... touchies ... that's mine but you can use it) down with a mixture of 99% alcohol and benzalkonium chloride. Otherwise, we brought everything needed for the drive from home. Now we just chill. Once a day we all drive up to a nature center that's still open and go for a mile walk. we give wide berth when passing others.

We set in a fair amount of staples once it was clear this was going to be a long storm to weather. We get fresh veggies and necessities delivered once a week. we put them under a UVC hood. We're taking it serious.

Did not think I would be the type... but getting a little cabin fever.

 

[dish rag]

Not going over board with it.

 

[soccerdad72]

Wife and I have been working from home for the last 2 weeks or so. My wife has actually been WFH a little longer than me, but she was already working from home a few days a week anyways.

The past couple weeks, we made one trip to Rochester, NY to pack up our college son's dorm room (he was already home on Spring Break when everything started happening). Otherwise, I have gone out for a couple take out food orders, one trip to Dick's for carside delivery and one shopping trip for groceries.

Two boys really haven't left the house much - one doing online HS and one doing online college.

 

[Lilsia]

Both of my daughters work at a grocery store, one is a cashier and the other is an online shopper, and I work at a donut shop. Hubby is working from home for the time being. So other then work, and the occasional stop at the grocery store, we are at home.

 

[Lilsia]

I haven’t changed at all because I’ve been social distancing for years I go to work and that’s it. My dh goes to work and does the grocery shopping. At least I have a valid excuse for not wanting to go out or socialize now.

You sound like us. We rarely go out and are happy at home. I save all of my "out of the house" time for my vacations.

 

[Lilsia]

which I totally understand, but it’s also frustrating because all the stores in my area are actively encouraging you to use pick up options, but then lack adequate staff for those pick up options. I feel bad for the position they’re in, I’ve just been making reservations for pick up a week out, which requires more planning than I’m used to!!

Stores are having an issue with their employees wanting to work at this time. Both of my daughters work at the grocery store and are told that they can get as many hours as they want. This is why some stores, like Target, are paying their employees more to work at this time. I don't blame people really for not wanting to risk it. Especially if they have vulnerable family members. Luckily, our area is not as densely populated and our numbers of those that are sick is low. And most people are keeping their distance from others as much as they can.

 

[hopemax]

Just DH and me. DH is WFH, and I don't work.

We go out for errands about once a week. We get takeout about 4 meals a week. We play Pokemon Go, so we go out daily to spin a PokeStop. It's about 6 minutes of walking, but sometimes we just drive over. Otherwise, we are in our house/yard.

 

[StacyStrong]

I work from home (full time, even before this). I have left the house exactly 2 times since March 15th.

Once, for a quick run. A second time to walk to my s/o's uncles second home. It's 2 blocks away and currently empty (he usually rents it out). I walked over there because we decided to use the freezer as storage space.

I live with three other people. Two haven't left for a little over a week and half.

My S/O, on the other hand, runs an essential service so he is still working. On the plus side, he only has one employee and his contact with the public is minimal. On the down side, that means business is slow.

I am having most of our groceries delivered to the extent possible, but my S/O has made 2 quick grocery store trips for the house. Even that, I don't like. I'm pretty anxious about it all.

 

[RamblingMad]

I work from home now. I only see people irl at the grocery store. The rest are on Zoom or conference calls.

 

[siren0119]

We have to practice pretty strict social distancing. My husband is a type 1 diabetic, and I have an autoimmune issue. We go for walks as a family once a day, but only around our neighborhood. And one person goes food shopping, once a week. Stick to the list and get in and out as quickly as possible. We are making good use of video chats, facetime, and virtual meetups so we can still see our friends and family!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I may not wear pants for the entire month of April!!

My husband is working from home and I kid him kinda each day about him wearing jeans still...like come on seriously!? But he's not normally a lounge pant, athletic shorts person anyways so it makes sense but still why? lol.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's just my husband and I and our cat

I've only seen 1 family member in person and that was my mom about 10days ago, prior to that it was mother-in-law and sister-in-law 10 days before that (so nearly 3 weeks at this point for them). For my mom it was her picking up toilet paper I bought for her. I set it down on the sidewalk to my house, went back to my door, she got out of her car and picked up and then we chatted for a few.

My husband has seen his sister-in-law probably 9 or so days ago when they met in a parking lot to drop off Bisquick Heart Healthy version of pancake mix. The stores were all out of it near us, she was able to snag some, they parked their cars away from each other, set it down moved back and my husband picked it up, they chatted for a few.

We have been doing FB video chat with mother-in-law, step-father-in-law, and both sister-in-laws now twice a week.

My husband and I have gotten out when needed to get stuff, he's gone out by himself too. Each store we've been to we bring our hand sanitizer, use it when we're done with and then when we get home we wash our hands. When we're in stores we are quite aware of our distance to other people.

We did go to the park last week and will probably go again sometime this week, we also got our firepit fixed (gravity was pulling one side) so we finally used the quikrete stuff in the garage to put a semi-permanent foundation to it and then restacked it and plan to have some fires soon so at least some of those nice but not hot hot days we'll be able to spend more time in the backyard. We had gone up yesterday to my husband's grandmother's 10acre property to get some firewood.

Also spoke to neighbors at a good distance (far more than 6ft in our case) catching up while they were either grilling or doing yard work.

 

[Walt4ever]

I'm sure I'll be accused of being selfish, but my family isn't concerned. If I see someone at the store that appears to want their 6 feet, or if there is a visible indication that they might be more at risk (age, etc.), I make sure to give them their space. If someone starts up a chat and wants to shake hands, I shake hands. I work in an "essential" industry (construction is one here, but other areas, including Orlando, have a much, much, much more generous list of what is essential), so am still at work 40 hours a week. Hubby is mostly working from home, daughter is home from school, doing a lot more school work now because it is all virtual, but hoping for it's return by mid-April as she is class of 2020.

We go to the grocery store 2 or 3 times a week, as usual. Pick up from our favorite pizza joint, which includes being in their store for about 15 minutes while they prepare and cook it. We've done a lot more gardening than usual, but usually go to the home improvement stores a couple times a week, and that schedule has been maintained. Our adult children have visited, and yes, got hugs and kisses.

My in-laws are their 70s and are staying more or less at home, but aren't afraid to venture out on their errands. We haven't seen them in a few weeks. My honest opinion is that I hope we either get it or already got it so that we can see them again. I know THEY won't put up with isolation, and will probably insist on a family get together for Easter. My personal opinion, remember it's an opinion and nobody has to agree with it, is that it would be better for all to let the "healthy" go ahead and get it, let it run its course, so that those who are more at risk don't have to be afraid. It's the at risk, in the majority of cases, that end up in the hospital. That's the population that we need to "flatten the curve" for. By keeping the healthy from getting it, that just means that we can get it in July or August and STILL give it to someone more susceptible. If we have it now, the rest are safer, and since we by large don't require hospitalization, we also aren't overburdening the medical community.

 

[violina]

I'm pretty strict but we have a baby in the house. Since I'm his primary person, I haven't been going out and haven't really seen very many people. I had distanced myself early on though, due to it being flu season and not wanting to put myself and baby at risk. My husband was a bit more lax with seeing his friends and going out, but has gotten a bit more restrictive as details about the virus has altered over time.

 

[scoutie]

I'm a teacher, so I'm working from home, and my husband is a prosecutor, so he still has to go in. His office is staggering days between the staff. I go out to get groceries and go for walks, otherwise I'm inside. My kids play outside, but all of their friends are also practicing social distancing. My 15 year old and his friends have online movie nights a few times a week, and I just had my first ZOOM cocktail party. I'm a social person who is used to seeing friends weekly, so this is difficult.

 

[skyblue17]

I'm sure I'll be accused of being selfish, but my family isn't concerned. If I see someone at the store that appears to want their 6 feet, or if there is a visible indication that they might be more at risk (age, etc.), I make sure to give them their space. If someone starts up a chat and wants to shake hands, I shake hands. I work in an "essential" industry (construction is one here, but other areas, including Orlando, have a much, much, much more generous list of what is essential), so am still at work 40 hours a week. Hubby is mostly working from home, daughter is home from school, doing a lot more school work now because it is all virtual, but hoping for it's return by mid-April as she is class of 2020.

We go to the grocery store 2 or 3 times a week, as usual. Pick up from our favorite pizza joint, which includes being in their store for about 15 minutes while they prepare and cook it. We've done a lot more gardening than usual, but usually go to the home improvement stores a couple times a week, and that schedule has been maintained. Our adult children have visited, and yes, got hugs and kisses.

My in-laws are their 70s and are staying more or less at home, but aren't afraid to venture out on their errands. We haven't seen them in a few weeks. My honest opinion is that I hope we either get it or already got it so that we can see them again. I know THEY won't put up with isolation, and will probably insist on a family get together for Easter. My personal opinion, remember it's an opinion and nobody has to agree with it, is that it would be better for all to let the "healthy" go ahead and get it, let it run its course, so that those who are more at risk don't have to be afraid. It's the at risk, in the majority of cases, that end up in the hospital. That's the population that we need to "flatten the curve" for. By keeping the healthy from getting it, that just means that we can get it in July or August and STILL give it to someone more susceptible. If we have it now, the rest are safer, and since we by large don't require hospitalization, we also aren't overburdening the medical community.

I wouldn't say you are selfish, so long as you are respecting others. If I saw you shaking hands, I'd probably give you side eye and walk further than six feet away, because I am taking this much more seriously and would consider you more likely to be carrying the virus without knowing it.

As for the healthy thing, plenty of perfectly healthy people are getting hit hard by this, so allowing them all to "get it" would be a real drain on our medical system.

Anyway, hoping for you that your family stays healthy.

 

[StacyStrong]

I wouldn't say you are selfish, so long as you are respecting others. If I saw you shaking hands, I'd probably give you side eye and walk further than six feet away, because I am taking this much more seriously and would consider you more likely to be carrying the virus without knowing it.

As for the healthy thing, plenty of perfectly healthy people are getting hit hard by this, so allowing them all to "get it" would be a real drain on our medical system.

Anyway, hoping for you that your family stays healthy.

Personally don’t think you can respect others if you’re ignoring public health recommendations. Visiting family, shaking hands, etc and then going into essential public spaces that elderly and immunocompromised people (or anyone else, frankly) need to go to without knowing if you’re an asymptomatic carrier seems pretty blatantly disrespectful to me.