General Discussion

I would like to introduce readers to our “More on…” series of handy guides providing more information on topics of current concern or interest. Our most recent “More on…” guide concerns social distancing outside the home. Here is an extract:

Social Distancing Outside the Home

The chances of passing on Covid 19 in the open air are small. However, to protect your friends and family it is best to keep about 6 feet or 2 metres apart. Whilst walking in the lanes, on the sea wall or just the pavement we recommend the following techniques:

1. Moving to One Side

Whilst walking along the path, sea wall etc. you may see a person coming towards you. Move to the side of the path nearest to you (but not the same side as the person coming towards you). Most of the time you will find you can keep 2 metres apart. Take a tape measure outside with a friend to see how this works. It will come fairly easily after a little practice. 

(After we published our first edition of this guidance, a reader wrote to us from hospital:

“ I was walking along the sea wall with my friend. He followed your guidance and moved to one side but in doing so, pushed me off the sea wall. Please provide more on guidance for walking with another person”)

2. Walking with Another Person

After a lot of research we discovered this long-forgotten technique called “Walking in Single File”.This is the technical term but if this difficult to remember you can call it “Walking in a line”. Here’s how it works:

Let’s imagine you are walking with a friend along that sea wall and a person is walking towards you. Here’s what to do:

One of you (we suggest the person closest to the middle of the path) should stop or walk more slowly. You will soon see that your friend is now in front of you and not by your side. Now you can both use the “Moving to One Side” technique quite safely. When you have passed the person going in the opposite direction, the person behind walks faster and back towards the middle so that you are side-by-side again. You can do this even if you are walking a dog or pushing a buggy but you must remember to leave enough room for them if you are the one walking behind.

(This is quite complicated so we provide diagrams in our full guide)

3. Stop and Wait

Sometimes you will see the path ahead begins to narrow so that it is not possible to keep your distance. If someone is coming towards you here’s what to do:

Stop walking before you get to the narrow bit and use the “Moving to One Side” technique until the person has passed. You can then start walking again. If you have just joined the narrow bit and someone is coming, you can use the “Return to The Wider Path” technique. This involves a complex manoeuvre of turning around and walking back to the wider bit of the path. (See our full guide for a full description and diagrams)

You will find that these techniques begin to come quite easily after some practice.

You might also like……..

A new 3 part “More on…” guide to Surviving Dehydration

Part 1 How to make a cup of coffee at home or at work (Please note, this guide requires the use of specialist equipment such as a tap, a kettle, a spoon and a cup or mug)

Part 2 How to walk about outside the home without holding a cup of coffee / tea

Part 3 Travelling about for up to an hour without a cup of coffee and without dying of dehydration. (Medical advice should be sought before trying this)

Older readers may find this useful as a refresher as this guidance was standard BC (Before Costa). This will be entirely new guidance for younger readers born AD (After Dominoes)

This is what one guide user said:

“This has changed my life. I did not believe these things were physically possible”

Also available -  

The “More on…” guide to Litter Bins

What they are, how to identify them, how to use one and where they might be found.

These “More on…” guides and others are available from “More on…” Guides Ltd., Dawlish.

What is this crap..................

It's called irony. Someone will explain it to you when you're grown ups............

I know what iriony is because I have grown up, however  I bet  you will be glad when schools go back  rather than  waste time on purile  posts.....

You’re absolutely right of course. I should not be wasting my life trying to make points by posting puerile attempts at ironic humour. After all, I must have squandered hours on those 7 posts in the last 8 years. Mind you, I see there are some who have made well over 1200 posts but I guess I could learn from their more adult, calm and thoughtful efforts such as:

“ Lobotomy Dems” (1263 December 20)

“..what a load of boll***ks- more woke crap..” (1263 28 Aug 20)

“Roll Up Roll up ......listen to all the bulls**t promises”  (1263 21 Nov 19)

Would that I were possessed of such rhetorical genius!

Time to put away the stones my friend lest you should damage your glass house. 

I probably wont respond again. After all, apparently I need to get a life. Merry Christmas.

Epicurus, you are wasted on this forum.

Epicurus,

I haven't posted on here for years because of all of the very unpleasant abuse that a small number of people direct at one another. Apart from Lynne, soldiering on with informative posts and thought-out ideas, most of the constructive posters have withdrawn. 

I used to post satirical pieces and I am glad to see your work. My other great pleasure is to read posts complaining about bad English that themselves contain grammatical errors and spelling mishtakes.

In passing, our dad used to call my sisters and me "little morons." When we grew up a bit, he called us "complete morons" and that made us really proud that he recognised how well we had developed. 

don

Perhaps we could reanimate the forum with the Marcus Tullius Cicero award for rhetoric. Candidates, anyone?

I am bound to say that I am surprised and not a little heartened by the responses to my posts. My somewhat pessimistic expectation was that they would be received with a tirade of abuse. (I like the humour in your second post by the way).

That said, hands up, full confession, even Iv’e done a little ranting in my time though you would not need all the fingers of one hand to count the occasions. Nobody’s perfect.

In this respect I would agree with your comments about Lynne whose Zen-like patience and refusal to engage with the abuse puts us all to shame.

I must say, that it would be nice to think that there was a forum for serious, intelligent discussion and debate where people could respectfully express all shades of opinion without recourse to the kind of knee-jerk aggression and abuse (or indeed the fear of it) which has become almost mandatory in these spaces. Indeed, I think that this is often a habit or something done only half consciously. 

I would also wish to clarify what I mean by “intelligent” debate. Mine is very a mixed background; socially, educationally and professionally. I have lived and worked with many straightforward “working” people (almost any way of expressing this sounds patronising - it’s not intended) whose clear-sighted intelligence and humanity could give many a university don a run for their money. I have also met some highly qualified and respected individuals who are utterly clueless outside their field of expertise. Thus I would not wish my utopian forum to become merely a middle class echo chamber. Goodness knows there are enough of those. True democracy lies in differences respected: The kind of debate you might have with a true friend before sinking your differences over a pint.

My pompous and high-handed tone, as some might see it, in responding to 1263 was rather to expose and bring into consciousness the style of interaction for what it is. Plain speaking and robust opinions are not the same as knee-jerk aggression and abuse. My purpose was to highlight the difference. 

So, if my contribution improves the tone of the debate here I would be delighted though I remain a little pessimistic.

Maybe there might be room for someone to open a discussion about why people feel the need to be so aggressive on the web. Not for me to open it though. I have opined far too much already!

@Epicurus & @Don Pearson

And there was I beginning to think "Can I be arsed anymore?". 

Praise indeed. Lovely to see both of you making your rare postings on this site. 

I for one would love to see you post more not least because I do feel a little 'lonely' on here sometimes.  

"I must say, that it would be nice to think that there was a forum for serious, intelligent discussion and debate" - maybe there is but this isn't  it and never will be...

Who knows, 1263? But with a little effort and good will............

It doesn't need to be too serious or very intelligent. All that is needed is a place to express one's ideas  and absorb other people's ideas without incurring name calling and abuse and without posts aimed simply at winding up other posters.

I have simple rules  for myself:

never write anything online that I would not say to someone face to face.

think before I write and never write in anger.

How hard can it be?

Don

Pretty sound advice Don. These days when I feel inclined to rant in print because something has made me furious, I sit at my keyboard giving full vent to my rage (surely we've all been there?). Then I save the file and come back to it the next day. By that time the rage has abated and more often than not I can see how ridiculous it sounds or how my rage has obscured the real point. If I stil feel the need to post it, I will moderate my tone.

@ Epicurus

I thought the More On (Moron) guide was very good indeed and brought a smile to my face.

The unfortunate thing about it is that it is true.

There are  far too many people around who have to be instructed in 'the use of common sense' and always blame someone else for their failures in life.

Keep it up.