Community Chat

[Marp]

Drunk people can't socially distance, UK police conclude

Britain's police said Sunday that revellers who packed London's Soho district the night pubs finally reopened made it "crystal clear" that drunk people cannot socially distance.

England's hospitality sector sprung back to life after a three-month coronavirus hiatus on what the media dubbed as either "Super Saturday" or "Independence Day".

Pubs and restaurants were allowed to start seating clients and barbers could get their clippers out for the first time since March.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced queries about why he decided to schedule the grand reopening for a Saturday instead of a potentially less chaotic Monday.

Johnson said Friday that it would not have made much of a difference either way.

But the head of Britain's police federation said he ended up dealing with "naked men, happy drunks, angry drunks, fights and more angry drunks" while on shift.

"What was crystal clear is that drunk people can't/won't socially distance," John Apter told London radio.

He said his own police department in the southern city of Southampton "managed to cope".

"I know other areas have had issues with officers being assaulted," Apter said.

A scan of police reports from Saturday night showed a similar level of mischief-making across England.

Officers in the southwestern Devon and Cornwall region had logged up nearly 1,000 reports of "drink-related disorder and anti-social behaviour" by late Saturday.

Excerpt from:  au.news.yahoo.com/drunk-people-cant-socially-distance-uk-police-conclude-115936598--spt.html

[millieshops]

@MarpAnd those just out to have a good time either won't or don't.

Dangerous either way -  to themselves and so so many others.

[BlueFinch]

That drunk people can't socially distance isn't exactly a revelation, is it. They were saying the same thing here in TX, after opening bars too soon. Really?

It cracked me up to hear them discussing the issue.  If you can't get people who aren't drunk to be responsible, why should we expect someone impaired to do so.  

One too many,  leads to throwing one's cares to the wind. Having an intoxicated, potentially infected individual in your face, sure sounds like fun. Not!  

[Porcelain]

In my experience, being drunk just amplifies how a person already is. So the people who are all running out to the pubs didn't want to social distance anyway. Alcohol just makes them bolder about it. If you give people a space with social cues that everything is back to normal, some will rush to behave that way.

[kitcat51]

duh.

[dulwich]

Wow what a revelation!

[MyShadowLove]

@Marp ...What an amazing revelation!

If sober people can't even be responsible, how can they expect those under the influence to do any better!

Was this supposed to be part of a research study? (tounge-in-cheek) 

[golding76]

Thank you for posting this, Marp. 

Yes, we could easily conclude the report's insight by extrapolating from known behaviors, but it is good to have anecdotal info from police who have to control expected undesired activity.

Yes, open all the bars (tongue-in-cheek).

[Sheila P-Burg]

I wish the only concern about a person drinking too much was "social distancing" .

[germanshepherdlove]

Yea, liquor and a terrible infectious illness that can't be cured. What could go wrong....