I have just taken part in the most moving moment that will be for ever suspended in time. I clapped at eight o’clock for the NHS and all those other people who work n the frontline services of our country. I wasn’t sure who would be out, but make no mistake, Wallyford had an impressive cheer.
What has surprised me is the emotion that welled up and produced tears. I’m not a weepy person, but this was different. A band of brothers and sisters united against a common cause, all over the country. It must be something primeval that lives inside us. We shared it with our neighbours and our strangers. It’s a strange time, we are having strange feelings. Let our warriors come out of this and let our sick recover. Stay safe.
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This is now so much worse than anything I can dream up. I feel we are going to inhabit some weird dystopian world devoid of toilet roll. I’m not so badly off. I only poo about once a week so unless I have a fit of diarrhoea, I should be ok. In the meantime though, restaurants, pubs and any social meeting places have been told to close. No-one in government is making suggestions now to keep us safe, they’re laying it on the line. They at least worked out, a certain age group would be out and about at the weekend. They had to be stopped. This has been such a blow to our culture and way of life. Yet, I keep asking John if this is real, it has an ephemeral feel to it, it won’t really touch us, the worst hit places are where huge numbers of people conglomerate.
Do you remember being afraid of the bogey man when you were bairn? That’s what it feels like for me, the difference being, I had no proof the bogey man really existed. This bogey man is real. He comes with a serial number. I spent a fit-full night wondering about people I hadn’t seen for years, the contact being the odd Christmas and birthday card. People I want to know I still care, who would in my closer social circle be vulnerable, working out ways to have contact with friends from group activities that have now been cancelled for the foreseeable. We’ve just got to play it by ear, we are in uncharted territory. Ok, Corona Virus dominated both the BBC news and Sky when we were on holiday two weeks ago I Fuerteventura. To be truthful, I was being a bit complacent about it. Very often the news on holiday from the BBC is way off that which is broadcast at home. I thought maybe the media was whipping us up into a frenzy. Maybe a bit hysteria is going on. Now, since Monday of this week, I’m getting worried. Crazy things are happening out there. Supermarket shelves are devoid of toilet roll and other paper products. I don’t know why. We couldn’t get baked beans, not that we eat a lot of them, but they seem to be off the menu for a while. Frozen veg, only a lonely pack of brussel sprouts, available. Frozen chips. Tinned tomatoes. Dried foods such as pasta and rice gone. Potatoes, sorry but we had to take the last two packs on display. We genuinely need them.
Large gatherings of people are of the menu too. Community groups all over the country are closing. I met a friend yesterday for lunch, there were no menus on the table. The kitchen had closed, all that was available was scones, egg rolls, salad rolls. The waitress came over to tell us they were closing in the next hour following a directive from the heid honchos. We don’t know what is going to happen in the next few weeks. We have seen nothing like it. Our government is working out strategies to minimise the spread of this virus, but they don’t know what they are dealing with either. Schools and colleges are shut. We need certain key workers to carry on in case we become ill. People need testing kits to keep the hospitals going. If the NHS collapses………. I don’t know. |
AuthorI enjoy writing short stories and reading yours. I'm always amazed at where our mind can take us. I think it is therapeutic to let your mind wander off and free itself of personal drudgery. Archives
March 2020
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