Wednesday, 23 September 2020

Running uphill, with a backpack full of idiots


I do admire ‘The People In Power’ for the way they have displayed faith in the British public, but I think it may be biting them in the arse now. The lockdown we had was far more lenient than in a lot of other countries, and we’ve basically been let out to run around under our own superstition for the past couple of months, but the problem is that some of us have running around like greyhounds who have just been let out of a kennel. Now, with September drawing to a close, the top boffins have had to do a televised appeal asking for people to display common sense, and we’re having to get used to yet another change in restrictions.
I may be wrong, but back in late July the plan seemed a good one. The science was sound, the ‘R’ rate was acceptable, and as long as everybody did what was being asked of them, the virus cases would continue to fall and falter, and the outbreak would be kept contained. But instead of that we’ve had parties in people’s gardens, groups of dozens thrown together in pubs, and many premises who seem to have forgotten they are only supposed to be open under strict guidelines, or have simply chosen to ignore them. I popped through one of Suffolk’s larger towns on Sunday, and you would have thought it was 2003 and coronaviruses didn’t exist. Every table outside every pub was full, every pavement was packed, and I saw one mask all afternoon. I know it’s been a hard year, and people want to enjoy the late Summer sunshine, but by ‘making hay while the Sun shines’ we’ve all made it certain that Winter is going to be hard and f**king horrible.
And still, with the chance to avoid catastrophe hanging in the balance, we are being trusted to govern our own behaviour and make sensible choices for the benefit of all. The scientists have asked us nicely and are forlornly hoping we’ll comply. Which means it’ll all go to shit.
It’s like climate change all over again.

RC 23-9-20

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