I have spent the last few hours trying to think of a word to describe how I feel at the moment and in the end have decided to say “discombobulated”. The dictionary definition is “to confuse someone and make feel uncomfortable” and that just about sums my thoughts and feelings as I sit on the sofa and write this.
So much written about the Corona virus, so many different opinions, so many know it alls on social media who know better than anyone else, so much panic everywhere that it is difficult to know where to start.
I don’t do panic. I never have. I worry but I refuse to panic. When my youngest daughter called me a couple of weeks ago to check I was ok for groceries that I was fine, I was bewildered, well of course I am I said. And I was and I still think so but honestly I swing between amazement and sheer fury at the behaviour of some of people.
Loads of articles on recalling the Spirit of the Blitz, Pulling Together and Keeping that Good Old British Determination going. Well, it is all crap. Having witnessed the scenes in the supermarkets, the jostling and pushing, the grabbing of every single thing you can lay your hands on and even stealing from the Food Bank trolleys, I realise that for a lot of people it is self self self all the way.
One of the things I have always admired about us Brits is our refusal to be beaten, our sheer stubbornness and bloody mindedness. We are a nation of moaners and grumblers but we do get on with it and can exhibit enormous reservoirs of will and determination. But asking us to summon up the spirit of the Blitz is a waste of time and also totally wrong. That was a different situation. OK everyone was petrified and scared of being bombed out but if you went out in the street and ignored advice and a bomb obliterated your existence you were NOT ENDANGERING ANYBODY ELSE. So I see the papers and social media today and people are out and about, they are going in their thousands to the beach, there are cafes and arcades still open, they are still queuing to get into supermarkets.
I refuse to join in the carping and criticising of the government and I don’t care what political colour it or you may be - this is unprecedented and yes, I am sure mistakes have been made, it is going to happen. Of course it will. Boris why didn’t you shut the cafes etc earlier? Why are you not bringing in total lockdown and keep people off the streets? I hear you cry.
Because he made the mistake of thinking that we would be sensible. We would listen to advice, we would make the right decisions. He did not want to snatch our liberty away, he wanted to allow us freedom of choice. Well, Prime Minister, you can now see you got it wrong. You underestimated the sheer pigheadedness and Nobody is going to tell me what to Do attitude of your countrymen.
So now you have to make bloody sure they are made to do as they are told and enforce this lockdown and if you get virtue signalling twits arguing about Civil Liberties ignore them.
And before everyone gets misty eyed and nostalgic about the Blitz Spirit just remember the black marketeers, the looters after houses had been bombed, those who profited from other people’s misery and remember it was not all goodwill. In the end looters suffered the death penalty if they were caught, that was how serious it was and while I am certainly not suggesting such draconian action now, it shows how seriously this kind of behaviour was taken.
I am now in self isolation. I have said goodbye for the foreseeable to my family and grandchildren which reduced me to tears, but it has to be done.
I am writing this on a Sunday afternoon, the sun is shining, daffodils tossing in the breeze and I would just love it to be a normal happy day and go for a walk by the sea and pop into a cafe and have a cuppa and a cake. But I can’t and neither can you. And just listening to the news right this minute it appears that the Brecon Beacons and Lake District have had their busiest weekend in years. FFS.
I am so grateful that I have my health, so far, and do not have any underlying health issues apart from a wonky knee. I am grateful for music, books, (some publishers have sent me ebooks to read, bless them) the internet which is a boon in these current times if you ignore the nasty side of social media, Face time which has enabled me to talk to my daughter in Australia whose visit to us this year looks as if it is not going to happen, and many other things including my good neighbours who are going to help if I need it.
There are a lot of good, kind and thoughtful people out there. I know this but in the face of the behaviour of some it can be difficult to remember but I will try. Stay safe everyone and do keep visiting Random Jottings and leaving comments - it makes such a difference.
And if you really want to summon up the spirit of the Blitz may I suggest you cut up your newspapers into squares and hang them up in your toilet and stop panic buying loo rolls....
