Let’s face it, it was only a matter of time before I waded in about the coronavirus pandemic. More than anything, right now, I’m very disappointed in the British. Not only are there certain members of the public behaving like utter vultures in the supermarkets, there are also those who have just shown sheer stupidity by going to the beaches, parks and other open spaces over the weekend. Snowdonia reported their “busiest ever visiting day in living memory“ [Source: BBC website] on Saturday, when we are supposed to be practicing social distancing and, for some, self-isolating.
What were you stupid people thinking? Yes, the sun was out. Yes, the schools were closed on Friday night. But, this is not an extra Bank Holiday. This is not the Easter Holidays starting early. This is the short-term loss of our desire (and right) to move around freely for the long-term gain of saving lives, saving the NHS from breaking point and, quite possibly, saving your loved ones.
I could not visit my Mum yesterday to spend Mother’s Day with her, as I’m sure thousands around the country were the same. My Mum is in the “vulnerable” age group and my Dad has underlying health conditions which make him even more vulnerable than my Mum. If I’d have really wanted to, I could have chosen to get in the car and drive to their house. Trust me, I REALLY wanted to. My Mum is normally pretty chilled out about Mother’s Day; she doesn’t expect to see us; she’s not overly fussed by it. But, this year was different for me. It’s the first year without Gran, so it’s the first year that both of my parents haven’t had their Mums, so I wanted to go home and be with them. I knew my sister wouldn’t be able to make it, she is now a “key worker”, working for a supermarket, and she was due to work yesterday.
Instead of being selfish, I chose to stay at home in the hope that the short-term loss of not seeing my parents, might go towards the long-term gain of them still being around for as long as possible. I spoke to Mum yesterday and she was fine. I told her that I felt useless and helpless being so far away from them, but they have friends who are offering to get shopping for them and bits and pieces. They are lucky in that they have they each other, although I think my Mum may be about ready to murder my Dad by the end of this week, let alone after another 11 weeks of self-isolation for them!!
My life normally consists of me not being very sociable to be fair. I don’t leave the house much and it usually involves a special occasion or special people to get me out of the front door. So, essentially, social distancing isn’t a huge change to my life. However, even I had a moment on Friday, after the announcement that the pubs were to shut, where I was “well, what if I want to go out for a drink”? Firstly, I couldn’t actually tell you the last time I had an alcoholic drink, let alone the last time I had an alcoholic drink in a pub! It’s just the principle of someone telling me that I’m no longer able to make that choice. It really has brought it home to me how lucky we are to live in a free society and how much we take for granted.
Obviously, this manifested itself at the weekend with people running to the parks, the beaches, up mountains. We’re a free people being told we can’t do something. Yup, only dictators do that and we’re just not used to that. What it should make people realise (hopefully and eventually before it’s too late) is the seriousness of the situation. For Governments across the world to implement such restrictions, quite frankly, this virus isn’t fucking about. It’s a killer. It’s a big killer and it’s not going away any time soon.
Hopefully as well, once the gravity of the situation has really sunk in with the nation, a new “normal” way of living will start to manifest itself, where people aren’t acting like utter animals in the supermarkets. We’ve all seen the photos of the elderly people looking at empty shelves, the viral video of the nurse trying to do her shopping after finishing a 48 hour shift. It’s ridiculous. As someone with mental health issues, being around so many people in a supermarket behaving in such a rude and aggressive manner is way too much for me to deal with.
I can’t get an online delivery slot for three weeks (which is my usual method of shopping), so I have to go out now and deal with people. I went to my local supermarket just before they all started working together and putting restrictions in place and because I asked a lady if she would move her trolley out of the way, so that we (the other shoppers) could get something from a shelf, I got told to “fuck off. I was here first”. That woman had absolutely no idea what it had taken me that day to get out of the house and actually get to the supermarket. Being someone who just despises all forms of confrontation, I didn’t have a witty retort or a comeback that I could fire her way! I was absolutely gobsmacked that someone could be so rude when she was surrounded by members of the public, just trying to do their shopping. I was an absolute mess for the rest of the day. I was really shaken up and I didn’t want to go out at all last week.
Today, however, I am nearly out of milk and cat food. My nearest Sainsbury’s appears to be the store that has had restrictions in place for the longest so I’m hoping that they will have had a chance to re-stock. I will be going out wearing my latex gloves and with my hand sanitiser at the ready. Let’s just hope the general public are a little calmer than has recently been displayed.
Living The BPD Life 