felix has conjunctivitus and after a telephone consultation with the doctor he was prescribed some antibiotic eye drops. adam went out yesterday to collect from the pharmacy (who didn’t have it, because the doctor didn’t send it until the end of the day) but that is beside the point. he came home saying how weird it was walking around town whilst going to the pharmacy and then the supermarket to get us a few bits and pieces.
people are now, rightly so, being asked to wait in line outside stores and pharmacies to maintain social distancing and so staff can have enough time to restock shelves – we are going to see a massive decrease in stockpilling and hopefully staff will be working without abuse – but the energy coming from some of these people was anger. but who are they angry at?
i don’t know about you but i’ve kind of started to feel peace and acceptance at what is going on now we have some clarity over schools and workplaces. i know my grandparents are being cautious. both my parents are considered key workers (my dad will never let people forget this) and are obviously worried but taking precautions and following guidelines and government advice. my sisters and step dad can work at home so they too are moving on with their new normal for now.
did other people not see this coming? are they angry at their workplaces for being twatish? let’s face it, there are quite a few bosses being absolute horrors during this, caring only about money and not the welfare and wellbeing of their staff. are they just suspicious and angry because they don’t know who might have the virus? are they just angry because that’s the stage of grief they’re at right now? i don’t know.
what i do know is that this too shall pass. that this anger will filter down into sadness, depression, possibly relief and then acceptance. i know that despite ramping up testing and antibody kits, people can catch this virus twice which carries more complex risk and complications. i do know that we are going to see more and more losses of life which is heartbreakingly sad – especially when i have family members that are hugely at risk.
i don’t think the government are helping really. i think they’ve had seven weeks to prepare for this and they haven’t acted quick enough. i think boris is more concerned about being liked than giving strict sanctions and orders. i think a tory government and cuts over the last ten years are massively to blame for the shortages in the nhs, the police and the other emergency services. i think the bailout package for workers has been designed in a way to say a big f you to the eu as some sort of “look, we can cope without you, look what we’re doing for our country” although they haven’t raised statutory sick pay yet which is inexcusable being one of the worst paid in europe. but anyway, the political scrutiny will come after, as long as people remember.
i think this is our new normal until the summer. we need to stay home as much as possible. we need to take advantage of the allowance outside for exercise whilst we still can. we need to protect ourselves and our loved ones by socially distancing from others. we need to make the best out of a bad situation. we need to facetime our friends and family instead of visiting. we need to just focus on being a little patient, a little kinder and a little gentler to ourselves and each other.
for now at home we have books to read, games to play, intruments to try and learn, apps to have fun with and a lot of love for our little family. we will ge through this. we will carve the path between complacency and panic so that we’re staying safe as we possibly can.
