Thursday 19 March 2020
People Donating Food To Charity Food Bank Collection In Community Center
I could not believe the supermarket, barely 20 minutes after it had opened. I thought I was early but was clearly late, as there were only four empty shopping trolleys remaining by the entrance. The rest had been taken and were being wheeled around the shop by desperate shoppers, their eyes bulging with greed. Need one litre of milk? I’ll take three. One packet of cereal? I might as well have four. And toilet paper – that apparent new obsession of the British Isles – where is it? There, in that woman’s trolley. Her back is turned, so I’ll pinch it while she is not looking.
Or, the 18-month-old boy, carried by his mother, and who accidentally brushed against the basket of a middle-aged man. The man turned and spoke viciously. “Stay away kid!” he growled.
The checkout queue for the supermarket seemingly snaked forever. I could barely believe its length. There were shoppers clutching a few items, while others pushed trolleys overladen with goods. For the trolley-pushers, I saw their eyes flick this way and that, as they kept an eye on their treasures, for fear others might steal them. This was central London, supposedly the home of a civilised people, but I had only one thought, “What is happening to my country?”
I left as quickly as I entered, as I was not about to join the throng. Social distancing simply did not exist, the elderly had been pushed aside, as I was looking at a shoppers’ queue with an average age of maybe mid-forties.
Next stop had to be shopping online but the major outlets had frozen websites. It must have taken me 20 attempts before I connected with one retailer, only to find that the next delivery would be in four weeks’ time. I would have to fend for myself until then.
I tried again, this time with Amazon, which had linked with two well-known stores. Initially, I was excited, as my online booking attempt was speeding. I booked this, that and everything, clicking on multiple items I had long been unable to find. Amazon was coming to the rescue, at least that is what I thought. Sadly, I was mistaken. After 30 minutes of clicking every clickable item, I came to the final moment, when I was being asked to part with hard-earned cash. Only then did the site tell me there were no more slots for delivery and could I return after midnight? I was a hair’s breadth from smashing my computer, realising that my 30 minutes’ work had been wasted.
The situation this morning – 19 March 2020 (courtesy Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University)
Today there was much talk about a full lockdown of London, although I was unsure from where that had come. People were dashing this way and that in all the local supermarkets, seeking goodies in desperation. Most fresh foods were ignored, apart from vegetables, which had rapidly become collector’s items. Pasta, bread, rice, anything stodgy, disappeared in moments. Toilet rolls were still in short supply. No wonder I saw one woman walking down the middle of the road, cars each side of her, triumphantly holding a packet of loo roll high above her head.
She whooped with delight. “Yippee!” she yelled. I could see the other shoppers on the pavement eye her with envy.
“Loo roll! I’ve got some loo roll!” she continued. I have no idea how she survived being run over by a car, or being rugby tackled by a fellow shopper. Yet somehow, she escaped injury and I saw her disappear around a distant corner with her treasure still held high.
A friend has telephoned me from Gloucestershire to ask if I would like to stay in his house. He has a lovely place, surrounded by open countryside, and about as far away from virus as it is possible to be. I was tempted but for the moment London is the right place, despite its pestilence, as it gives me access to family, and things that are familiar. I can also walk to any shops that may be open and there is no need to use a car.
Around me I still see people behaving badly. I saw a gardener in Hyde Park blowing her nose on a cloth handkerchief in the early morning, as I went past. I ducked nimbly out of the way. I saw a young couple kissing outside a restaurant that was still open, and many others wearing masks in an especially odd way. Masks are supposed to cover nose and mouth. For some reason, there are those who wear their mask over the mouth but below the nose, there are others who cover the nose but not the mouth, and I saw two men in their twenties wearing masks under their chin. I have no idea why, although I imagine they thought they looked cool.
There are plenty who should know better and yet behave inconsiderately. Perhaps they are unable to see what they are doing wrong. Take the Coylumbridge Hotel in Scotland’s Aviemore as an example, a town famed for its winter skiing. One of its employees received the following letter. The grammar is the hotel’s, not mine:
“Taking the latest Government advice, this letter is to confirm that with effect from 19th March 2020 your employment has been terminated as your services are no longer required.
Coylumbridge Hotel in Aviemore with its novel way of laying off staff
Your final payslip will include all hours worked up to and including your final day, together with any accrued holidays not already taken and one week’s pay in lieu of notice.
Please understand that if you have taken more holidays this year than you had currently built up an allowance for, then, this amount will be deducted from your final salary, as per the terms and conditions of your contract of employment.
You are asked to vacate the Hotel accommodations immediately, returning any company property to **********, Hotel Controller before leaving the Hotel.
I would like to wish you every success in securing future employment and thank you for your time at Britannia Hotels.”
Staff welfare does not seem important at the Coylumbridge Hotel.
The Prime Minister has taken to giving an evening briefing to the country and has said that “we can turn the tide,” although this was based on the presumption that people would follow official advice. I have no evidence that they are and am disappointed whenever I walk the streets of London. The Health Secretary has promised more protective equipment for staff and that he will roll out more effective testing. Testing appears to be the one item missing in all of this. Without testing it is like fighting with one arm tied behind your back.
Michel Barnier – poor chap has tested positive for Covid-19 (courtesy Wikipedia)
The UK death toll has now reached 144, the Queen has issued a message to urge us all to come together, and the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has tested positive for Covid-19. Italy, meanwhile, has reported 427 more deaths. The UK has slashed interest rates to their lowest level ever and Scotland has cancelled all it school examinations for the first time in history. There are plenty of records being set during this crisis, not all of them good.
The baddies are out and about as well. A food bank in Knottingley was closed after a raid, when food was stolen. The local MP described this as “shameful”, especially as the theft was most likely related to Covid-19. It seems that the aim was for the robbers to sell their pickings on the open market, at vastly inflated prices.
How can people do such things in the middle of a crisis? Society is teetering, that much is evident.
