Love in the Time of Corona - 18 March 2020
Well hell, hello everyone! I was going to start a new blog but this blog is already here so I thought like so many other podcasts and news reports I will just change the name to cover this extraordinary time. So, no oysters but some reflections on day two – is it only day two – of social distancing and for me a semi self-isolating status. Although in reality I live my life in a state of constant self-isolation. It has been interesting to see how people react to being told to stay inside.
Hmmm well we did know this would happen sooner or later right? And our world will never be the same again? I am grateful I am slightly older as my younger self would be completely polarised. I would either be defiant and flaunting all directives and laws or I would be inside under my covers crying. Knowing me as I do, I admit it would have been the former and then I would get the virus and quickly snap to other me, too afraid to look out the window. But at time of writing I have a slightly sore throat and a hugely big dose of hypochondria.
The irony of seeing throngs of people all pushing up against each other trying to push their ways into supermarkets makes me smile. I have been up and in shops around 6am, not panic buying but trying to feed my latest addiction – snacks. As I get older instead of sticking to my life long strict regime of restricting my diet I now think “Ooh a lovely snack in a lovely package and overpriced, that is for me” so I have become obsessed with Itsu beef twerky and other very strange things. They are lovely. And having looked for weeks got hold of last four packs of twerky yesterday on my early forage. That is my stockpile sorted. Oh, and wine. I joined a wine club and had my first delivery only to be emailed yesterday with the news that owing to overwhelming ordering, all deliveries are on hold! So as the shelves get sparser and sparser and while there are no paper goods, pasta, rice or tinned food there are snacks! Strangely there is still a lot of coffee and cereal. Curious what folks consider their essentials in a crisis. I use a lot of flour as part of my adult “eat what you want” ethos and bake cakes but apparently now everyone is a baker. No flour to be had. I am lucky/unlucky not to have a freezer so space is limited for me to squirrel away six months of stuff. While my collection of goods is eclectic at best there is enough food to keep me fed for six weeks. Although it would not necessarily be anything better than bar snacks and a well-considered can of refried beans! Why did I buy that?
My daughter and her flatmate have the virus and are stranded in their flat in south London. I am being advised to take precautions as I spent the weekend with her the day before she started showing symptoms. My place of work has closed for the foreseeable future. I am mid-way through a recruitment process of joining the NHS so I suspect down the road that will come forward as the NHS is going to be stretched beyond its limits over the next days, months and possibly years and I have skills they are going to need especially if the figures being thrown around like confetti are to believed. Most of the population will at some point get infected. I am ready to type!
My son started working in a school just last week – which will now be closed on Friday. Don’t know what happens in a case like that – he has left the capital and taken all his stuff up to a new town in a new job.
I am not going to annoy myself with any governments’ decisions on how they will or will not protect people’s livelihoods. All I know is that if Richard Branson asks for cash he gets billions and if I ask for an extended overdraft if I am lucky enough to be granted, it will be paid back at the new exorbitant interest rate which doesn’t really help me at all. It will be interesting to see how this all works out.
The rich currently think they can buy their way out of the crisis and the rest of us left to become statistics in a virus meltdown. We will see, maybe that is not how it will happen Money cannot buy protection from this so it will probably be a good leveller.
My own theory is loosely based on the Gaiai theory. As we hit 7.7 billlion people on the planet, there are simply too many people on earth. Recently we have been talking about climate emergencies, turning back the clock, addressing the issues. Talking and not much doing as the multinational super companies continue to pillage the planet to make more cash.
I think the Earth has taken things into its own hands and said “enough”. All my life I have been told that at some point there will be more over 65s than under 25s in the population. Successive governments have spoken about it and not one has done anything about it as usual. So now we have reached tipping point where we are faced with an aging population and not enough young’uns to sustain us and themselves. Something has got to give. Hence my Gaia analogy. If we are not going to do anything, the Earth itself will take things into its own hands. I am not in any way gloating – hey I am inching up towards the older demographic but it was only a matter of time. In theory I am happy to lay down and give up for the younger generation but really, I don’t want to die right now.
But if I do I, I would like it to at least help this flailing world. Another curious human behaviour is that during difficult times, especially if locked indoors with a low boredom threshold, everyone starts breeding. The last thing we need right now while the earth is attempting to shed itself of too many folks, is a new bunch of mouths to feed. But a baby boom is almost inevitable now. I am a baby boomer and am conscious of what a self-entitled, smug group of people we collectively have become.
I wish everyone good health, good hearts and good humour.
The Muppets always do it right! I give you ‘Cabin Fever’.
Speak soon. Got to go cough…….nooooooooo…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsezrzS27UY&feature=youtu.be
