It’s no secret that I’m rather cynical with most things and, as such, I saw the recent hype about VE Day and garden parties as nothing more than an excuse to slack off social distancing a bit and get pissed with the neighbours. Inevitably I was proved right in the case of one or two families on my street, but by and large it was actually a rather pleasant day. Our next door neighbours’ kids put together an information board on VE Day explaining a little bit about it and it was nice to see them taking an interest in what the day is supposed to represent. There was plenty of bunting up in windows & across fences and people were enjoying picnics & beverages on their front lawns, chatting to passers by and occasionally taking a wander down the street to see what everyone else was up to. My Mum, bless her heart, set up a table on our front lawn with some of her home brewed wine and was offering it out to the neighbours in little plastic cups. She spent most of the day talking to the woman who lives next door which was nice to see because we haven’t really had a chance to speak to them properly since we’ve moved in. With everything that’s going on, it was nice to see the people we’re surrounded by taking a break from it all and coming together (not physically of course) to celebrate this national holiday. It might be considered nationalist jingoism by some, but there was definitely something wonderful about the community we live in taking a moment to stop and remember what this country has sacrificed to get to this point. Consider my cynicism disproven.
Yesterday I managed a twenty five mile bike ride in just under two hours which, not to toot my own horn, I consider a rather impressive improvement from the five miles I was struggling to manage at the start of lockdown. My travels took me out to Dalbury Lees, where I was disappointed that I didn’t bump into my good friend Tom Morley – with it being VE Day the previous day I was almost expecting to find him passed out hungover in The Cow car park, draped in a “Bring Back the Empire” banner. Oh well, I can’t have all my dreams come true. I then spent the rest of the day whinging that my legs ached and counting the minutes until I have a pint without Hayley judging me. Did you know there are 315 calories in one bottle of Rekorderlig cider? It’s no wonder I’m obese.
I have spent most of this afternoon on Call of Duty with Lewis. It’s scary how quickly time passes when you’re on PS4 – I told him I’d come on for a few games after my lunch and before we knew it, it was 4 o’clock. We’ve managed to come 6th, 4th and 2nd, with victory just escaping our clutches at the last moment more than once. We discussed how we’re both starting to get extremely bored of lockdown and how we’re missing going out with our mates, feelings I imagine are shared by almost everyone at this point in time. Our main point of discussion, however, was the extent to which I despise Sam Morris. That discussion is ongoing.
A ministerial broadcast from the Prime Minister is never something you want to see scheduled for a Sunday evening. Personally, I think Mr Johnson did rather well, clearly explaining the steps that must be taken if we are to slowly ease the lockdown and return to some new sense of normality. Regardless of your politics, I think the steps he laid out for a gradual return to normal life are pragmatic and realistic. There are numerous different reasons why it’s inappropriate & premature to make international comparisons of infection or death rates and, although there will inevitably be a public inquiry into how the Government has handled the pandemic, now is not the time to chastise the Prime Minister for failing to act quickly enough in the first few months of 2020. Instead, we must focus on how we can improve our situation – the new COVID alert system aims to replicate the system that has worked so well in New Zealand and I think, and hope, that it will work by making the current situation clearer and more apparent to the public. I understand a lot of people will be disappointed that there was nothing in his speech about being able to socialise with friends and family again but, considering the current data, it is unlikely the situation in that area will be able to change anytime soon so it would have been unnecessary for the PM to draw attention to. As things stand, I think the system announced by Mr Johnson tonight is a decent attempt to move the country slowly towards the new normal whilst retaining the ruthless focus on preventing the NHS becoming overwhelmed.
God save The Queen. Stay safe.
