Are we complacent or just trying to take back a bit of normality?

THERE was fierce excitement across the country last week, the likes of which hasn’t been seen, I’d say since the Pope’s visit to Ireland in 79.

Thousands of people, mostly women I might add, queued from dawn as Penney’s reopened its doors for the first time since Lockdown.

Personally I don’t get Penneys. I never have. Sure it serves a purpose – it’s grand for socks, jocks and pjs but if you start thinking too seriously about it, your mind eventually lands on the poor crayturs being paid around 50p a day in some sweatshop in Bangladesh to make your fast and disposable fashion.

I don’t think that was on the minds of the thousands of shoppers who queued up from 4 am last week to bag a bargain.

And that’s the other thing? Why would you bother? There wasn’t a sale. Penneys is so feckin cheap all of the time they don’t need to do sales so why not wait till the excitement dies down and we’re not in the middle of a Global Pandemic to buy your knickers and socks then?

And they must’ve been buying a lot of undies because they were coming out laden down with bags, stuffed to the brim with whatever it was that caught their eye. Global Pandemic? What Global Pandemic?

I admit nosiness got the better of me and I went into town for a look. Passing by the queue that went the whole length of the street with absolutely no social distancing in operation, I overheard some of the young ones discussing their hauls which largely seemed to consist of the aforementioned underwear, fake tan and false eyelashes.

Not that I’m saying queuing for Brown Thomas would be any better in the current climate. Spending a thousand euro, let’s say on a designer handbag, seems a bit…….well obscene, given the amount of suffering going on at the moment.

It just seems strange for people to be going on shopping sprees when this virus still very much poses a real and dangerous threat to so many. Have we become complacent or are we just trying to take back a little bit of normality?

I won’t be going to Penneys anytime soon nor will I be going to Brown Thomas (to be fair, the latter is more out of economic reasons!). But in the interest of transparency I must admit I did queue for 45 minutes, in the car, without being in contact with anyone else, for a McDonalds because The Eldest begged me.

He claims it was his life’s greatest disappointment so far!

WHY NOT WAIT TILL WE’RE NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF A GLOBAL PANDEMIC TO BUY YOUR KNICKERS AND SOCKS?