They think it’s all over! but it isn’t – mask up
PERHAPS it was the fact that I couldn’t find jeans to fit. Perhaps it was because my feet hurt having trailed around the city centre.
Or maybe I just hate a sense of entitlement. Whatever it was, the two girls riffling the rails of a large fashion store without a care in the world or a mask in sight was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I’d seen at least 30 other people maskless in the shop and my patience was sorely tried.
So off I marched and furiously asked the security guard on the door what the hell people were playing at. He looked weary.
“We do ask people to wear masks but we get the height of abuse. And if they go in with them they take them off inside.”
It’s an explanation, I suppose. But by God it’s no excuse.
Lockdown has eased and for that we should all be on-ourknees grateful.
We can again go to the pub and have a drink without wearing a coat, hat, boots and thermal underwear.
We can sit once more at a sticky table and enjoy the whiff of the gent’s lavatory as we sup our pints. Bliss.
We can also return to the cinema and look forward to paying ridiculous amounts of cash for a bag of sweets, eat a family sized bucket of popcorn before the trailers and once again feel the thrill of expectation when the lights dim and the surroundsound kicks in.
Although not being able to stop the movie, like we do courtesy of Netflix and Amazon Prime, to ask: ‘What just happened then? Who’s that bloke? And can I go for a quick wee?’ might become a bind.
And holidays are (sort of ) back – the dream of a sandy beach and an Aperol spritz before midday now within touching distance.
Mind you, if the expected airport queues materialise we’ll all be mainly sitting in departures for hours drinking warm wine and wondering why we didn’t just go camping in Wales.
Anyway, my point is, we’ve all worked so hard to get where we are and endured so much we shouldn’t – we can’t – falter now.
Of course, we’re allowed to celebrate and relax a little. We deserve being able to at last raise a glass and hug a chum and say ‘we’re nearly through this’.
But that’s the thing. We’re ‘nearly’ there. But not quite. Now is not the time to play fast and loose with the rules. Now is not the time to think we know best and to hell with everyone else. Now is not the time to be selfish. Nobody I know enjoys wearing a mask. It’s intrusive and claustrophobic and can make you hot, bothered and spotty.
But wearing one isn’t about the wearer, it’s about keeping everyone else safe.
Masks save lives. Simple.
Now things have improved it’s tempting to throw them away, reminders of darker days now hopefully passed.
But we can’t.
We’ve come a long way. Let’s not blow it now.