Should shops enforce the new face mask law?

As Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s refuse to report customers...

DUrINg lockdown I was obedient; I stayed away from all people except my husband, didn’t join the 2,000-strong rave which took place at the end of my street and did the shopping for shielded neighbours.

I’m quite community-minded these days; the best thing for me about lockdown ending was returning to my beloved volunteer job.

Nevertheless, I can anticipate the cries of ‘It’s all about you!’ and ‘Plague-spreader!’ when I state that I intend to do everything I can not to wear a mask.

Yes, I know some scientists swear they will stop coronavirus spreading, but many more say they are pointless. And infection rates have fallen dramatically anyway after months when almost no one wore them. I find them silly and sinister.

Silly because when I see people wearing them, especially young vigorous people, I can’t help but think they’re performing to some degree; that they want to feel like they’re in a hospital drama.

Sinister because I recall how the lockdown had two parts; first it was all Kumbaya and cupcakes, then as boredom set in, it went from Little Women to Lord Of The Flies as busybody layabouts began picking on people for going to work and thus ‘spreading’ the virus.

It’s the bit of the French revolution after the fun and games, when would-be robespierres rounded up the neighbours.

Who’s going to police this petty crime? It shouldn’t make more work for retail staff. Besides, can they be trusted to lay down the law to everyone, not just to those who won’t get angry? I just got back from a Co-op where a young woman was bullied into covering up while two muscular young men happily strolled around bare-faced.

It’s unjust, but I do see why shop workers aren’t prepared to put themselves more at risk. Co-op has already reported a sharp rise in the abuse of staff since the new rules came in.

There are so many totalitarian hellholes in the world. But here, we have a contract with those who rule us, which requests rights and responsibilities for and on both sides.

For a rebellious people (see Brexit) we’ve been well-behaved and deserve some kind of a summer; there’s only a few weeks left and then there’s a chance we’ll be back in lockdown.

Let us have our day in the sun, feeling the warmth on our faces and smiling at strangers, not muzzled like pit ponies, each of us gagging in our own personalised prison of dribble and dread.

‘Some act like they’re in a hospi tal drama