Apart from all the empty shops in town you could half convince yourself, during the two days of summer weather that most of us enjoyed earlier this week, that life had returned to something approaching what we would have accepted as normal. For the first time in many months, road traffic on, what many of us older residents from around St. Mary on the Wold still refer to as the main roads, certainly seemed to show that many of the working from home or furloughed classes had taken their first tentative steps to returning to the workplace or actually going out, sometimes – believe it or not – without wearing a face mask!
A quick conversation with a bus driver of a parked-up bus as he enjoyed a coffee in one of the lanes, (parked up because presumably even bus drivers get a rest break) indicated as much, ‘I actually had some passengers this morning’ he said, ‘the first for ages, makes a change’ he went on, ‘driving around without seeing or talking to anybody for most of your shift gets a bit wearing, but needs must, it’s better than driving the school bus routes; ran empty for months we did when the schools were closed, but we had to run twice a day in case any of the kids of key workers wanted to use the service. They mostly didn’t but there it is.’
Anyway, back to the re-awakening of normal life, or what passes as normal these days. The early morning exercise and dog walk has returned to mostly a solitary thing again, and I have to say thank goodness, I’m not particularly interested in being sociable at 6.30 am, apart that is from the nods and ‘good mornings’ from the usual locals.
Since Julian and Amanda, working from home, since you ask, invested two thousand pounds in an adorable ‘ Labby’ last May, which has now grown, thanks to them, into an uncontrollable bundle of fun, lunging and barking loudly at anyone or other dog that happens to be walking by, I have to say that the morning walk was becoming a bit fraught at times. Still, as many people these days have no idea or wish to control their offspring, never mind train or control a dog, one shouldn’t be particularly surprised when ‘incidents’ occur in public places. Long gone are the days of the ‘park keeper’ or patrolling police officer who, if not able always to enforce the law at least had a calming effect on some people’s behaviour.
But back to the traffic. ‘They’ are back it seems, you know, the drivers who in their own minds at least, driving the latest leased company executive car, would give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money, tailgating vehicles even in urban speed restricted areas as they try to bully lesser drivers and vehicles out of their way. It could be the psychological effect of driving a car you don’t own, usually at breakneck speeds and breaking road traffic laws and doing basically what they want when they want as, police road ‘traffic department vehicles’ on patrol are another calming influence which are now just an historical footnote in the demise of what was once a police service that was envied all over the globe.
I tell you what I have noticed though in the last few months as car washes, particularly the ‘hand wash’ variety, have been closed, they not being an essential service of course, just how many of these expensive premium label executive vehicles, are filthy dirty. It would seem to the casual observer that executive vehicles are no longer cleaned by their important drivers.
Long gone too then are the days when ‘dad’ washed the car during the weekend, but in those times, people actually owned the car they were driving, and it was seen as an asset. People in the main, particularly the ones who drove the ‘status’ vehicles would actually look after them. I wonder if those days will ever return? Who knows? When a government which is hell bent on making personal transport as expensive and as difficult as possible, will all these ‘important’ people either be able to afford to run a car they own, and preferably government approved electric of course, (don’t even consider ‘ hydrogen’) and start taking pride in their vehicles again? I doubt it. Or will they just, as the elite in the USSR did, be wafted around in their chauffeur-driven Zils?. One must never forget of course that in the new normal we are all in it together!
Mind you, if Boris gets his way, we will all, that is you and I, be travelling around either on high-speed trains or this much awaited integrated transport system that we are apparently going to enjoy in the next few years. Won’t that be fun? Walking to the bus, waiting in the rain, or standing in one of those shelters that in many areas of the urban utopia that is also going to be created (before you very eyes, as Arthur Askey would have said) which are often used for purposes other than waiting and, like telephone boxes of yesteryear, particularly in summer, always had a very distinctive smell. Still, as apparently some experts are telling us, we could all be wearing masks for at least another ten years at least, we won’t notice the smell.
I am so glad I was born when I was. I can honestly say I enjoyed my youth and everything up to and including my ‘middle years’. I don’t much care for most of what I see about me at present and in truth, I cannot see it getting any much better in the future.
The current circumstances in which we find ourselves are beginning to have very unpleasant connotations of scenes from Quatermass and the Pit! The final scenes where people were turning on others because they were ‘different’ starts to look very much like the way things are going with this insidious slide into ‘biosecurity’ and authoritarianism!
How long before we start turning upon one another over this ‘jab’ business? The ‘jab’ that won’t protect anybody from catching or passing on the virus but if you don’t accept that ‘all must submit to be ‘jabbed’ then you will be marked out and hounded by the hostile mob! Oh what a lovely prospect – so full of humanity…..not!
Frederica. I did not enjoy my youth. But I have to admit, some days I am almost glad I do not have much longer to go.
Norman, when I get a biota harassment from wood be “Lewis Hamiltons” I very slowly ease of the accelerator until they realise they are travalling at a third of their original speed. I guess you probably do the same, it lowers my blood pressure and lifts theirs>
I do that also Mike.
You are far better off with an adorable mongrel than an expensive in-bred hound.
Far less likely to need expensive trips to the vet and far cheaper..
Also likely to live longer,
Available sat your local dog rescue centre for around £30.
At one time they were free but that’s inflation.
I ‘spect many of these recent purchases will end up in the pound anyway when the new owners realise how much work is involved.
Harry Again you have reverted to sense!
Mongrels are longer lived, healthier and often adorable, because as you say they are NOT INBRED.
Just one problem at the moment. Rescue Centres have closed down because of THE COVID SCAMDEMIC. (I.e. the one you keep defending.)
Harry Again……if you ask TG Spokes nicely he might lend you his metal K9 (mark 4), and you wouldn’t be paying any vet bills at all ‘Affirmative Master’…….