Somehow, things got busier before they got quieter. It was like most offices went back to normal on Monday. The traffic was back in the morning, there were people out on the streets.
The queue for Macdonald's stretched out of the drive-thru and over the housing estate like photos from of wartime bread lines. Each person isolated in their car, some with agitated kids pressed against the window, others alone, gripping their steering wheel, pulled out of their house by a desperation to seek normality.
One last Big Mac.
Torn between the desire to get home as quickly as possible, and the scent of hot, tasty food wafting from a paper bag, people left the car park with one hand encasing a half unwrapped burger, taking gaping ravenous bites. Half contemplating driving round to the back of the line and waiting an hour or two to get another. While they still could.
The government text me and told me to stay home, my boss text me and told me I was still expected at work. I insisted on wearing a breathing mask. Management really didn't like it, I got a lot of comments about not wanting to talk to me, it looking silly, it being unnecessary. There have been a lot of comments about the staff over reacting.
Last week, the MD told me the worse that would happen to me is i'd lose two weeks pay. That it wasn't that bad, so what if we all caught it. We were expected in work anyway, and that they had reviewed the personal situations of staff (without asking anyone what their personal situation was) and that they had decided we are an acceptable risk. I didn't say anything, or object, I just went for a quick cig after to process being told that. But because of that, I then had a disciplinary meeting to tell me that I was over-reacting and there was nothing to worry about. That this wasn't a big deal, but I was making it into one.
Yesterday, the staff who deal with inbound and outbound deliveries, who had also been told the same, its not a big deal, there's no real risk, anything more than hand washing is over reacting, banded together. They wanted staggered shifts, and the company to take it seriously. The company conceded and have let some of the office staff work from home, but they still don't think its a big deal, or that it will directly affect any of us - despite us having a high proportion of at risk staff.
The streets are so busy. I have seen more people outside my house this week then in the height of that one hot summer, when everyone was outside chatting to their neighbors. Kids are playing out, I keep hearing the music from an ice cream van. Somehow, half the country believes direct sunshine kills the virus, and the sun is shining beautifully. It makes people feel safe, and they are getting together, bringing their cup of tea to the curb, sitting down and having a chat with someone from across the street. A lot of people are going out on bike rides, getting close to each other, holding gates open for the next family. That must be safe, the prime minister has said bike shops can stay open, so it must be safe right?
Lots of people are volunteering to help others, but the government has told people not to trust volunteers, because a few people were using it as ways of robbing others. Taking their money to get their shopping, and never coming back. Breaking into someones house, knowing that person will back away and maintain the 2m distance, taking what they want, leaving.
Instead of testing people, they are telling you to hold your breath, and count to ten, and if you can do that, you don't have it. People have become superstitious, carrying their hand sanitizer to ward off corona, applying it every few minutes as though it creates a protective field. Believe if they do certain things, just so, they will be safe. It won't affect them or their family. Corona has become like a vampire, as long as people stay in the sun, they feel safe, as though it can't touch them. So they get together in parks, life carries on as normal, just staying strictly in the sun, it's like half the country is playing the floor is lava, but with shadows. No one seems to really know whats true, clinging to the things they can do, telling themselves those things will keep them safe, because the alternative - fear and panic, locked away in your house with your thoughts, doesn't bear thinking about.
