Freedom Day, Why It All Feels A Little Like After The Lord Mayor’s Show
The so called and much touted ‘freedom day’ has come and gone with little more than a whimper. After months and months of sacrifice, lockdowns, frustration and confusion, all restrictions have now been lifted and we can all get back to normal.
Except we can’t, and they haven’t. And frankly, it all feels a little like after the Lord Mayor’s show.
Because last weeks’ rather optimistic tone emanating from Westminster has been replaced by a rather more sombre approach. A week ago, I was of the understanding that I can now walk into my local Sainsbury’s, sans mask. Now boss Simon Roberts requires me to wear one.
And they’re not alone, the likes of Tesco, John Lewis and Waterstones are adopting a similar approach — presumably in the case of the latter, reading presents a greater threat than going to Wembley or Silverstone.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not an anti-masker, far from it, in certain scenarios, it seems to me that it is simply the responsible thing to do to wear one to show respect for the safety of others. But to create something of a vacuum by leaving it up to personal choice and the decision of each and every individual business is a recipe for disaster.
Even more so when the thorny subject of vaccine passports is brought up; rather like an unwanted STD on the set of Love Island, it’s both unwelcome and severely limiting. Personally, I’ve had both jabs, got my NHS confirmation and, along with my driving licence will happily show it if and when needed. But that view isn’t held by all, and some are even prepared to put their business in jeopardy in order to die on that particular hill.
I know of one rather vocal pub landlord in the Epping Forest who has said that he will welcome everyone, masked or not, but that if he is required to check proof of a vaccine, he will close his pubs. If we thought that Brexit divided the country it appears that Covid is doing an even more effective job. Personally, I rather like table service, after all, who wants to go back to queuing five deep at the bar, desperately hoping to catch the barmaids attention?
But all the while, with cases rising, the spectre of a third wave leading to more lockdowns in the autumn and winter casts its shadow across all of this.
And if the truth be known, aside from those at either end of the polar opposites, the majority of us aren’t entirely sure what to make of all this, because we’ve all been inured to daily death rates in a way unimaginable before this pandemic. And so, in some way, our own personal risk assessment mechanisms have been knocked off kilter. Above all, we must protect the NHS and anyone we come into contact with because that’s the right and responsible thing to do.
Which, of course, to a large extent, it is. But as with all things in life, there needs to be a balance. The law of unintended consequences has been doing some heavy lifting of late and all we need do is look at the numbers being ‘pinged’ by the NHS app to see that it’s very much alive and well.
So let’s hope that good sense will be in abundance and that respect and understanding will prevail. After all, we’re all still in this together.
