EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE: A note to self to look forward to life after lockdown...

THE smile behind the mask, a person genuinely pleased to see you rather than darting into the road or onto a driveway as a measure of avoidance...
 

THE smile behind the mask, a person genuinely pleased to see you rather than darting into the road or onto a driveway as a measure of avoidance, the greeting as you enter the pub, searching for a table because it’s so busy in there, the queue at the bar, the line-up of drinks from which to choose, even the wait because the barrel needs changing, the slight annoyance when you spot someone you don’t want to talk to coupled with at least having the option not to, opposition fans in there to watch the football, your favourite seat taken by a non-regular, the room not taped up to tell you how far two metres is, the accidental brush against someone and both of you saying ‘sorry’, a menu to read in a restaurant, a waiter not wearing a mask, a person accidentally banging into the back of your chair, someone else pouring the wine for a change, the right to be able to pick up something you have forgotten in a shop without having to follow the one-way system all the way back round, talking to someone not behind a plastic shield, do-gooders not commenting every single time someone looks like they might have done something, however brief, without being six foot away from the nearest person, pictures appearing in newspapers or magazines of people whose faces you can actually see, being allowed to hit or kick a ball around with other people in the open air, going for a walk with somewhere to pop into at the end, rather than just ending back where you started without stopping off, not repeatedly hearing or using words and phrases such as lockdown, social distancing, isolation, bubble, home schooling, tiers, pandemic, new normal, furlough, deep clean, Covid, coronavirus and working from home (bring back the word Brexit!), walking into each other’s houses and being able to hold conversations that aren’t muted by windowed separation or taking place in the cold at opposite ends of gardens, cars back on the roads (well, maybe not that one), heading somewhere with a goal in mind, clapping because you appreciate something or someone not because you have been told to do so by someone who doesn’t, hearing live music or visiting the theatre with other people actually in there, looking at lists of events and thinking “I might go to that”, perusing internet sites or brochures for places to go, opening up emails with offers of cheap holidays and thinking you may be able to book without fear of cancellation, quarantine (another word to be cast aside once this is over, alongside the phrases once this is over and unprecedented times) or having to fill out countless forms before arrival and departure, the smell of aeroplane fuel, the queue at check-in, the annoying person next to you on the flight, just being inside or outside with the possibility of doing something spontaneous, feeling the sun on your face and seeing others without pasty complexions, a world not dominated by Amazon, seeing those you love again as well as those you may live with, being able to complain about or appreciate the things we used to.

A note to self to look forward to life after lockdown.

Related topics: