All over the place
Regular readers will have noticed that on The Rust – rather through an osmosis-like process than editorial decree – we have tended to shy away from too much day-to-day coverage or indeed comment upon the Covid-19 crisis.
This development has occurred for the obvious reasons – not least the incessant “snowstorm of media coverage” with (1) its strands of broadly-supportive, public service-type advice or news-spreading; (2) regular “Why, oh why …?”-type critical comment or “opinion” pieces complaining that either “not enough is being done”, or indeed that “far too many headless-chicken-scientist-fuelled panic measures are being introduced willy-nilly and damaging either the economy and/or life as we know it permanently”; and (3) blanket coverage of supposed “Covidiots” up and down the country who are ignoring all warnings, directives and advice being given out and thereby just generally spoiling everything for the rest of us.
Today, however, I just wish to register one or two things that happened or occurred to me since yesterday.
Around lunchtime, as I was then travelling towards the south coast of England for an overnight stay at my family weekend cottage after a two-hour drive from central London along the A27 from Portsmouth towards Emsworth, I came across one of those automatic roadside “electric smart digital noticeboards” that can provide travelling motorists with instant information on weather, road conditions or even traffic jams and accidents”.
It was displaying just three words in giant type:
“ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC ONLY”
Besides the momentary slight sense of shame/guilt that this notice prompted in your author (his trip being little more than a day-jaunt to check the property concerned and relax for a few hours), I then reviewed the scene around me on the dual carriageway concerned.
I should say that my vehicle was one of a vast number then travelling around all over the country in a manner more akin to a bog-standard everyday rush hour that a global pandemic which last Thursday had caused the UK Government to impose a second “National Lockdown” until 2nd December.
Is anyone taking this new lockdown seriously?
Judging from what I have seen on TV recently and indeed read overnight on the news websites, it now seems generally that the entire concept of a second lockdown was rushed through on lightweight ‘spooked’ dodgy evidence, the economy is knackered … and the nation’s population has become bored and is simply carrying on as if the pandemic had never visited us.
