Getting Back To "The Things We Love"

Since the "pandemic" started or rather since "lockdown/safety measures" have been in place, from March 2020, there has been little else on my mind but Covid19 and the restrictions that have been forced onto the nation.

Perhaps if I had not watched TV or listened to the radio, refrained from all social media and newspapers media, spoken to no one or listened to any one, or even spent the last year on an uninhabited island miles from home, then I may not have been impacted as much as I feel I have. 

Granted there have been thousands/ millions/ billions who have been in a much worse position than me and have been immensely more than inconvenienced, as no doubt it could be argued, has been my position.

The thing is that this issue is a personal feeling of how we have been affected and the effect or lack of it that has been experienced by each of us and those close to us, whether physically, mentally or in the abstract. 

I do not intend to debate the possible rights and wrongs of events, sanctions or policy here, but am stirred by the words of Oliver Dowden MP  on Andrew Marr Show this morning. 

That is the only politician whose name I am mentioning here, as thinking of the names and words of so many others is not good for my health. 

It was his words "Getting Back To The Things We love"  that has caused the consternation in me, today. 

These are words that are not unique to him, of course.  Far from it  - these words have been spoken by very many news and talk show presenters, and the majority, if not all, of MPs  (whose names I could mention, but I've just said I won't). 

My issue with these words in particular - and anyone who knows me is well aware of my pedantic stance on vocabulary in the public domain - is that what does he know of the things we/I love ?  Politicians in general are so far removed from the general public and their lives that it is impossible for them to imagine anything at all about us/me, let alone what we are yearning  to get back to. Over the past months the NHS has posted various adverts (are they adverts or something else?) showing pictures of a gym, a football match and a children's party with balloons under the heading of 

"Let's get back to the things we love. "Get tested"

Now, to me, this makes no sense at all (Again the second phrase an issue for a different debate on "tests" and "cases").

Out of all the things that could be under the heading of "Things I Love", these three wouldn't even be on the list,  though I appreciate that for many they would be at the top of theirs. For me, a walk in the hills or on a beach, a visit to a garden centre followed by coffee and cake in a cafe with my family, or even sitting in the garden with all of my family together are my priorities of things to "get back to" as soon as possible. But to cater for all tastes and folks' favourite hobbies and pastimes, I would suggest that all the restrictions should to be removed, and now rather than later. Let us all get back to the things we love and what makes life worth living immediately so that we can decide ourselves how we want to live our lives and what each individual 's guidelines for "risk" are. 

If we are not allowed to take responsibility for our own lives without fear of being labelled "selfish" or worse, fined or arrested for taking a stroll through the park without considering the number of people we are with or being gagged by a government ruled "face covering"  then we truly are in a place where we ought not to be, for our sanity's sake and our children's futures.

So there is the potential for more lockdowns "on the table" if a third "wave" in Europe spreads to the UK,

Mr Dowden suggests.  Imposing restrictions again after this latest round are "relaxed" is the "last thing" the government want to do, apparently. 

"The aim of doing this is to make sure it’s irreversible, but my whole experience of the past year is you can’t rule things out, " he said. 

Well, I certainly agree with the latter part of that statement. 

You can find out more on what he has to say here 

They have every confidence we won’t have to have another lockdown and it’s the last thing in the world they'd want to do, so we must keep following the "rules" in order to get back to doing the things we love, however long it takes.

Somehow I don't have the confidence that the government and Mr Dowden appear to have of this happening completely or even soon, though tomorrow's changes will hopefully be a start.

*Footnote*  I am well aware that there are many words and phrases in this piece which are in "speech 

                     marks".  This is not only to identify actual speech as recorded but also to make clear that                             many of the words I have used are ones that I would not necessarily choose myself as their                         meaning can be duplicitous. BG