The Government did it, Lockdown 3 has come and I am still wondering are we really in a lockdown, or have we all got a bit complacent and far too happy to still go shopping?
In the first lockdown, my hometown went from being a busy shopping and foodie beach town to a ghost town where you saw no one and the only cars were the police checking why you were out. Nothing was open apart from food stores and you had to queue in an orderly fashion 2 meters away from the next person, the 2nd lockdown came and went with a few fewer rules although Christmas was compromised we still had a good one.
Due to my job (if I haven’t mentioned it I’m a postman these days) I get to drive around town all day and I’m amazed how many people are still out and about, it seems like nothing has changed in the town but things have, all our wonderful small businesses have shut along with the hospitality sector just leaving the food shops which we do have a few in town, we have 3 butchers, 2 fishmongers farm shop a costa & Neros Greggs plus a load of independent cafes and coffee shops, the delis and convenience stores and finally CO-OP Iceland and Tescos out of town we have The Range and Home Bargains along with a large Tesco and Lidl so plenty of places still to shop and yes the town is shopping.
We are supposed to be staying in and not putting each other at risk so why are we all out? I see more of the more vulnerable ages having a shop or having a walk and then the mad oldmen cycle clubs are back out and still not ringing their bells and generally being pains in the ass to us pedestrians. It’s like nothing has changed except you can’t go for a pint or shop locally but you can still shop, this lockdown is in my eyes just hospitality and nonfood retail killer I mean even the tradesmen are out working they haven’t stopped fitting bathrooms sorting out electrics and building walls.
Why are the likes of the Range open? they seem to be selling everything these days just to cover their key essential goods status and I love that they have put a random freezer in the shop selling pizza, chips southern fried chicken, and peas to pass as a proper food store, so I can now pick up a mirror, picture frame, new toaster, mop, shower gel, bird food, dog lead, sofa, patio set, hot tub, paddleboard, and a pepperoni deep pan and some random make tomato ketchup.
please we all need to get out for our essentials and exercise but to beat this virus we do need to follow the rules. (ok but I did pick up some chlorine for my hot tub and disco light for my eldest birthday the other day….)
