Back to work!!

The desk beckons as we all head back to work again today, the 5th of January 2021, except we can't. Why not? Well here in Scotland we are in Lockdown again from midnight last night, so we can only go to work if we absolutely cannot do it from home, other wise the rule is simple, stay at home. So what does that mean for us all? Well the simple and obvious answer is that the desk in my home office, above, is going to be my base again until we are told other wise. In the longer and wider picture it means hardship and problems for many as businesses struggle with no or limited income, adults struggle with children and no child care, in some cases hardship with difficulty to feed the children due to no wages or support, or at least delayed support in some cases.

If you read my bio it will tell you I act and write, which is true but like many I also have a day job, or a real job as some will refer to it, as a health and safety professional with a local manufacturing company. So we as a company are still working and I will probably be making routine visits to the factory to make sure everything is working as it should be. The positive to that is that I get to meet a resonable amount of people with all different personal circumstances, some are doing well in the current times, some are not. Some believe this pandemic is the end of the human race and others think its all a giant hoax to control the masses. It's worth remembering that people are infinitely variable, from intelligence, viewpoint and understanding.

Many businesses are struggling with the lack of customers and the restrictions. I know of one local restaurant that went from an average turnover of approx to £570,000 to about £70,000. That hurts. Also a hairdressers where one of the stylists could not come back to work after the first lockdown for medical reasons, that is not fun for anyone to cope with at the best of times.

I am quite fortunate in that I have only lost one person I knew personally to COVID, but his wife and their twin sons were ill at the time of his death and so could not attend his funeral. I have also lost two friends in this period for other reasons, not COVID related, but could not attend their funerals due to the restrictions that is difficult as well.

There will always be an arguement about finance versus public health. The problem is the two are closely intertwined and need to be treated as such. Just closing businesses without support, especially the self employed who have no support network, does not work. Equally leaving everythng open in the hope that herd immunity will take over and provide a solution is niave and unworkable.

Whatever is the final answer, and I dont pretend to know it, it needs to be consistent, practical and workable. Telling the public that its safe to keep nurseries open but schools need to close is illogical. As is closing workplaces and leaving schools open. Children are not the only people in schools, there are teachers, cleaners, cooks and maintenace staff as well, to name but a few. All of whom have families and friends, while the disease may not harm the children to a great extent they also have families and friends with vulnerable relatives all of whom deserve the same level of protection as you would ask to be given yourself.

So, I ask you to thnk about others as you go about your daily business, if you can go about your daily business, remember to give other people some space, wear a face covering where you have to and be happier about what you do manage to do. Take time to enjoy the little things where you can and when you have to turn back and look at the problems around you, consider the facts. Look at the science, not the press releases, find out where the transmission is actually occurring and stay away from that area or type of building. After all it may not be you that suffers from it, but what about your relatives. That is of course if they actually matter to you.