Postcards from the Lockdown

Day 3 of the Britain's lockdown and things are changing pretty rapidly especially in the social sphere, it's really interesting to watch. We are only allowed to go out twice a day (if not commuting to work) once to get our essential shopping done and second to exercise (ride the bike, jog on, or a have a walk). While walking on the pavement and passing someone else, people (if not completely going to the other side of the road) are walking as far on the other side of the pavement as possible. Many people are wearing the masks, some goggles and gloves, and I even seen one guy wearing a police riot style helmet. There's plenty of people doing their daily exercise on the little paths around Canterbury (previously fairly empty) which is great. Weather seems to be kind to us since the lockdown, it has been absolutely beautiful for the last week. Interestingly there's a lot of older people going out for walks and I haven't spotted many families with kids or young adults so far.

Today's novelty has been strict rules of conduct at the supermarkets. People are typically let in through one entrance, and let out through one exit to provide more organized flow. There's a maximum capacity of people inside the market after which people are being stopped until enough others leave. In some markets you are offered a way of sanitizing your hands and baskets on your way in and cashiers steps back when you are handing them the shopping, in others not. There are tape marks on the floor every two meters by the tills to ensure people are keeping the recommended distance. Everyone so far seems to behave very reasonable and most people are obeying the rules without making a fuss. One good outcome of that situation is that items that were panic-bought last week are returning to the shelves, as less people decides to go out shopping and streets in town center are empty. I even managed to buy some eggs today, which my cashier congratulated me for :)

For most of people going out to the supermarket seems to be the biggest social event of the day, I had a really nice chat with previously mentioned cashier and he seemed to agree with me that this weeks changes are for the better, then we both wondered what might happen next week, I didn't have such detailed conversation with sales person for years (but it might be just my thing, heh).

Overall there's some obvious bad things like sickness, death and panic spreading at the moment, but underneath it all I can also see some positives. This whole situation shows us life in a different light, and discards things previously considered core to happiness. Living this sort of minimalist lifestyle, allows us time to stop, think, and be creative with planning our daily routines and limited options we got left and make the best out of what we got left. Life becomes much more memorable and intriguing with few restrictions thrown in to the mix, I think monks and prisoners would have some valuable points to make in this matter.

On the side note, does anyone still remember politicians illegal offshore accounts, the ones Iceland PM got sacked over? What about terrorists and illegal immigrants? Climate change? No, me neither. It's funny how the perspective and focus change when we are in state of emergency.

today's queue outside my local ASDA supermarket

queue to the pharmacy

going out for a walk in this weather feels great

don't forget to pack some lunch :)