Today is the tenth day since all restrictions were lifted. Hows’s it going, you might wonder. It’s mostly ok. No one has to wear a face mask unless using London Transport, but most places ‘encourage’ their patrons to do so. Compliance is high in well-to-do establishments such as Waitrose. In Tesco, things are different. A younger, more chavvy population are all too keen to show off their mouth-breathing prowess. Ugh.
On Saturday, I watched a group of about ten individuals go off to join the London protests. This group have been claiming some rather inflated attendance figures for their marches. But once the anti-lockdown factions had fallen away, all that is left are a couple of thousand antivax whackos.
If you saw them, you’d swear you had stumbled upon a village idiot convention. When it’s time for speeches, they pass a shared communal brain cell along with a microphone. They also seem to love spontaneous three words chants. I’m genuinely thinking of joining them one day to see if I can get some good ones going. ‘We want cheese’, ‘No more rain’ and ‘Pooped our pants’ are all candidates.
On Monday, I watched a grown woman have an absolute meltdown in my local HSBC bank. She wasn’t wearing a face mask, which was ok. But when asked to stand behind a plastic screen to talk to a staff member, her inner Karen came out. There was a pretend phone call which she used to publicly air a series of conspiracy theories. Then an insistence that she was going nowhere until she was dealt with, face to face*.
You’ve possibly see Karen videos from the US. We do things differently in the UK. The moment the lady started shouting, everyone in the bank looked away and ignored her. Both staff and customers. Once she’d finished shouting, she crossed her arms and ignored everyone else. What we had here was a good old traditional English stand-off. We don’t like people who create a scene. We don’t like show offs. And unless someone has pushed their way into a queue, we say nothing.
I went shopping next door in M&S. Twenty minutes later I walked back past the bank. The English stand off was still ongoing. The lady stood there, a look of thunder on her face, arms still crossed, eyes pointed into space. And it occurred to me, that while I’m not in favour of vaccine passports, I could yet be sold on the idea of a policy that keeps a particular section of society out of my space.
* the great irony here is that until just recently, and only a few weeks ago at this bank branch, almost all conversations were held behind thick glass that protected the staff from robberies.
The Mexile 
As you know we had our second shot about a month ago now, unlike some parts of the globe we were unable to choose what Dolly mixture they were going to prod us with so we got whatever was on the menu. So now having had one Pfizer and one Moderna the 50% vaxxed but vexed Americans are saying we are unwelcome, should we venture south to their shores in a moment of madness because of mixed doubles. I suppose it’s just a storm in a teacup and eventually they will come around but for the moment the cruisers and flyers amongst us are grounded.
As a consequence Ottawa are considering giving us proof of vaccination passports, hopefully they are credit card sized dog tags which we can dangle when passing through customs..
As regards wandering around maskless many are on board with it however I prefer to wear one inside as you never know who is or isn’t preparing to meet their maker on a whim. Most people here are gung-ho with taking the plunge but there is the lunatic fringe and the mentally challenged who don’t “get it” and they are the ones who we are depending on for herd immunity.
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I believe Canada has overtaken the UK in the jab race. Spain as well, a day or two ago. The UK isn’t vaccinating U18s though, other than those identified as vulnerable. So those that do will all pass the UK sooner or later.
And yes, what vaccines and what methods of proof are acceptable to different countries will be troublesome for a while. Not long though, I suspect. There are some countries who accept the AZ jab manufactured in Europe but not batches made in India…
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My neighbor died. From covid. After having two shots three months ago. Healthy and thin, exercised several times a week, did everything to stay safe. Now his obese, diabetic wife is left to muddle on.
The breakthru cases are overwhelming our hospitals. When does thiis end?
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Really sorry to hear about your neighbour. There will, sadly, be breakthrough cases. A double jabbed chap at work is currently off with it. But they aren’t likely to be what overwhelms hospitals. In the UK, the unvaccinated make up the majority of infections, hospitalisations and deaths despite being only a small fraction of the adult population. The vaccines work and work well. Except the Chinese ones, apparently…
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Under normal circumstances, I suscribe to a “live and let live” policy. But with the antivaxers, I wish I could sneak up and jab them myself, whether they like it or not. They are screaming about their rights, and yet their actions are holding the rest of us hostage. Getting COVID is not the only consequence… restricted travel is not just about going or not going on holiday… we have not been able to see our only grand daughter since Christmas 2019. She lives in a European country that will not let Mexicans (vaccinated or not) in the country, even with proof of vaccination. We must do the 2 week quarantine. Two weeks is all the time we have and so we’d spend 1,000s of dollars to fly over there, only to stay in a hotel room and not even be able to see the child. The world has lost all compassion. We who elect to believe scientists instead of rumors on the internet are being held hostage by these idiots. The worst of it is that refusing a vaccine is not about standing up for a pricipal that is vital. This is not like protesting illegal traffic of weapons, drugs or people. This isn’t about protesting global warming. This is not about protesting feminicide or sexual exploitation of children. This is just ridiculous posturing.
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