Ok. So let’s get this clear. What you’re saying is that it was ok to allow hordes of grockles into the area when we had low infection rates and the rest of the country didn’t. So they all came here on their jollies. And now because of that, the whole of Pembs has to lock down, along with the rest of Wales, even though we still have pretty low rates. But then who would know the rates? Because some people with symptoms are testing negative and others are testing positive. Some with no symptoms are testing positive. So it all seems a bit batty to me.
A friend of mine who works on a holiday site told me that when Caerphilly locked down, a load of caravan owners from that area turned up and refused to leave, preferring to hide in their second homes in Pembs and wait for it all to blow over. Another friend who works at Bluestone, has told me that people from safe areas in England have been booking holidays, only for their buddies from Liverpool or the North, the so called high risk areas, to turn up and honour the booking that was made under someone else’s address. Humans are very inventive. They will always find away around anything. You can’t blame the Scousers. It’s not their fault someone has decided that they’re plague victims.
Wouldn’t it make more sense, for the areas like Pembs that are low infection areas, to perhaps close down to visitors for a little while, but allow locals to do their own thing freely? It seems more than a bit crazy to let the whole world in, only to throw them out again when it suits us and then punish the locals that have been behaving themselves all this time by stopping them from seeing their grandkids?
Even the people who usually seem to have a bit of faith in their government seem to be losing that faith. I see people not able to get routine doctor’s appointments, or not be able to get their car fixed because they’re not a key worker, or their businesses suffer when they’ve had successful businesses up until now that have never had to worry like this before.
The old poor, those who have always been skint, are used to having nothing, to living on the breadline and worrying about the future. But there are certain sections of society who have never had to think like that, yet now, here they are in the same boat as everyone else, and they’re seeing what it’s like down here.
It strikes me that this is the first time I’ve seen it getting this dire. I’ve never seen the haves and the have nots all sitting in the same vessel before. And as we sink like the Titanic, the class divide gets ever smaller, where survival tends to depend not so much on what you have, but on how well you can swim and endure the cold.
I heard of a family member this morning who won’t be getting his new work contract renewed, after months previously of looking for work, because of this latest lockdown, and the uncertainty surrounding his job. He works at one of the more affluent camp sites in south Pembs, one that has holiday home caravans on it for sale for a quarter of a million quid. This is not a little business, but they’re laying off their most handy employee, because they think they’re not going to survive.
They’ve really overcooked this now. Non-essential items? There’s clingfilm all over the books in Tesco. This is apparently to protect smaller shops. Shops that are closed. So where will people buy? Amazon.
My friend’s boiler broke down the other day. She was stuck at home with the two little kids on Friday, trying to contact one of her bigger kids to try and make it to the shops before six to get onesies for everyone, cos the guy can’t come out to fix the boiler ‘til Tuesday, cos he’s really busy, cos of lockdown.
Last night at ten to six the roads were rammed with cars, and the shop at Clunderwen was busier than I’ve ever seen it, everyone stocking up on Stella and crisps. They should have had the foresight to get a tin opener, because apparently you can’t get one today. However, you can get fireworks. I’d say fireworks are pretty essential mind, cos surely in a minute we’re gonna need the gunpowder? Reverse engineer Guy Fawkes? It’s a thought.
Is it time for the revolution yet? Let me know. I’ll put the kettle one. Oh.. look.. the supply lines have completely dried up. There are no teabags anymore. You can only get potatoes and a small meat ration.
Now what do we do?
Postcards from the Hedge 