I look at my dwindling supply of my favourite toiletries that I always stock up on when I am stateside and yearn for this to be over so I can plan my next visit and continue my travels.

I just wanted to write down my utter frustration about how others just seem to ignore the rules of Covid-19.

I am in the UK and confusingly the Government has introduced a three tier system to try and control the spread of Covid-19 across our small country. I reside in a borough South East of Central London. The cases per 100,000 are lower than the average but because it is a London borough the status has increased to High in line with the rest of London. So there is no meeting indoors and only outside groups of up to 6 can meet. There is a curfew on restaurants and pubs to close by 22.00 hours. Social distancing is encouraged everywhere and the wearing of masks indoors is compulsory.

I went grocery shopping and although there are cleaning stations on entry there are no members of staff encouraging the use of them. Nor does it seem to limit the number of shoppers allowed in store at anyone time. So I feel that to protect myself I have to eyes in the back of my head and my hearing on alert for space invaders! I am sure that most adults had some education in what distances are but you would find it hard to witness that these days. If I am looking at choices why does someone always brush past me rather than wait a moment for me to move along? I find myself having to signal for someone to stop advancing towards me until I have moved over. In fact why is it me that always moves out of the way?

On exit there was a man, an elderly (at risk) man standing, waiting for his partner in the exit lane. He beckoned me forward and said that I wasn’t moving, nor going anywhere near him because he didn’t have a mask on. Do you know he just laughed but backed as far as he could away from me.

Apparently there are complaints from grocers and shop workers about the abuse they receive from the public when reminding patrons of the directional markings or wearing masks. Why can’t we just get along?

A mask is to protect you from me and I don’t want to see masks lurking under people’s noses nor as a chin support. It isn’t a political statement nor a infringement of your civil liberty it is a mask.

There is a pedestrianised area of the High Street and the local council during the school breaks put in rides and donut stands and still encourages residents to socially distance but this is impossible as the available space has been reduced pushing people together rather than apart. I wish there were street marshalls during this crisis then at least there is someone reminding people to abide with the rules.

I am not asking for much, or maybe I am but if we took this seriously and respected each others space it might be all over much sooner.

When the pubs opened up again on July 1 in the UK the publicity it got was so over the top and I just think that the UK is a nation of drunks. Even now the resistance to the changes restrictions and how it effects business’s is all focused on pubs and restaurants. I am sure that there are many UK citizens who don’t drink but why did the pubs open before the treatment industry? There are more important industries that help people with conditions, mental and physical that were not allowed to open until mid August.

Personally I think that Government’s globally do not how to handle the Pandemic and are politicising the situation that each of them find themselves.