Sunday 18 October 2020
The Toilet Roll Archives (19): Isn't It Ironic?
I've spent the past month feeling super guilty about my lack of uploads on here but, here we are: back again!
In the most Kerry of fashions, less than 24 hours after posting a blog on the importance of staying positive in these weird af times, I’m bringing back some good, old-fashioned pessimism because I'm angry.
Why? Because one of my flatmates has got Covid and the three of us now need to isolate. I want to quickly state that I am not angry at my flatmate. This is not his fault at all. Obviously, we don’t blame him; we’ve made that very clear!
It’s the fact we were waiting five days for a result to confirm his diagnosis. Five days. Yep: f-i-v-e. Cinco. Cinq. A cúig.
Not that I really needed any more evidence to prove how incoherently incapable this preposterous shambolic mess of a so-called “Government” (aka Dom & Co.) truly is (throwback to that good ol’ Red Wall back in December!), but this just hit the nail on the head for me. Five whole days to receive confirmation of a positive or negative test result. That’s a joke.
I’ve done my best to remain apolitical on here throughout the Covid saga, but, honestly, this is the final straw for me. Actually, that’s a lie. The final straw was the official Downing St. statement (minus big man Bojo) made late last week, shirking the responsibility of feeding the nation’s poorest, most vulnerable children – not that I expected anything less, tbh, but we move. xo
I've decided I'm going to vent in this one post because I've remained tight lipped for a while now, and I think I'm going to burst. I think you can probably gage where I stand on this whole thing, unless you're new round here (hi! welcome! I promise I'm not always like this!) But I'm not going to rant. I think as great (and as necessary) as it feels in the moment, it's the most unproductive way to air any sort of frustration.
I don’t think it is too bold a statement to declare that effective ‘testing and tracing’ is underpinned by fast action, swift diagnosis and clear protocols and measures. And Britian’s “world-beating” (*gag) response does absolutely none of the kind. Five days? A joke.
Not that it completely ruins my schedule or plans or whatever. I mean, I hit record time on a 10k this week so I’m kind of gutted I won’t be able to try and beat it over the next 14 days but, aside from that, my daily routine hasn’t been affected by the text I received earlier today declaring that I needed to self-isolate. Mate, maybe coz I knew it five days ago!??????!!!!????!!!!!!
This past week has been like one giant game of "What Time is it Mr Wolf?" (lol What Time Is It Mr Johnson!?) in my flat. We've been creeping around on tiptoe, gently edging forwards in the direction of the powers at be, without a clue whether they'll turn around and bite us with the accusatory defensiveness the party in power only seems capable of doing. Even my flatmate said to me today: "I've literally been made to feel like I've deliberately sought out getting this virus!"
Right: the Government
faces all the consequences of locking down, but alternatively faces all the
consequences of not locking down. I get it. I don't envy any political figurehead at this point. But for a "world-beating" test system that takes five days to deliver a result, Mr Cummings & Co. are acting a bit too confident for my liking. They might be the Wolf who controls the time, but can they see much beyond the clock? Doesn't look like it, from my end. Might be time to check your sight again with a three hundred mile road trip to test (and not trace) it, again, Dom. I heard Durham's nice in Autumn?
This Government has failed. They have failed our national (un)health(y) service. They have failed thousands of businesses. They've failed thousands of young people, especially those in the 21-29 age bracket. Trying to study and work a job (lest find one) in the midst of this mess, then getting blamed for eating out to help out isn't fun, especially when I've noticed that they're mainly the ones waiting tables, working the bar, and cashing up behind tills, serving older people who throw hissy fits about their right not to wear a mask in public places. I mean, a couple of months back I saw a woman (probably my mother's age) throw a literal basket of shopping at a shop assistant's head in Sainsburys, after he politely asked her to put on her mask. But, hey, just an observation. Lol. Blame the youth, right?
But don't worry, guys, it won't be the youth for long. It'll be care home staff again soon. And then the seasonal workers from the EU - perfect timing for that brand new points-based immigration policy, right Priti? Talk about killing two birds with one stone!
You see what I'm getting at? All these people to blame, to focus on what they're doing...overshadowing all the things that the men in charge are not doing. Not testing in airports. Not supporting the self-employed fully. Not delivering the Brexit they promised 'leave' voters in 2016, 2019, and 2020. Going at it alone doesn't sound as good when there's a virus circulating, right Mr Johnson, Gove, Frost et al? But, yeah, continue to blame the idleness of the EU. You're also more than welcome to come and hide in my fridge, Boris - we've got four empty shelves since we didn't know whether we could leave the house to buy food for five whole days. We gotchu xo
When law is optional and a disease is doing better than the economy, all I’m going to say is this: stock up on your pasta and get your toilet roll ready because, at the risk of sounding dramatic, I smell a Lockdown 2.0 that won’t be so easy to bounce back from.
Tightening on the reigns of that Brexiteer sovereign invincibility that won them elections and referendums, the party that sit in the saddle of power is no longer a Government. When the masses ignore your instructions, you're not a Government anymore. Then again, they never have been really, not in my eyes. They’re a failed state. They’re a delusional cult of navy blue without a leg to stand on, since the economy crutch they cared so much about three months ago is splintering (again.) But we aren’t ready for that conversation yet.
5 days for a test result. 74 days til we leave the EU. "What time is it Mr Johnson?" Time to get a watch, by the looks of it.