//Whet are we then? Gallant corsairs who never shall be slaves to tyranny, or naughty children who should do as we are told?//
Depends I suppose what the government message that day is. Two months ago we were told that the "Pig Out to Help Out" scheme was coming and everybody was to get down to McDonalds for a half-price greasy hamburger, or to Nandos for some fried chicken skin and chips. At the same time vouchers were being handed out to people to enable them to get their bikes fixed so they could bike to work, thereby "saving the planet" (what from is unclear) and keep fit. People were told to get back to work in their offices. Quite a few did. What happened? The number of infections rose. Quelle surprise! It was blindingly obvious to anyone that infections would rise: there's a virus about don'tcha know. So what happens when the obvious happens:
"Stay at home; don't go to work"
"Don't go to the bar in a pub"
"Wear a mask to go to the lavatory when you're in your local Italian"
Students: "Don't go to the pub at all"
Bears: "Don't defecate in the woods" (sorry, in case you cannot tell, I made that one up to go with the one above).
Pubs: "Everybody out by 10pm (and make sure you go straight home)"
In my local High Street large stickers have appeared on the pavement "Keep your distance to avoid a local lock-down" (to complement all the other drivel they've plastered all over the pavement and lamp posts). In one stretch (which was perfectly wide enough to accommodate "distancing" they've narrowed the road to widen the pavement. Now they've allowed a large fruit & veg stall to set up in the closed off bit of the road and where people used to simply pass by on the wide pavement they now queue up to get their fruit & veg.
Yesterday I went up to London on a train. Every ninety seconds I was told about the latest regulations which were in force "to keep everybody safe". This was on top of the usual rubbish telling me to make sure I have a bottle of water with me in case I was overcome with dehydration; to find a policeman if I saw anything that "did not look right" (like every other passenger wearing face mask, for example); to get off if I don't feel well; even to make sure I put the brake on my child's buggy when on the platform.
All this is absolutely ludicrous. It's brought the government (and local government) into disrepute; it's pee'd people off; it's become an utter joke.