This photo has nothing whatever to do with this post. Anyone know what it is?
I left the house yesterday for the first time in nearly six weeks because my husband had to attend a hospital appointment.
It was a whole new world out there. Far less traffic than usual, although the speed cops were in evidence to deter those who were tempted to use the clear roads as race tracks. A new shop had popped up in the parade just 5 minutes walk from my home – how could I have not known that?
When we arrived at the hospital I was not allowed to go inside, so I stayed in the car and passed the time playing games on my phone. Parking charges have been suspended.
I felt very safe in my car, just as I do at home, but I realised that my whole attitude to the world outside my home had changed. I was quite fearful about getting out of the car and saw everything and everyone as potentially dangerous. This will be difficult to shake off once we do emerge from isolation.
Apparently the NHS is now worried that people are not going to hospital to get emergency treatment when they need it. Of course, all non-urgent treatment has been postponed, and accidents will have reduced during lockdown, but people should not avoid hospitals when they really do need help. In fact, a hospital is, counterintuitively, probably one of the safest places to be at the moment, provided you are not in a coronavirus ward.
Please note
We have been in full self-isolation since 16th March to protect my husband whose immune system is compromised.
If you are in self-isolation then join the Lib Dems in self-isolation Facebook group.
You can find my previous Isolation diaries here.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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12 Comments
Mary Reid: “I felt very safe in my car, just as I do at home, but I realised that my whole attitude to the world outside my home had changed. I was quite fearful about getting out of the car and saw everything and everyone as potentially dangerous. This will be difficult to shake off once we do emerge from isolation.”
We are human and we have human instincts, or just ways in which we behave. When we encounter others on a narrow path, we don’t flee into the woods like a rabbit. We walk past, performing a mental calculation that s/he didn’t make much effort when passing us.
Looks like poutain with bacon to me.
2nd the poutine. It is a Québécois delicacy with the classic poutine being chips, gravy and cheese curds. Non-classic varieties have almost any combination of savoury topics you can imagine. It’s delicious!
Whatever is in the photo it doesn’t look kosher.
Indeed it is poutine with bacon (would probably be kosher without the bacon, but not sure how they make the gravy). It’s a strange combination but it is good comfort food.
It feel strange. Lots of people are not going A&E for a few reasons
1, they don’t need too. Lots of time wasters
2, people aren’t going out so no car accidents, no diy accidents. No cars
3. No children playing with lots of other children having accidents and run out in the streets
4, no pubs open so no drunks in the streets fighting and all that brings. No drunk drivers
5, to spite it all a lot of people are a lot stressed
Just some reason why a million less people are not wasting the NHS’s time
Mary Reid | Sat 25th April 2020 – 5:00 pm
So, how is he? What happened at triage?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine
Yes, Mary, what now about abandoning the motor car for overcrowded and potentially dangerous public transport? What the hell is poutine? Looks like bacon and chips to me!
@Richard Underhill – thanks for asking but he is fine. It was not coronavirus-related.
@John Marriott – I certainly wouldn’t have travelled by public transport. We are self-isolating/shielding for a reason. The bacon is an added extra – poutine is chips, curd cheese and gravy and is very popular in Quebec – sounds unlikely but it works.
Yes, Mary. I looked it up on Wikipedia. As someone trying to lose three stone (two down and one to go), it looks a bit like shark infested custard or lead paint (see The Simpson’s) delicious; but deadly! As President De Gaulle famously said when visiting French speaking Canada in the 1960s; “Vive Le Québec. Vive Le Québec, libre?” (Yes, if you listen to it, he was clearly asking a question).
Oh, just about to tuck into my one ‘treat’ of the week – a bacon and egg sandwich, minus the chips and cheese!
Lots of ill health being stored up, I would think, expect people are drinking too much alcohol and eating terrible food, not enough exercise and boredom setting in now… hospitals are half empty locally, according to press reports.