LAST POST: SH1T JUST GOT REAL

from Airsoft Action - May 2020

AA SPECIAL: MENTAL HEALTH

SH-1-T JUST GOT REAL!

Well, we didn’t see that coming! As a rule, I am normally unclear (read: clueless) about what subject I’ll turn my attention to for each Last Post. I certainly didn’t expect to write about a global pandemic and how it might affect airsoft - but here we are.

The world is reeling from the effects of Covid19 and it doesn’t look like that’s about to change anytime soon. While it was nice of the Prime Minister to suggest that we’ll have it licked in 12 weeks, I don’t know if anyone really believed him, especially since the health service seems to be gearing up for peak disaster right about then.

How does this affect airsofters? An excellent question, well presented - which is how an old airsofting friend of mine responded to any query for which he didn’t have an answer. Should sites continue to run games? Should shops remain open? Surely it’s better to be outside than cowering in our homes? What’s the worst that could happen anyway?

Let’s deal with that last question first - you could die. You, or someone close to you could die. This isn’t “just the flu” and while it is true that younger people seem to weather it better (and airsofters are generally younger people), the reports from those who have suffered from it suggest that staying as far away from it as possible is a really good idea. I have an 86-year old father-in-law who is supposedly in isolation (we’ll gloss over that bit) and I personally won’t take the chance of introducing him to a virus that could put him in the ground. My choice.

So, should we play? My view - and as ever in Last Post it is just that - is no. We are being encouraged to avoid social gatherings, with variable success. I don’t buy the argument that because airsofters are outside they are somehow safer. What happens between games? Yup, a bunch of sweating, heavy breathing players all congregate in the Safezone. Lots of them. Somehow I simply can’t see airsofters voluntarily keeping a 6 foot space between them and their fellows, assuming the Safezone is actually big enough to allow that. Moreover, as I have commented previously, airsofters are generally a sociable bunch so where once I saw a friendly social gathering, now I see a superb potential for infection. I wouldn’t go near that for all the money the Bank of England is going to spend. My concerns for my family would far outweigh any loss of enjoyment. I also suspect that while the government has arguably been lax up to now about enforcing “social distancing”, with emergency powers about to whistle through Parliament like sh*t through a goose, you may find the choice isn’t yours for long anyway.

Should you go shopping for airsoft gear? I have friends whose livelihood depends on you doing this, so I am a bit torn. It’s great to visit an actual shop, to chat, to handle the merchandise but you can see what the potential there is for viral transmission. I suspect that online shopping might be a wiser choice for the time being, any shop worth its salt will be more than happy to spend time on the phone or on email making sure that you get what you need and it’s a pretty-much risk free way of doing it. I accept that deliveries may take slightly longer than normal but with companies recruiting drivers left right and centre to cope, it shouldn’t keep you and your beloved kit apart unnecessarily.

Is it better to be outside, where the air is clean? Well, yeeees. But no. I think you just need to take a look at Wuhan, Italy and France at present. In a situation where none of us have any immunity from Covid19, the thinking SOMETIMES LIFE – READ “MOTHER NATURE” – THROWS US A CURVEBALL WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT IT. FRENCHIE SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON HOW THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AFFECTS AIRSOFT.

“I CAN’T SEE THE AUTHORITIES BEING PLEASED IF WE ALL DECIDED TO AIRSOFT FROM BALCONIES RATHER THAN SINGING A LA ITALIANS BUT, IF I’M REALLY HONEST, I THINK THAT WOULD BE EPIC! (SORRY GUYS - NOT GOING TO HAPPEN).”

is that the best way to slow the spread of the disease is to make it as hard as possible for it to be transmitted and that means keeping its host, humans, as far from each other as possible. I can’t see the authorities being pleased if we all decided to airsoft from balconies rather than singing a la Italians but, if I’m really honest, I think that would be epic! (Sorry guys - not going to happen). So, staying as far from our fellow homo sapiens seems to be the accepted advice, even here in good old Blighty. Ignore the Tim Martins and Stanley Johnsons of this world - the best we can hope for is that they infect each other and spare the rest of us who have scintilla of common sense.

Contrary to how you view it, airsoft is not a game that demands we stay as far apart as possible, quite the opposite is true. Yes, you only want to get close enough to the opposition to shoot them, but what about your own team? Medic rules, laying on of hands, helping people up when they fall, pulling them bodily back into cover when they make a really bad tactical decision, everything that is the good side of airsoft and airsofting. All of that now comes with a far greater risk. Can site organisers re-write and crucially, enforce, new rules that ensure that no one comes into physical contact? I can’t see how, not while still delivering an experience that is worth taking part in.

I am shocked, genuinely, at the number of sites still behaving as if nothing has changed. Airsoft does rather engender a feeling of invulnerability - after all we shoot each other repeatedly, get up and do it all again. It is also predominantly played by those of tender years who naturally feel that there is nothing in this world that can touch them - I felt that way when I was their age. I have the dubious honour of having sat with two people as they died from bilateral pneumonia; they were old and they were vulnerable and these things happen. It wasn’t pretty, despite all the excellent care both received right up to the end. That’s what’ll kill you with this virus. Is risking that worth a game? I don’t think so. Covid19 will pass and there will be many more years to run, hide, crawl and shoot each other. For the time being it would be wise to stay at home and polish your guns, clean your kit and wait for those halcyon, and safer days to arrive.

For God’s sake, whatever choices you make, stay safe guys and gals. AA