STUFF & THINGS

BY JON TAYLOR

Fun Express

So, it’s July then! That rocked up fairly sharpish... once March came round it’s been full speed ahead with those months, hasn’t it?

April appeared being all spring like, then May with its rain and the wonderful return of Eurovision, then June with its hints of summer and pub gardens and now Kerblam! It's July. The sweet, sweet passage of time. Supermarkets will be selling pointless crap for Halloween soon…

And so, summer approaches with its (hopefully) long balmy evenings and everyone being on heat. I’ve kinda been on heat for months already. Being single over lockdown has not exactly been a wonderful experience. There’s been a distinct lack of physical activities. No itches have been scratched.

It’s been interesting to hear of couples having to put up with each other due to them both working from home. And how they’ve been getting on each others nerves! Bless... ‘How dreadful it must be to have to spend more time with your soul mate,’ I’d think. ‘How awful to be mildly irritated by your life partner,’ and so on. I appreciate it might have grated for some couples to spend so much time together without seeing other people in any capacity but it did irritate me a bit as I could see no one at all!

”Everybody’s different and so everyone had their own moment to jump back on the saddle. Or jump onto something”

Coming back out of it all and coming back to the, let’s call it the ‘dating world’ for discretion, was a tricky manoeuvre. When to come back onto the apps, when to start meeting people, when to start hooking up again and so on. And as for being indoors with someone either in a dating capacity or something more full on, that was a whole new kettle of fish.

Actually, let’s clarify that. Coming back to the apps wasn’t a thing as I never really left them. Was still on them, perusing away, checking out so and so, looking at such and such but with hardly any desire or motivation to do anything about it. I think that was ‘The Fear’. The fear of Covid, and what might happen if you did meet someone. The not knowing if things were safe. This went on for weeks, nay months.

“It's been interesting to hear of couples having to put up each other due to them both working from home. And how they've been getting on each others nerves! Bless...”

There were obviously guys, single or otherwise, who were meeting up throughout it all which is fine, that‘s up to them, it was when I was going to come back onto this moveable feast that was the question. Everybody‘s different and so everyone had their own moment to jump back on the saddle. Or jump onto something.

I had to wait things out a bit, bide my time, see when I wasn‘t so racked with anxiety about the whole thing. And Lo, the time did come. And so I haven't exactly leapt aboard the Fun Express per se but have joined a nearby carriage with a few close friends. I'm using too many metaphors now so need to draw this feast, train, saddle discussion to a conclusion. But yes, I’m back on it and boy does it feel good!