last word
COVID-19... AGAIN!
W
ell….where to start? This is the first magazine we have been able to print since March (we did complete April but were only able to make it available online as lockdown had begun) and we are very pleased and excited to be able to do so, but, to be honest it’s a bit strange. I usually have to try and come up with something vaguely humerous about any random given subject that I choose but in the last three or four months very little has happened that has a funny side to it. The last time I wrote one of these pieces it was about sport and how for some unknown reason I love to watch Biathlon on the TV. I usually write these quite a bit in advance of publishing so would probably have written it in early/mid February with no real clue as to what was going to happen in a few short weeks’ time and how the world and all of our lives would change. It, obviously, hasn’t all been doom and gloom. On a day to day basis in everyone’s household I’m sure there have been moments when the dark cloud has lifted and some
determination to get through such awful times as best they can. Sure there are some people who spoil everything and don’t do social distancing or stay at home but just because there is a global pandemic do you really expect those people to stop being idiots?! They were idiots before and they will be idiots afterwards. The average person in the street, like you and I, did what they were told and struggled through to where we are now with mostly good grace and not too much grumbling. No-one liked lockdown. No-one was supposed to like it. It just had to be done and by and large we all played by the rules. We are now, fingers crossed, at a point where we can see a tiny, tiny light at the end of the tunnel and that’s because most people (that’s you and I) are awesome!! There are also, obviously, a lot of people who have gone above and beyond over the last few months. The NHS workers and key workers (TW I’m thinking of you here) especially. These people have put themselves directly in harms way for us every working day since this whole thing hit the fan and frankly a round of applause on a Thursday
“No-one liked lockdown. No-one was supposed to like it. It just had to be done and by and large we all played by the rules.” humour and joy has shone through and as long as you didn’t turn on the TV/radio/social media then it might have even lasted an hour or so!! Overall though it hasn’t been great but what I have been struck by is people’s fortitude. The absolute 66 THEWESTWILTSMAGAZINE
evening, lovely though that was, is the least they deserve. Each and every one of us should go out of our way to personally thank at least one NHS or key worker each and every day for the sacrifices they have made for us since March.
I really, really hope we are coming towards the end of all this, it’s been a long, hard few months for all of us and we deserve some nice things to happen. It’s been lovely to be able to be back writing again, albeit not quite as light as usual, and hopefully we will be fully back to normal for October’s edition.
Phil Rockliffe
