We are now into week ten ... or is it week eleven of the full or partial lockdown world ....
.... that some are calling it 'The New Normal'.
We are apparently almost accepting now, that in the future, what little contact we are going to be allowed with our fellow human beings will be socially distanced. So restaurants, bars, sports crowds, pop concerts, and other mass events will either cease to occur, or will be strangely absent of spectators. Even dating, with its necessity of meeting and talking to strangers is now going to be subject to this new normality, somehow.
I for one think that we as a species don't just want to live to merely exist, but to also enjoy some of the pleasures of an open social society, and that this includes interaction with our fellow citizens. Also like a few million other of my neighbours on this island, I live alone. I also have no relatives, no children and no particular friends living locally. We after all have been living in the most mobile civilisation in history.
Therefore I am increasingly finding the enforced isolation and increasing feelings of loneliness a burdensome thing to have to bear. No easing to a partial lockdown will help me, or others like me, as we live somewhat on the social margins in any case. So having a designated 'circle of friends' who you can talk to face to face, isn't going to help us. This leaves us as virtual prisoners in our homes, innocent of all crimes except not being very popular, or 'normal'.
So with so much time on my hands, I calculated exactly how much (or little) actual face to face conversation I have had with anyone, since the lockdown commenced ..... In the main I have been restricted to saying 'thank you' on my ten or eleven weekly shop visits, and on two of those occasions I had a further thirty second conversation with the shop person processing my goods. On all other occasions, either nothing was said, or it was self service. So in total, that's substantially less than ten minutes (probably just four or five minutes) conversation, spread over ten or more weeks.
Now it has to be said, that if I was a prisoner in one of Her Majesties Prisons, I would be entitled to at least one hours association per day (and usually more, unless I was particularly dangerous), with my fellow inmates..... this is a 'human right', and is enshrined in our laws. As far as I know, prisoners are still only segregated for non disciplinary or security reasons, if they test positive for Covid-19. So the question arises .... is the lockdown breaking my human rights? I suspect that technically it does, but that there is some sort of caveat that allows it.
Anyway interesting though this might be to a human rights lawyer, it doesn't get me and the others in the same predicament as me anywhere, and leaves us just as stuck in the new normal, which is for us nothing more or less than a form of open prison.
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| Social Distancing In 'The New Normal' ...... |
.... that some are calling it 'The New Normal'.
We are apparently almost accepting now, that in the future, what little contact we are going to be allowed with our fellow human beings will be socially distanced. So restaurants, bars, sports crowds, pop concerts, and other mass events will either cease to occur, or will be strangely absent of spectators. Even dating, with its necessity of meeting and talking to strangers is now going to be subject to this new normality, somehow.
I for one think that we as a species don't just want to live to merely exist, but to also enjoy some of the pleasures of an open social society, and that this includes interaction with our fellow citizens. Also like a few million other of my neighbours on this island, I live alone. I also have no relatives, no children and no particular friends living locally. We after all have been living in the most mobile civilisation in history.
Therefore I am increasingly finding the enforced isolation and increasing feelings of loneliness a burdensome thing to have to bear. No easing to a partial lockdown will help me, or others like me, as we live somewhat on the social margins in any case. So having a designated 'circle of friends' who you can talk to face to face, isn't going to help us. This leaves us as virtual prisoners in our homes, innocent of all crimes except not being very popular, or 'normal'.
So with so much time on my hands, I calculated exactly how much (or little) actual face to face conversation I have had with anyone, since the lockdown commenced ..... In the main I have been restricted to saying 'thank you' on my ten or eleven weekly shop visits, and on two of those occasions I had a further thirty second conversation with the shop person processing my goods. On all other occasions, either nothing was said, or it was self service. So in total, that's substantially less than ten minutes (probably just four or five minutes) conversation, spread over ten or more weeks.
 |
| Social Distancing Can Feel Like An Open Prison For Many ....... |
Now it has to be said, that if I was a prisoner in one of Her Majesties Prisons, I would be entitled to at least one hours association per day (and usually more, unless I was particularly dangerous), with my fellow inmates..... this is a 'human right', and is enshrined in our laws. As far as I know, prisoners are still only segregated for non disciplinary or security reasons, if they test positive for Covid-19. So the question arises .... is the lockdown breaking my human rights? I suspect that technically it does, but that there is some sort of caveat that allows it.
Anyway interesting though this might be to a human rights lawyer, it doesn't get me and the others in the same predicament as me anywhere, and leaves us just as stuck in the new normal, which is for us nothing more or less than a form of open prison.
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