Let's fast forward to a few years later

I'm not going out for exercise tonight. I've been doing low-level intensity stuff for most of the last week, and I need a bit of a break. Slobbing on the sofa, that kind of thing.

Anyway, I have something to say, even if I can't say it. Even if no one is listening.

By all accounts, this is the biggest medical, social and economic shock to our society ever. Well, if you believe that you have no concept of history. I dare say that there were a few people around in 1348 who if they were still around now might argue the toss with you. But I get the point.

In recent memory anyway. Which means the last fifty years. Or eighty at a push. Maybe even 95 if you are being particularly obtuse. But the central point of my point is that in all the clapping, the crappy videos, (and yes, I know I'm as guilty as anyone), and the self-congratulatory emails about adaptability and the like, we seem to have lost sight of something.

We've forgotten how to be human. I know I have. The truth is that bad things happen and we get through them. Sometimes we make a fuss, and sometimes we don't. Whilst it is true that the NHS workers are doing a wonderful job, so is the bin man who goes out collecting our rubbish, not knowing if it's covered in virus particles. No one claps him at 8 o'clock on a Thursday night.

The woman in the Co-op serving her customers, with the risk one of them will sneeze all over her. The supermarket shelf-stacker, toiling away at all hours of the night so you can go and get more toilet roll. Or even the local council apparatchik, bravely sat in the corner of his spare bedroom, plodding away at his laptop, not knowing if his employers are going to make him redundant tomorrow.

I've been amazed at how quick some people are to judge, criticise and demonise the actions of their fellow citizens. Maybe everyone could do with a little bit more understanding now. More listening. There are encouraging signs, but we are not there yet. If there is really going to be something good to come out of all of this, I hope it's that.

The truth is, life is difficult for everyone right now, and all of us are doing our best to make sense of it, in whatever way we can. My way is Netflix and music. Occasional exercise, to the degree I'm allowed. Yours may be something else.

But if ever there was a case for not judging, it's now.

Enjoy your evening. Thanks for listening. Oh, and keep your hands clean.