A pint, a pint, no Covid passport for a pint!

Well here we are. 

A year after lockdown 1 started. 127,000 deaths (so far) I know that numbers are decreasing but nothing has gone away. 

The fact that we talk about deaths being 30% down on the previous week .... the use of maths doesn’t hide the pain of the families who have lost loved ones. 

We have looked at graphs and charts of actual numbers , deaths per 100,000 population, comparisons with other countries in a rainbow of coloured line graphs and bar charts .....looking forward to these being integrated into future GCSE exams ...as opposed to little Johnny did a survey in his class to ask people what their favourite flavour of crisp was .....

How come everything is down to whether or not our right to go out to the pub and get trollied for three nights at the weekend is being infringed?

The “Kill the Bill” ( or kill the Old Bill more like) protesters are out and about again violently protesting against the removal of our rights to peacefully protest ???

Golden retriever in chief (BoJo) has said that he is looking forward to going out for a pint. (Does he know what a pint is or is he trying to be a lad?) 

We are already  seeing people herding together (without herd immunity) in large groups in open spaces. It seems that we all want to get “back to normal” and get out but are upset about the idea of a vaccination passport. Many think that it is an identity card by stealth. 72 MPs have said that the concept is “divisive” ...... isn’t that the point? There are those who have diligently “stayed indoors, washed hands and protected the NHS” and those who have frequently flouted lockdown. 

Those of us who have followed the rules and want the right to go out and enjoy ourselves V’s those who have been out doing it for the last year without close contact from those who don’t care. Remember figures on vaccine effectiveness are still only coming in at 70%-compared to all the 90+% that we heard in the beginning. 

A vaccination does not give you superpowers or immunity. If we used 70% effectiveness in other situations...you have a 70% success rate of not catching an STD, our flights have a 70% success rate in landing successfully. The rate would increase if those of us who wanted vaccination passports didn’t have to be on a plane with Johnny “ not bovvered” “it’s against my human rights” will be used ..... and we don’t want to upset people.

We’ve been told that vaccine passports won’t be “ready” in time before we are all back in pubs as of April 12th..... why? The roadmap out of lockdown is quite simple.

Roll out an effective vaccination program

Follow the rules of social distancing

Twice weekly testing for self awareness. 

Vaccination passport to check that you are in Covid free events.

Surely the passport could have been sorted out months ago by giving yet more billions to some Tory ministers dog Walker to develop?

How about we allow places to choose  whether they are VP friendly ..... like smoking or non smoking venues ..... too controversial?

There will still be “Tommy two lines” who will test positive on a Friday night but still demand the right to go out and share with his mates .....and everyone else because of his right to a pint of beer.

Fashion....

......and I’m not talking about the song by David Bowie..... now there was a man who knew how to dress and reinvent himself... even his Aladdin Sane or his Ziggy Stardust moments caught your eye. Personally I always preferred him about the time that he and Jagger were “dancing in the street”

.....but I digress.

What is fashion? If something is “fashionable” it is something that is popular or something that someone has said loudly (and to many people) that this is the “must have” fashion item of the season..... a phrase that automatically gets me to turn round and head in the opposite direction . Like the person who tells you how really really funny a joke is before they actually tell it!

We live in a world where “influencer” is a career choice...... yeah.... I know!

If Kim Kardashian puts a fresh steaming cow pat on her head in the next season of KUWTK and tells everyone how great it looks - how many teens will follow her and do likewise .... too many too mention. 

.... by the way Kim’s cow pat wouldn’t be an ordinary cow pat. It would have been from a free range cow that had had an organic diet and blah blah blah ....

I’m a bit like the kid in the street watching the Emperor go past in his “see through” clothes ..... can you all hear the melodious tones of Danny Kaye “ the king is in the altogether ....” for those of us of a certain age....... but look -he’s naked!!!

The weather has been warm-ish for the last couple of days in March .... (known as Fools summer as it makes us think that we need to get out our summer wardrobe but we all know that there is snow just around the corner....

So, as a man with a fluctuating waistline (large but getting smaller ..... slowly) you think “ must get a new pair of shorts” ....and not the horrible sporty ones that I wear everywhere .... walking, working in the garden .... to bed ......

...so to Amazon it is .... and after a quick browse through the first page of men’s cargo shorts ....where as a middle aged man you gave to appreciate a large pocket for all those “things” that you just need a baggy external pocket or two for .... your eyes ate drawn to the rag at the bottom that says 3/4 length .... and so you press the button .....

.....why? Just why? If one spends all of ones working day in a trouser and one years for the end of the day when one can slide gently into a short but one isn’t sure if one should but one can’t make ones mind up .... then here is the ideal solution ..... NO! 

It’s like the fashion idiots who about 5 years ago thought that wearing one trouser leg full length and the other at 3/4 length was cool and tried to make it “a thing.”

I keep seeing young ladies with trousers that DON’T go all the way to their ankles and that is supposed to be fashion..... NO it just looks like you went to the shops to buy some clothes but couldn’t get an item in your size but liked it so much anyway that you still bought it ....... or that it was fashionable 3 years ago but you have since had a “growth spurt” and can’t bear to throw them away ..... eldest daughter did once have a Minnie Mouse nightie that eventually became a t-shirt and a pair of pyjama bottoms that turned into shorts but that’s just a cute child thing.

OK -I may be a fashion “dinosaur” trapped in the 80’s where a white t-shirt, leather jacket and faded jeans will NEVER go out of style. .... Now is that the difference?

Fashion is temporary, style is permanent. 

If so then I’m looking forward to being the most stylish old man in the care home