A sign of the times

I went out to shop today and as I was standing by the bus waiting for the driver to finish logging on to his computer/ticket machine another potential passenger came right up to me and asked if it was leaving soon.

He wasn’t quite in my face but definitely  in my space.

I leaned back and looked at him disapprovingly. “Do you mind keeping your distance,” I said.

And the shocking thing is that it not only felt absolutely natural to say it but he accepted the rebuke. We talked quite neighbourly after that.

It strikes me that we are entering a new age of the Hermit. So many of us are going to have to develop hermit skills (or perhaps I mean ‘anchorite’ skills). The ability to be alone. To find one’s own company sufficient. Not to go absolutely berserk with food, booze and on-line shopping.

Honestly, I found myself seriously considering buying two hundred quids worth of new socks yesterday just to add a little extra joy to my  life. Don’t let yourself be swayed by material things, Michael!

Life would be easier with a cat. Mutter.

I have a nice little hermitage (one bedroom, one living room, kitchen and bathroom) and unlike the monk I play in my medieval society I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to pray. Only to empty my bladder and that less frequently than monks celebrate mass.

As long as the food lasts and the power and water stay on, I should be fine. And with the coming of spring I can put laundry  out on the line again.

Did you see the news that some food economists are calling for food rationiing to be introduced? Mostly on the grounds that fresh fruit and veg are coming from Spain and Italy where things are much more restricted than here. I can’t see the current lot getting anything that complicated up and running.

Sainsbury’s were still out of the soup I like and I forgot to check for toilet paper. Still, I found a couple of packets of paracetemol today for which my aching left hip thanks me.