I am a person who would be called very 'tactile.' That means I tend to touch, pat or hug my family and friends as part of my communication. No longer able to do this means that part of my personality is being restricted. I am sure there are many others like this, who miss the comfort that comes from physical contact. So we must all get better at using kind words as an alternative.
How I love communication technology. Apart from talking to the plants, I talk every day on the phone or computer. When I was a child my family didn't even have phone; one ran to the red box at the end of the road if it was urgent. Now we can speak to, and see, a person on the other side of the world.
This week I have chatted with a friend in Maui, Hawaii, had a fun chat with 11 year old grandson in Kythera, Greece, and received videos of grandchildren from Queensland, Australia. I am so grateful for this technology. Where there is an elderly person, who has not made the effort to learn to use the computer that is so sad and regrettable.
I have learnt so many useful things this way. My American friend tells me that the one shortage of things in her country is guns. I wonder if these people think they can kill the virus with a bullet! Very important was a You Tube I received that reminded me to wipe down everything that comes through my door. Groceries can be contaminated, and even eggs and fruit should be put under the tap. I now wipe down everything, including books, to be on the safe side. I worry this isn't being done by everyone.
Being alone has also given me time to think. Having money, a big car, an exotic cruise or even fame does not protect one. The Prime Minister, the Chief Scientific Officer and even a member of the Royal Family, are now contaminated. I wonder if the first two have had some regrets about the slow preparation in the planning and buying of equipment, so desperately needed now by our NHS. Leadership should involve advanced planning.
Finally, let me tell you of my perfect venue for my daily exercise walk. I live opposite a church, with its 2,050 year old cemetery. This has hundreds and hundreds of graves, all remembering a person who has made a contribution to life. It is silent here, no chattering, no cars, no polluted air, empty of the living but full of birds enjoying the peace. I don't even have to measure out my two metres spacing.
It is the perfect place to contemplate what really matters in life and, honestly, to come to terms with its inevitable ending...
See Part One of Alice In Salford Isolationland – click here
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