I was involved in a minor incident in the supermarket yesterday. Nothing overly exciting but I got shouted at for trying to walk passed someone. The suggestion being that I wasn’t following the two metre / two chevron conveyor belt suggested system. I was on the phone at the time and just obliviously walking through the supermarket as I always do. This is the little Co-op on the corner opposite my flat and while some big supermarkets are strict with rules they’re never busy enough to do so. I was caught so unawares I didn’t have a clue what was going on at first and it took me a few seconds to realise what she was talking about. She marched off shouting about how ridiculous it was and I shouted back to her that yes it was ridiculous. I could have come up with something quicker and wittier but I still wasn’t completely sure what was going on. In the end it probably sounded a little on par with “I know you are but what am I”.
It’s a tricky one because even though I had no idea what was going on I still had a split second awareness that I couldn’t really tell her she was being dick because I was breaking some rules and she was clearly terrified and nervous walking around the shop which is not uncommon in this present situation. It’s just nobody likes being shouted at and had I not had that split second understanding of what she was talking about she may have been told where to go.
There is also a little back story to this though which may shed more light. I joined the local Facebook group about a month ago to advertise the pizza takeaway and we started following it as it was a fascinating read. Anyone familiar with the series The League Of Gentleman or just small insular village life will understand. There was the dog poo incident, photographic evidence provided, which was without a hint of humour or irony followed up by the human poo story. Usually tourists were blamed for this type of thing, as they were for making the high street over crowded too. As is inevitable with this type of mindset, fear of virus diseased tourists became inevitable. This is a village heavily dependent on tourism and the vitriol was ignorant and shameful. Last week there was talk of handing out wristbands to locals and barring tourists from entering the supermarket. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the need not to be spreading this virus, and that the majority are not this idiotic but there were enough voices for it to snowball out of control. The admins finally had enough and recognising the damage being done have deleted the local group page.
This is the present climate in the village. As much as I try though I can’t feel anger for her. Like I said nobody enjoys being shouted at, but this just shows how scared people are. Some levels of fear are credible and some not. I don’t know her so I shouldn’t cast judgment. I’m ruled as much by my ignorance as everyone else. Things like this crisis and this extreme situation we’ve found ourselves in are scary. I know I was scared and sometimes still am. I was back in the co-op today and while I agree with the two metre distancing, I think the one way system in supermarkets is stupid and does nothing but improve things on the cosmetic level. I was now cautious about passing anyone though. I may argue whether it was warranted but my bollocking seems to have done something, credible or not. Don’t worry I’ll return to my old rampaging ways in a day or two.
Observations and Misunderstandings 