supermarket – Observations and Misunderstandings

A Bollocking In The Supermarket

18/05/2020 Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

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.

When Will Saturday Come

25/04/2020 Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

It’s Saturday. Thought I would stumble out of bed a little hung over, not too much, just a enough to create edge. Have my breakfast which is more relaxed than the mid week one but fundamentally the same, I leave the dirty sexy breakfast for a Sunday. While eating plan all the semi-productive things I would like to accomplish for the day before leaving for the supermarket, ticking that off the list but being exhausted enough upon return that the list get scrumpled up and thrown in the fire which I made to sit in front of feeling like a wild man as the football results come in. Secretly I’ve quite enjoyed this lockdown, mainly because I’ve not really been locked down I imagine, but there are certain old habits and routines I miss. I enjoyed those semi-busy Saturdays. I long for the return of the football. And I’m currently not in the same house as the fireplace unfortunately. If that all sounds hard then don’t even get me started on the pleasures of a Sunday morning drinking coffee and reading the newspapers as my dog sits beside me and I’m surrounded by countryside. It’s pointless longing for things we cannot have but it’s good to be able to see the things we really value when they’re not there. I quite fancy a pint as well. Don’t give a shit about much us though. Although a holiday would be nice.

I miss my dog. She lives with may parents these days which is good for her because they live in the countryside and it forces them to go on walks everyday. People don’t appreciate the value of pets I don’t think. I can’t see her at the moment though because while I deliver food to my parents, I don’t let her see me because I won’t be staying and she won’t understand why I’m leaving so quickly after coming back. Poor girl. Poor me too. There are going to be some parties when this is all done. It’ll be a while until the pubs are open I reckon and people will be warned off getting together too much too soon but lets be honest, folk are going to go wild. We’re like school children at the best of times let alone when we’ve been stuck inside, away from everyone, sober and being healthy for what must feel like an eternity. I can’t wait for the outcry from the media, front pages of people having fun. Probably the same papers which will be a week earlier pushing for the end of restrictions. Theres nothing like a short memory.

I’m tired today. I was woken up early and now I need to go to work. I’m attempting to write this early now instead of tonight when I get in. It’s strange, sometimes late at night I get my best ideas. Maybe I should give up on being a morning person and accept life as a night owl. They usually seem happy. A little white and sickly maybe, but happy enough. But not tonight, this is certainly not going to be an old Saturday night. When I’m tucked up in my bed before midnight I guarantee there’ll be no nostalgia from me. I love you all. I’ll see you tomorrow. Fresh, awake, invigorated, just like an awful morning person should be.

How To Be Human In The Zombie Apocalypse

14/03/202014/03/2020 Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

Coronavirus panic seems to have ramped up to zombie apocalypse levels. I have not been able to resist keeping an eye on the latest news updates online and we seem to just be seeing photo’s of empty shelves and pandemonium everywhere. Apparently everyone is being selfish and one Tweet from some politician told of some guy buying the last of the pasta and refusing to share even one with some old lady. This would seem to prove the existence of widespread selfish behaviour, or at least prove examples of it exist and therefore the selfish narrative if you’re attempting to push one. I of course wasn’t there and haven’t been to a big supermarket in about ten days when I went to buy some goats milk butter, I’m so middle class, because they don’t have it in my local shop. Unsurprisingly there had not been a rush on it although I can confirm there wasn’t a great deal of toilet paper left, it does appear people think they can eat it. Seriously though of all the things to rush to buy, the one thing people think they can’t survive without is loo roll? In times of emergency I reckon you’ll get used to Indian style pretty quickly.

But back to this arsehole hoarding the pasta. If true I would love to know the bigger picture. Did he finally give her some? Did someone step in and persuade him to share? Or even force him to share? There are videos online of people fighting over toilet roll, imagine how it’ll be when it’s over the last tin of baked beans. I wonder what I would do in that situation, would I be a coward or would I stand up for the old lady, and would I give up or persevere. I doubt people really know beyond the fantasy of their imagination but I’m sure we all hope we would one way or another have managed to get the old lady her pasta.

Other updates in the ensuing apocalypse are that a raft of rather disagreeable world leaders seem to be getting tested. It’s a tricky one and I wonder how our public sentiments on these issues vary from our inner thoughts. Scumbags like Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton have tested positive, do we respond joyfully, neutrally or compassionately for him as a human being (supposedly). The Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested negative, do we admit to a little disappointment? And then there’s the big one, The Donald has taken his test and will find out in a day or two. We are only human, are we at sainthood levels when we can react equally to everyone in the public eye getting tested? At what point do we just admit our response to hearing Tom Hanks and his wife tested positive was not the same as when we heard Donald Trump is being tested. Does that make us bad? They are still humans, they are still someones mother or father despite how disconnected from any concept of an emotional bond we imagine they have. But we’re also human so we’re fallible. That also means if we want to be excused for our own fallibility we may just have to try understand and excuse theirs. Or just continue being fallible, and proving how human we are.

Saying all of this, it won’t matter anyway soon. We’re all going to be deep in a zombie apocalypse as people prove the fragility of society. Proving they have no sense at all of the so called community they think they’re fighting for with guns or the ballot box. It’s depressing when you realise just how shit people not are but can be. I really hope that old lady got her pasta and whoever reported the moment didn’t just stand there and take a video of it on their phone. To miss the point of ones very own judgemental reporting. Ah to be human.