Day 23 - Things that are weird

Inspired by the below photo that my friend Aoife sent me, I thought I’d do a list of things that would have been weird a few short weeks/months ago, but that have become normal now! In the photo below, social distancing is being enforced on the Dart by making sure that only one person sits in each group of seats.

Things that are weird:

Children aren’t allowed into shops. In fact people must enter the supermarket alone, as groups of two or more are not allowed.

All deliveries, including takeaways, are left on our doorstep and the doorbell is rung to let us know the something is there.

When out for a walk, you have to be constantly on the lookout for other people, and most people will cross the road, or move in some way to avoid crossing paths with anyone.

People are wearing face masks when out and about, even when out exercising.

The top right hand corner of all of the Irish television channels says “STAY AT HOME.”

The Late Late Show, and other shows that would normally have a studio audience, are recorded in empty studios and most guests are interviewed by Skype.

There are no children out playing on the green in our estate, even on days when the weather is nice.

Everybody now talks about the Zoom video conferencing app as if it has always been a part of our lives, and as if we always meet our friends on a Friday night through Zoom.

Any time I leave the house for exercise, I have to think about where I’m going to go, so that I don’t accidentally stray more than 2km from home.

Running has become a little bit taboo, and some people think that nobody should be out running, as the heavy breathing of runners may spread the virus more easily.

The majority of people who run classes and courses seem to be offering them for free now online.

We feel like we’re best friends with the chief medical officer, the CEO of the HSE and others that are in charge of managing this crisis, and we know them all by name now.

We feel like we’re best friends with all of the RTÉ news presenters and journalists, and we notice when any are missing on any given day.

The one constant in our day is the six o clock news on television, which we never miss. We especially like the voice of the RTÉ Washington correspondent, who is now reporting daily from his living room!

The Sports section of the news has been cancelled on most TV and radio stations, as they have nothing to talk about. The ones that are continuing are mostly doing biographies of various sports people’s lives.

The Grand National horse race was shown yesterday as a computer-generated version on the television. That has to have been the weirdest one of all of these!Leia mais