Where to start? This isn't a lot of fun is it? We are all scared of dire consequences or repercussions from idiots. We are in the dark although we've lots of daylight at our disposal. This is our war. A real one. Let's face it, we've never had a war before. Sure, my parents lived through 'The Emergency' but there wasn't tangible loss of life. And of course a hundred years ago there was a few skirmishes. But a real war? How many of our European brothers had their countries levelled and their families decimated? You can't say we have anything to compare? Emigration maybe? Everyone in Europe living in a medium sized economy has faced the same. No, this is our first war that we will fight on our turf, our first war with catastrophic consequences on our own island.
So in those big wars fought on foreign shores, people took sides. Some people made a fortune from other's misfortune. Some people put their lives on the line. Some were too shocked to respond. Some died before they knew what hit them. Some just did the right thing. So it's our actions that will define us. The able-bodied and selfish people that emptied their local supermarket are those opportunists of any war, thinking of themselves. And their kids are hanging out with friends, sharing a toke or a slab of beer. They are the post Celtic Tiger kids, the generation that believe there are no consequences. Why? Their parents have accepted them as free and superior and entitled. And now they are inadvertently killing their grandparents.
Those that do the right thing? In the previous wars they fought. Lived or died in unpronouncable places. Lived life on the moral high ground until they were put six feet below it. And if we want to live like that we just have to stay at home as much as possible. Are you telling me we can't do that? Can't not meet for a month, hug, touch or stand close to someone? Late on in World War two around 20,000 citizens in Dresden were burned alive or blown up in one night. We knew nothing of it. Ignorance was bliss. As an island nation we just went about our business at the time. Not now. Now we are hyper aware. Never mind the Facebook crazies that try to heighten the tension. No, us global citizens have only three things to do. Clean our hands. Steer clear of others. Share what little love is left in whatever way we can.
Fairly simple, right? We can't blame ignorance or if we do then Dresden will be small change compared to our own losses.
And the bastards that cashed in on our misfortune? When this is over I'll remember the coal merchant that pushed up his prices, the big store that trebled the price of latex gloves and we'll all remember someone that let us down. Payback isn't too far off.
Of course we can hope the oafs that went to Cheltenham self isolate but I have a feeling thats a sector of society that don't do much for the common man at the best of times. We can hope that anyone that flew to sunny climes in full knowledge of the pandemic and now has had to return will use their smarts. But I'm asking too much. No, the only people I can trust, and perhaps I'll have to put my life in their trust, are those that stayed at home and those that went to work to keep us ticking over. So its a shocking thought in my mind that in facing Ireland's first ever all out war, I'm more afraid of a selection of my fellow man than the pandemic itself.
But I'm a glass half full fella. I believe in us. I believe there are more brave and selfless people on this rock than there are fools. Now we'll find out if I am right.
