Uncommon Sense

Yet again on a working day when the children are with me and it is supposed to be quiet, it was anything but. Fortunately, they were a couple of little superstars today and occupied themselves with lego, books, cars and food whilst I occupied myself with my occupation.

The youngest also had a quick Zoom with some of her classmates which, despite my initial reservations, was unbelievably cute.

It got until late afternoon until we all needed some fresh air and a wander and so we headed out on our walk. Even there I had to sort a couple of things on the phone, but remained present enough to see a variety of chaffinches, swifts and wagtails and those that I missed were dutifully pointed out to me by m’boy.

The photo you see here was taken at Gooseholme (perhaps the best named place in Kendal), which the children love because they can run wild and play ‘tig’ (it was ‘it’ when I were a lad) and we also did some timed shuttle runs and I won by a country mile. Who da man? 

We wandered on for a little while until such time as I happened upon the topic for today’s blip: common sense. It’s been talked about a lot lately in the UK, mainly because for the past 6-8 weeks the need for common sense has been removed from us via the clear-cut messaging of Stay at Home. Protect the NHS. Sharpen your knives. Etc. Simple, concise, incontrovertible.

The confusion has stemmed from giving common sense back to the people at a time when we’re not ready for it. We’ve become used to a simpler way of life (albeit under a cloud of fear), but now with a partial release back into the wild, we’re understandably a little unsure of how exactly we are to proceed from here. Continue to stay the flip away from each other and other people’s houses……unless you’re on public transport with them or cleaning their house, measuring their house, painting their house, building their house or perhaps buying their house, but OTHER THAN THAT stay away.

It’s easy to see why some might become confused at what they can or can’t or should or should not do. So, why have I landed on this topic and why do I have zero confidence in the “common sense” maxim?

Whilst leaving Gooseholme the path bends around to the left and as we trudged off, to our right a cyclist was riding a road bike over a very bumpy patch of earth, nothing too unusual in that, save for the fact that in one hand he had an uncovered cup of coffee that he was proceeding to throw all over himself as he continued on his way. He looked at me and then at the cup with a gesture that seemed to say “can you believe the nerve of this cup?” He then made his way back to the path and recovering himself slightly, rode off leaving me shaking my head and smiling.

We walked on another few yards and I had to stifle a laugh as coffee cyclist guy was now attempting to slalom through a metal post arrangement specifically designed to stop two wheelers flying through at speed and had got himself stuck.

Most of us are blessed with a fair degree of common sense, but it’s not infallible (see above). There’s also plenty of us who are not and of course there are those who are so crippled by the pervading sense of fear and anxiety that they really do not know which way to turn in this crisis and need similar clear, concise and incontrovertible instructions.

It’s easy to see how even the brightest amongst us may find ourselves haplessly stuck in the railings like coffee cyclist guy, when having been repeatedly told to stay the eff away from everybody else, now see swathes of previously tightly crammed in people pouring off trains and buses.

As for the schools…….try and keep the youngest 2m away from ANYTHING, let alone her friend whom she hasn’t seen in weeks.

Stay healthy.