A long time Coming

A first visit to Birmingham since 3rd March.  Almost 5 months and how things have changed.  

There were a reasonable number of people in the city, at least in the shopping areas.  Most of them were complying with the requirements for face coverings, though I did see two young women with buggies enter a department story and brazenly walk passed the security guard without any attempt to cover their faces.  I imagine peer pressure may work in the end, with so many people being compliant.

One thing that was very noticeable was the lack of office staff, despite being there during the lunchtime period.  I spoke to one of the staff in a coffee shop I visited and I remarked that I was one of only two people in the cafe; they said it was very quiet and they were not getting any of their regular trade from before the lockdown.

There was a large protest going on in front of the Council House, I believe it was related to unrest within a region of Ethiopia, but for the life of me I wondered at its relevance in the UK's second city.  I even found a video of the protest on Facebook, but despite a little more searching for content via the Internet I couldn't get any further.  I'd already decided not to ask any of the protesters directly.

I walked around for an hour or so and then headed home.