LOCK DOWN – DAY 76

This afternoon we set out to walk around a couple of parks. En-route Ann decided to phone her friend, Fiona, to see if she wanted to come out to play with us. She did. Yay! Walked through Braidburn Valley Park (which was very busy) then met Fiona and did some social distancing walking in Fairmilehead Park.



Played with my ball, but that tired me out, so after a while I flopped down under a seat. That pleased the humans because it meant they could sit down too. And guess what Fiona produced out of her bag?..................... two little cans of vodka & coke. For the humans, obv, not me! It's lovely that my human can meet up with another human outdoors and talk to them in real life, but to be honest it was a bit cold today for sitting around.



Anyway we were out for a couple of hours and both had a lovely afternoon.



However, Ann is still in a bad mood about the number of people who are breaking lock down rules and getting away with it. Oh dear I feel a RANT coming on.................



While the humans were sitting on the park bench like a couple of old alcoholics they watched 11 boys playing football and 4 girls standing watching them. No social distancing going on whatsoever. I know the rules in England are different, but here in Scotland, we can only meet up to 8 people from two households. Sooooo.................. 15 people together is breaking the rules. And also how many households do you think these 15 people came from? It would seem that parents are now letting their kids go out to play again, but they obviously either don't know, or don't care, how many people they're mixing with.



And the other thing..................... Ann has heard about quite a few people who have been getting into cars with people out-with their household. Having said that, taxi's have been operating throughout lock down, so what's the difference between getting into a taxi (when you don't know who's been in it before you) and getting into a friend/family members car?  A bit like the toilets.  My human would far rather go to a friend/family members toilet than a public toilet??!!



Ditto, staying overnight at a friend/family member's house. Loads of people are doing it and seemingly not getting caught??!!!



It is so unfair on the rest of us who are trying to follow the rules.



This whole lock down thing is just getting a bit farcical now..............



On the one hand we're being told to stay home and only go out for 'essential' supplies and exercise. On the other hand every pub/cafe/restaurant is open for 'takeaways' and every DIY shop and garden centre is open because people's 'mental health' is at risk and they need these things. ….............BUT people with physical ailments are too scared to visit doctors or hospitals in case they come into contact with the 'VIRUS'. Grrrrrrrr............ the people with 'mental health' issues don't seem to have a problem queuing to buy a coffee, even though there is probably more risk of them contracting the VIRUS by doing so, than there is visiting a hospital.



Oh and the other thing..................... while my human is having a RANT.................. we've all seen the photos on social media of the crowds of people flooding the beaches during the recent hot weather. And yet a lot of these people are refusing to send their kids back to school obv not in Scotland because Scottish kids aren't going back till August because they're worried about social distancing????? It's mad!!!



Unfortunately because we live in a 'technological' age, we all have to fit into little boxes on a 'database'. There is absolutely no room for any individuality at all. 15 kids can meet on a football pitch because the police don't know that they're there. And actually even if they did, what would they do? Probably just disperse them and send them home? However, if Ann as a 61 year old woman, attempted to drive to Cornwall by herself, to stay in her own house, by herself, she'd probably get stopped, fined and sent back to Edinburgh????



Almost 11 weeks in lock down, as a single person. …...........If my human hadn't had me, Trixie the collie pup, to take out every day, she'd certainly be joining the ranks of people with 'mental health' issues. This lock down thing is hard for everyone, but there's got to come a point when we get back to normality. Maybe those of us who want a life, just go out there and risk getting Coronavirus. And those of us who don't want to risk catching it, stay in.



Who knows what the correct thing to do is??!!