Not feeling uplifted. Some feel-good stuff. Advertisers’ problems.

Our Prime Minister has gone back to work today. At least one sycophantic news item suggested that this will be an uplifting moment for the nation. As if Mr Johnson were a much-loved, much-revered old public figure. He’s not the Queen Mother, for goodness sake. And I never really bought into the whole what-a-sweet-old-lady business anyway. Just because someone lives a long time doesn’t necessarily make them automatically lovable. In the radio soap “The Archers” they seem to do that with the old besom Peggy Woolley, not a sweet and lovable old lady in my opinion but a bossy old former pub landlady! The same applies to having survived an illness, admittedly a rather nasty one! It doesn’t really mean you are a hero. And there are at least two other MPs I know of who have survived it, one being Angela Rayner, now deputy leader of the Labour Party, but there doesn’t seem to have been a great fanfare about their getting back to work.

That’s enough ranting about that. I am not feeling especially uplifted!

A friend drew my attention to something from The New European that said that Downing Street has prevented certain reporters from asking questions at the latest daily coronavirus briefings because of their critical stance on how the government has handled the current epidemic. Oops! One Twitter user commented, “At this rate, it’s only going to be Nuts magazine, the Isle of Arran Shoemaker’s Gazette and Laura Kuennsberg allowed to ask questions at the 5pm Party Political Broadcasts.”

This is rather like reports that POTUS has reduced the number his press conferences because they are no longer useful.

So much for freedom of the press!

However, here is a feel-good story:-

“Tour buses used as NHS accommodation.

Tour buses that would usually ferry music stars to venues across the country have been handed over for use as “hotels on wheels” for NHS workers. Tarrant Anderson, who runs the touring company Vans For Bands, told the BBC that the industry was “on its knees” during the lockdown, but he had moved to help after seeing pictures of exhausted doctors and nurses on social media. After being checked over to make sure the buses met lockdown guidelines and NHS health and safety standards, they were stationed in hospital car parks to offer respite to staff.”

There you go!

It seems that advertisers are struggling at the moment. They are finding it difficult to promote their goods without seeming insensitive to the current situation. “Already there are a few basic rules of thumb that are changing how advertising looks. Footage of people socialising outside the home is out, as it may look jarring to audiences in lockdown; adverts that resemble Zoom calls are in, but may already be a cliche; and everyone’s trying to work out how to create new promotions without being allowed outside.”

I have a friend who says she is already finding it odd when she watches films or TV series and sees people sitting close to each other, hugging and kissing and shaking hands. Considering that I know she has been no further than the end of her garden since the lockdown started, I am not sure how she has grown accustomed to seeing people six feet apart. Perhaps she is overreacting!
Our daughter brought us a delivery of fruit and vegetables yesterday. She had ordered a box of fruit from an online service. When it arrived it was not just fruit but a mixed box of fruit and vegetables. Had she opened the door herself to take delivery she would have remonstrated, at a distance, with the delivery driver and would probably have sorted the error on the spot. However, it was her teenage daughter who blithely took the mistaken delivery. When my daughter contacted the company to sort things out, they apologised and promised delivery of a box of fruit free of charge the following day. Such customer service is quite impressive!

It meant though that she had rather a lot if fruit and veg and so decided to share it with us. This delivery provided the opportunity to do a sort of family visit at a distance - us at the front door and the small grandchildren in the garden at a safe distance. Goodness knows when we will be able to visit properly once again!

As I type I am listening to Mr Johnson on the radio news telling us how well we have done so far and how we must continue and how the government decisions will be taken “with maximum transparency”. I quite look forward to that! But I am still not uplifted, even after hearing Mr Johnson’s Downing Street speech.

Here the weather is changing but not drastically as yet. We still have some sunshine.

On the menu today is a mix of vegetables with noodles and ham. Plenty of fruit for afters, courtesy of our daughter!

Life goes on! Stay safe and well, everyone!