Yesterday Hermes brought me a parcel of stuff I had ordered from Holland and Barrett, the health-food people. Hermes used to be the messenger of the gods, the Greek version of Mercury, fleet of foot, indeed fleet of winged foot or at any rate winged sandals. He is supposed to be the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orators and is able to move quickly and freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine, aided by his winged sandals. From Mercury, his Roman version, we get words like merchant, mercantile and merchandising. Mercury was fleet of foot as well - think of quicksilver!
My Hermes was not a young Greek messenger of the gods but an elderly gentleman driving a van and delivering parcels for company with an imaginative name.
Coincidentally, a news report later in the day told me that parcel delivery companies have had a big boost during lockdown, springing up like mushrooms overnight, as more and more people ordered stuff online. Most of them, however, despite poetically inspired names, treat their employees badly. Indeed their “employees” are mostly self employed and paid on a commission basis according to how many parcels they manage to deliver and how quickly they do so. One driver described having to arrange cover for himself if he wanted to take a holiday, probably without pay. This was until he joined a union, which protected his rights and improved his conditions. Here we are in the 21st century and still workers are exploited!
Another driver, also a union member, described how much appreciation he has received from the public he delivers to, much more so than before lockdown. As people receive fewer visitors, he is always greeted with a smile, albeit a socially distanced smile. But customers also give him gifts: tips, snacks or larger food items, and properly made face masks. Everyone likes to be appreciated.
Today I was up bright and early, waiting for another delivery. Phil has finally managed to locate a bicycle and has ordered one online. There is a national, maybe even world-wide, shortage of bicycles, as so many people have turned to cycling as a form of exercise or as an alternative to using public transport. His brother tried to persuade him to buy an electric bike, good for getting up the hills around here, but Phil is quite traditional in his cycling habits and is sticking with pedal power.
The company emailed to say they will deliver between 7.00am and 6.00pm.
“The item will require a signature for delivery to be successful.” So someone needed to be up and about to take delivery.
“Please be aware that we are unable to give any estimated times for delivery.” So someone had to be up and about early in the day. And as Phil does not do early mornings (unless we are travelling) because he does late nights, that someone turned out to be me. Actually I don’t do such early mornings as a rule but here I am, hoping that the parcel arrives sooner rather than later.
“You can track the progress of your delivery on this page below:” Well, yes, but all the tracking does is tell me the parcel has been loaded onto a lorry in Bury.
Maybe it will arrive in time for me to go for a morning run as usual. Maybe my run will have to wait.
So it goes.
Out in the wider world, finally the government has come to a decision about wearing masks. From July 24 everyone will have to wear a face mask in shops. Quite why there is a ten-day delay in this coming into force remains a mystery. Surely people don’t need ten days to acquire them. Perhaps it just reflects the government’s general slowness to act: “Get (insert action) Done ... but Slowly!”
From a newspaper report I read this:-
“Britons have been among the slowest to embrace mass mask-wearing. Many European countries, including Germany, Spain, Italy and Greece, have already made it compulsory to wear face coverings inside shops. A YouGov poll found that 36% of people in the UK wear a face mask in public places, compared with 86% in Spain, 83% in Italy, 78% in France and 65% in Germany.
Johnson himself wore a mask for the first time in public last week, and went further on Monday, urging the public in England to wear masks in shops as “extra insurance” against the coronavirus. On a visit to the London ambulance service, he said: ‘The scientific evidence of face coverings, and the importance of stopping aerosol droplets; that’s been growing. So I do think that in shops it is very important to wear a face covering.’”
However, only a matter of 24 hours before Johnson’s appearance in his distinctive blue mask on Friday, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, was photographed “serving” diners in a Wagamama restaurant without wearing a face covering of any kind. Oops! Not a good example to the public! Appearing in politically incorrect photographs could be turning out to be Mr Sunak’s speciality. He was recently photographed with a “smart mug” which sells at about £180 pounds. Well, in fact, if a journalist had not pointed this out, I would have been none the wiser. I would have thought it was just any old drinks container, not something clever that can keep your coffee hot - no, at the right temperature for drinking - for hours and hours. What is wrong with getting up and making a fresh cup of coffee when you need one? And who needs a half litre of coffee at any one time anyway?
So it goes! It is now 8.15 am, the earliest I have posted my blog in ages and the delivery has not yet been made. No fleet-foot Hermes today then!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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