In between fighting over who goes to the local Co-op (on foot, not in the car, because it helps relieve cabin fever) and tuning in to Joe Wicks’ 9 am tv workout (it’s for kids, apparently but don’t tell anyone), one of the upsides of having more time on your hands is that it enables you to ‘think’ more, rather than just ‘do.’
‘How will the world change, what is important to me, how can I become a better member of society, etc?’
A lot of people are worrying about how they are going to keep body and soul together right now, as well as fretting about their jobs: ‘will I still have one; will my pay be cut, will my employer even exist?’
It’s very easy for us all to freeze during times of panic - to behave like rabbits startled by headlight. But, in my view, it’s never too late to start planning for the future.
For what it’s worth, I think peak panic has passed. We know that we don’t know just how long this epidemic will last, or when (or whether) scientists will find an antidote. We have mentally priced in the likelihood that things will get a lot worse before they get better, that more people will become infected and there will be a substantial increase in coronavirus-related deaths. We also know that as taxpayers, we are going to be paying for this epidemic for years to come.
In the meantime, the world will keep turning, the sun will keep rising in the east and Germany will keep beating us on penalties.
It was only a few short months ago when business was more confident about the future than it had been for years. We had a new, optimistic government, unemployment was at record lows and the Stock Exchange had its pedal to the metal. How things change.
I’m not saying this epidemic will be over by a week on Thursday. And, indeed, when it is over, the nation might come to the collective view that our future goals should not all be economic ones.
But, we also shouldn’t wait until the storm has passed, the sky has turned blue and the sun is shining before we plan for the future.
So, if I can persuade my cohabitees that I should be the one allowed to make the next trip to the Co-op, I’ll be thinking, not only about the world, the universe, but also the price of fish and how to catch them.