Rick's b.log - 2020/07/20
It is the 24th of November 2024 You are 18.227.114.218, pleased to meet you!

😷 Hallelujah - masks are now obligatory! 😷

It wasn't until reading Vince's blog (Don't Stand So Close To Me - wasn't that a song by The Police?) that I remembered that I wanted to talk about some recent pandumbics of my own.

As you know, I went to the summer sales last Wednesday...

GĒMO

I waited patiently. It was early in the morning, I was in no rush.
When I noticed somebody behind me. A woman. Without a mask. Directly behind me. An older woman, dressing twenty years younger than she was, and sporting a tan that implied she sometimes managed to wear even less.
"Degage", I said. That basically translates as "sod off".
She looked at me.
I pointed to the markings on the floor. "Trop proche", I explained.
It seemed that my explanation fell upon an interminable pit of stupidity. She glanced down, then back at me. And did not move.
"Bouge ton fess, s'il te plaît", I said. Translated - move your ass, please.
Her eyes widened just fractionally. She was probably trying to rationalise my somewhat impolite request with the addition of "please", even though it was all intentionally said in the familiar to an older woman. It's a British trait, it's called sarcasm. The please wasn't said out of politeness.

Now, in Vince's story, it seems as if the woman was being passive aggressive. This woman wasn't. She clearly came to the queue after me, and there was nobody else in the queue. She didn't seem angry, just... well, I rather think she's a glaekit midden really. Translated into French? Probably "Parisien".

She still didn't move, but a till was now free so I could.

Action

There was a sign saying "only handle things you are going to buy, do not touch other items". Nobody was paying any attention to that.

Leclerc

McDonald's

After she'd sorted stuff out and paid, the guy behind the counter (behind a plastic screen) observed that she was not wearing a mask. "No", she replied.
And that was about the end of the discussion. Obviously a place like McDo is in a difficult position that if they were to say "put on a mask or get the hell outside", they'd probably be pilloried on social media. But, then, what's the point in having a rule for the safety of others if you're going to let a selfish cow completely ignore it?
Luckily, as I wasn't too trusting of their level of hygiene at this time, I had already decided to take my meal home and microwave it to death. So I only had to wait around for my order to be fulfilled.
Which was twenty minutes. For a Big Mac and chips. And I consider that to be fairly quick service. 😒

Intermarche

And now?

And, if you ask me, this has come far too late. There should have been a two week grace period between the end of lockdown and the need to wear masks in public. And that grace period only because immediately following lockdown, nobody yet had masks to sell.

I think they're currently selling for prices around a euro apiece for a disposable one. I'm not too worried, I got myself two boxes and some alcoholic hand gel back in January when news was breaking of the nasty virus doing the rounds in China. It could go one of two ways. It could fizzle out and be nothing like SARS and Bird Flu, or it could become a global pandemic. So I started stocking up on stuff that might be necessary back in January. And unlike the panic stockpilers, the only thing I'm throwing out is UHT milk. I don't really like the taste, but I wanted to have it in case normal milk supplies were interrupted. They were, I used two bottles of UHT, but milk is flowing out of the cow again...
It does help to pay attention to the news, to spot potential problems like this before it smacks one right between the eyeballs.

A little observation

But but but masks don't stop you getting the virus

PS: To all the anti-vaxxers: please have the decency to die before infecting a bunch of innocent people.

Your comments:

Zerosquare, 20th July 2020, 22:24

> it's an odd name for a clothing shop (but, then, so is Kiabi!).    "Kiabi" is shorthand for "qui habille" (phonetically), so it makes sense for a clothing shop.  For "Gémo", Wikipedia says the name was derived from those of the founders.    > "Bouge ton fess, s'il te plaît"  It's "Bouge tes fesses", unless you're speaking to someone with only one butt chick. Apart from that, it's perfect.

Rick, 20th July 2020, 23:50

Kiabi - Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I remember doing an epic facepalm when I finally figured out why the French used to refer to "K7" so often. Well, it's a dead technology these days.    I'm quite prepared to imagine that woman with only one butt cheek. The other is clenched hard just in case her last remaining clue falls out. 😂

David Pilling, 21st July 2020, 02:04

I have no problems with masks. Might be interesting to see what happens when they're compulsory in shops (soon). I went into a shop last week - first time for many months. It was interesting that not everyone has spent the last four months being terrorised by the news. They were not wearing masks, gloves. Still they humoured me when I pulled out my little stick to operate the buttons on the card reader. I being someone in a mask with steamed up glasses. Car key is a good thing for button pushing.

Rob, 30th July 2020, 02:29

Dreadful uptake of masks here... ran though Sainsburys about 9pm, and I saw only one other person wearing one..    I keep a spray of 100% IPA in my pocket, and have done for months, for treating of trollies and basket handles. And my hands after touching anything. I get some odd looks.