Cancelling Christmas?

            Hello, lovelies.

           With only 14 weeks until Christmas 2020 is upon us, can we all look forward to spending time with our families? Can we put this disastrous year behind us and focus on the New Year to come? Will Covid 19 keep us locked in our homes unable to see our most near and dear loved ones? Will we be faced with the possibility that we may all be locked down over the festive season? Or worse. Will some of us be locked down, whilst the rest of the country be able to celebrate with their families and friends? Covid took our summer, will it take our Christmas too?

            It wasn’t that long ago that we were all told things were getting better. More and more shops had opened their doors. Well, those that are still able to do so, although so many having closed their doors in March will not ever open again. You could go for a socially distanced drink or meal. Meet with friends at the park. We were told to go back to work when it was safe to do so. Eat out to help out, and all that. Life was going to get better.  The autumn was going to bring a new normal that we are all desperate for. Our collective mental health began to heal from the year we’ve had. Queuing for shops. Face coverings. Limits of people on the buses. Limits on our daily essentials. And a general feeling of defeat and exhaustion. We all need to look forward to that one time of year that calls for happiness and joy. I was so excited that I would be able to go back to my beloved theatre and watch some live shows. How I’ve missed it. But then the opening date was put back from August to September. Then it was going to be in November. Surely we were going to have a Christmas Panto. No. The news is now that the theatre won’t open until the Spring of 2021. Nearly a whole year of them being closed.      

            And then we were told about the rule of 6. The 10pm curfew for all restaurants and bars. Not that it’s been backed up by any actual science. Staying in our own bubbles, unless when at work or at school. And with the new Tier systems, it is almost a postcode lottery that dictates whether we can leave our homes or not. It looks more and more like we are all the way back at square one. Everything we’ve done up until now was for nothing. And to add the final nail in the coffin is the government’s latest brainwave that we may not be able to spend Christmas together. Tier 1 areas will not be able to exceed more than 6 people. Tier 2 and 3 won’t be able to spend the 25^th December with anyone outside of your household.

            But it’s not just that we may have our festive seasons cancelled, it’s the manor to which that it may be done. On the radio I heard that the police may be tasked with patrolling our communities, knocking on doors and breaking up any family gatherings. An awful experience for everyone involved. Can you imagine the fear and anxiety of waiting to see if the police will come and knock on your front door during the one day of the year devoted to the family? I love reading dystopian fiction, but I never truly believed that one day I would be living in one.  

            Sadly, this trend of limitations put on us without any warning or understanding of how it will affect us is growing. Random road closures. Confusing rules that change almost daily, and all of this without properly explaining what and why and for how long. Rules on numbers able to mix constantly changing. I have seen many of the ‘temporary’ road closures have now become permanent with no justification as to why. The extension of the Congestion charge to help pay TFL. We’re all told that this is to save lives. And we will all do what we can to make sure that we stop the spread of the virus. But we’ve had no clear leadership. No one is at the helm of England, and we’re floating off in uncharted waters.  

            This virus could be with us for months and even years. So much money has been spent, and sadly spent for nothing. We’re heading for another lockdown, but do they really work? The WHO has clearly said that they don’t work and that we shouldn’t do it again. But day by day it is becoming clearer that that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Track test and trace is not working, with some of the strictest countries have daily soaring numbers. We’ve spent hundreds of billions of pounds for nothing, with all the money being borrowed from our future generations. So, England may be in lockdown until April or May 2021, and maybe even longer. And eventually, we will run out of money, and be forced back to work, covid or not.

            I think that we should be told the truth. We need to go back to a form of normal. We do not deserve any more lies and half-truths. No more political spin and fear-mongering. We can’t continue to be guilt-tripped into losing our liberties and rights.

            So, what can we do if all is bleak and Christmas might be off? Is there really anything that we can do in our own homes? Yes. Absolutely. We still need to embody the Christmas spirit. We need to shop locally, staying away from the big corporations and chains. We don’t need to spend huge amounts of money to make up for everything we’ve lost. We could try making some presents. Making cookies and mince pies. Even making our own decorations. I remember sticking the paper links together at school, it’s an easy, cheap and fun thing to do with the whole family. I always worry about money at Christmas. I’ve always wanted to give my children all the things that they want. But do they truly need all of that? No. What they need is for me to be with them. They need my time more than any gift I could give them.  (Not that they will tell you so.)

            We can also ask to see if any of our neighbours need anything. Just because their families may not be able to see them, doesn’t mean that they’re alright in their homes alone. Helping with shopping for your sheltering elderly neighbour, a homemade card for the person living alone unable to see their family. There is so much we can do. Santa may be on furlough, but that doesn’t mean that Christmas is over.