Paths To Freedom

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From top: Phoenix Park, Dublin last Saturday; Neil Curran

A month ago, a post went up on Broadsheet headlined ‘Dash It’, which highlighted a sign erected in Irishtown, Dublin 4, presumably by locals, requesting no joggers on a street due to the narrow pathway.

Some commenters threw ire at joggers, while others scratched their heads at the anger and some just got a chuckle from it.

Regardless of whether the sign did anything to deter joggers from doing their thing, the post does mark a moment in our Covid-19 journey where society risks turning on itself.

It’s now May and with the Government’s roadmap to lifting restrictions published, the reality of another three months of restrictions is sinking in and there are elements of society looking to vent frustration and anger somewhere.

Certain work groups, such as the publicans, are making noise about the desire to open earlier in line with restaurants and cafes. Until now, public talk of ridiculing the lockdown restrictions was taboo, something quickly shut down and certainly not entertained by the mainstream media.

We were all in this together by staying apart, as the campaign goes. However, as plans to lift restrictions, it is apparent that we may not be in this as together as we think, as we all have different paths out depending on our profession, employer, family status or age.

More and more, people are expressing frustration, pushing the limits of restrictions as the Government notes an increase in motor traffic and anecdotal evidence of more people outdoors going about their walks and exercise without giving much consideration to social distancing.

And to be fair, society’s frustration is understandable. We are social creatures, most of us haven’t seen friends and family in too long and online interactions will never make up for it. Many people are concerned about their livelihoods and are eager to get back to work.

Some are facing the prospect of having to rethink their careers as certain industries have a high degree of uncertainty as to how they can operate profitably in the new social distanced world.

As society’s frustration grows, that frustration will be directed somewhere and the risk of a potential segregation of society is growing.

From the Government’s perspective, the Department of Health’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan recently singled out “younger people in the community” when speaking out about the community infection numbers not falling at the desired rate.

Perhaps the evidence does highlight that “younger people” are part of the community infection chain, but what does that mean when generalised statements are used. What age brackets are “younger people” in? Is it nationwide?

From other parts of society, as more and more people speak out about restrictions, there are  suggestions that we should look at continuing to cocoon the elderly and the most vulnerable in society while everyone else gets back to work and gets on with it.

The mention of this one month ago would have evoked the wrath of the heavens, but now it’s becoming more and more acceptable to air these views. While there is no issue in that, the greater concern is the potential slur on society as a result.

Parents with young families, single working parents and families with special needs children are also facing a dilemma. We know that creches and schools are closed over the summer and as businesses return to work, the honeymoon period of working from home will end and parents will have to juggle their job and home-schooling/childcare at the same time, while those with no children or older children have less of a burden.

The option of Granny and Grandad isn’t there due to cocooning, leaving parents in a difficult position. I know of two working parents who encountered issues recently due to this challenge. One lost a client contract with comments made about children in the background during an online meeting and another faced a frosty reception during an online interview. Has being childless suddenly become a huge plus on your CV?

Love it or loathe it, the path to a lifting of restrictions has been mapped out and the next few months are going to bring new challenges for our society as we rebuild our routines and livelihood. There will be anger, frustration and sadness along the way.

We are looking to the Government’s plan as a route out of this but must remember it’s a two-way street; if the virus takes hold again, we take a step back. No one wants that. We may see further anger and frustration directed at parts of our society, including the vulnerable as a result.

The mental health of the nation is strained way beyond anything we have seen in a very long time. More than ever, we need to practice empathy at a time like this.

So, if you are the neighbour, the manager, the co-worker or just stuck in line outside the supermarket in the rain, remember we still need to be kind to one another and recognise that we are all struggling in different ways.

Neil Curran is part of the Broadsheet on the Telly team, an Improviser and in his own words, an unqualified commentator. You can follow him on Twitter here or on Instagram here.

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16 thoughts on “Paths To Freedom

  1. diddy

    I’m struggling to get out of bed before midday. long lazy brunches don’t taste as good, long sunny afternoon walks with a lingering trip to the supermarket are becoming a chore. my hollaindaise sauce turned out like gloop. I can’t take much more of this

  2. dav

    I had to step off the road back onto the footpath to avoid a fairly fast moving onrushing car at the exact moment as I was passing by a lady who was walking in the opposite direction. Now she couldn’t have seen that I was trying to avoid been run over so only saw me stepping within her social distance space. The reaction was as if I had committed or attempted to commit an assault upon her person. Very strange times indeed..

  3. SOQ

    OK well on the child issue, I am pretty sure that if you look at mothers at the top of their career game, they either have great support from family or partner, or have don’t have any.

    The Jonathan Pie- The Gender Pay Sketch comes to mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GWHgVZJQU

    I don’t think that is necessarily a sexist thing mind as there will be times when a parent needs to make a decision as to put the welfare of their children over their careers and unfortunately- that choice is usually made by women. So you could say that the sexism resides in the home rather than the workplace because like single mothers surviving on state benefits, the obvious question is- where is the fathers?

    Either way yes, easing of lockdown is going to bring a new set of problems but the evidence so far suggests that children are less likely to be infected, less infectious when they are and much less likely to get sick so- why isn’t the reopening of creches and schools a priority?

  4. Ringsend Incinerator

    There’s something of Early Berlin Wall of people standing so far apart talking…

    As for runners and joggers – keep on running and respect social distance as approved by the government, not social media.

    1. Tony

      But maybe try and steer as clear of people as you can because (through no fault of your own) you leave big plumes of breath and airborne sweat droplets in your wake which non runners don’t need in these bio sensitive times.

        1. Tony

          No. I’ll stick with bio-sensitive.

          Fair play to you though and thanks for the suggestion.

        1. Tony

          Yeah Ringer or you could just say ‘ I disagree’ and maybe give a link or an explanation which would be more helpful and less rude. Good man.

    2. Janet, I ate my avatar

      I just run very late evening, problem solved, plus the light at dusk is my favourite, so full of promise

      1. Ringsend Incinerator

        Me too. The air seems so refreshing now; pollution down. Dawn is good too (though requires more motivation to get out of bed – well for me anyway).

        How far are you running? A 10km daily works for me. Great to see so many new runners out there, especially the laydeeeez. Same with cycling; more women out there too. Obviously the sneering and leering from white van man is down….

        1. Janet, I ate my avatar

          no way I’m getting early to run, night owl here, yeah I’m sticking to regular 10’s too, I agree great to spot all the new runners, I hope the ones struggling power through, make it past the initial hump and reap the rewards,
          I’m also enjoying the explosion of fit fellas running, usually hidden away at GAA training is my guess, like spring flowers they are ;)
          happy running

          1. Your Home Correspondent

            WTF is with the boys running in shorts and tights and the girls running in shorts? Confused.

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