“I’m not your first customer, am I?”, I said to one of the bar staff at the pub in Lismore. It was 11.45am, and even by my standards that was a little early. But I figured after five weeks lockdown in Lismore, I was doing my bit for the local economy by popping in for a ginger beer. “Oh no”, she said, “We’ve had plenty of customers, already”.
Though the lockdown here hasn’t been anywhere near as severe as in other parts of Australia, and in many parts of the world, there was still a sense of relief/elation as I walked around town this morning. You could feel it too, in the the general vibe of the place. The streets were reasonably busy, there was tai chi in The Quad, and there were also people in the pubs and restaurants.
On the radio this morning, ABC North Coast, Angela Catterns interviewed someone from a nail salon who declared she had taken her first customer at midnight, only minutes/seconds after the lockdown lifted. As I walked around town, I noticed most of the hairdressers were booked out. As you’ll see in the video, my beard is looking very scrappy, to say the least.
Though there’s part of me which feels the lockdown has been lifted too early, there’s also a feeling of elation.
“Hopefully we won’t have some idiot come up from Sydney and force us back into lockdown again”, Pat said to me earlier. “We’ve got plenty of our own idiots up here”, I said to her in reply.
Coming out of lockdown is such a nice feeling. I know. We’ve done it five times and awaiting the sixth.
Hehehehe! By the looks of Bondi on the news tonight, people seem to think the lockdown has been lifted there too.
Well you found your idiot James O’Brien, but the question has to be asked as to what sort of lockdown is being effected in Sydney? In the past few days there’s been the story about two passengers escorted off a train at Kempsey covid positive. Now a driver just motors up to Lismore. The Sydney lockdown has more holes than a swiss cheese. Surely if they’re going to tell people to stay home, the authorities don’t really imagine that people have been told and they’ll do what they’re told? I mean there’s army patrolling the streets in the western suburbs, but how many roadblocks are there to vet motorists or train passengers leaving? I feel for the good folk of Lismore who’ve unwittingly been let down by politicians pretending to be limiting the spread.
Yes Phil. It’s been my observation over the last couple of months that people have been doing the right thing, wearing masks, social distancing etc. It’s sad for business people, families, individuals that we’ll soon be back in lockdown. There’s been a lot of mixed messages which has made it easy for some/has misled others.