I spent last summer watching people pile onto crowded trains to go to the coast, despite public transport being for essential purposes only at the time. Nonetheless I stuck to the rules. Even once the Welsh ban on non-essential travel was lifted in July, I still did not jump on a train to go where I liked on the basis that they were very overcrowded so to do so would be unpleasant and irresponsible.
I watched as news stories flooded in of people returning from abroad on planes where no one wore masks, failing to quarantine and went straight out on pub crawls, causing localised outbreaks. Still, I resolved to maintain the moral high ground and didn't let myself be too downcast by my own abandoned holiday plans.
Then came the autumn. Universities and schools returned. You'd have thought that people would use that as a reason to be more cautious. After all, schools were reopening for the good of our children so it would be silly to jeopardise that by continuing to mix socially. No, people used it as an excuse to have sleepovers and ramp up their mixing on the basis that the kids were already mixing anyway. That's not how mitigation works! On top of which it has become apparent that there were significant numbers of parents prepared to send their kids into school while someone in the family is symptomatic - or worse, when the child themselves has tested positive.
In October, Drakeford came up with this bright idea (originally dreamt up by his boss, Keir Starmer) of having a two-week "firebreak" lockdown. Close everything down, even cordoning off the baby clothes (apparently to protect small retailers from supermarket sales but in reality to the benefit of Amazon) and then opening everything straight back up in one go, no matter what the local case rate. No surprise then that after a brief dip case rates soared as people made up for two weeks of no pubs with one big pub crawl at the end. Welsh case rates became the worst in Europe.
Later in the autumn, the Welsh Government introduced draconian restrictions on hospitality, banning all sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises (yes, even with a meal) and forcing all restaurants to close by 18:00. So does everyone become teetotal for the duration? Do they heck. They pile straight across the border to have their substantial scotch egg, returning on trains packed with other mask less drunks. Case rates continue to grow, even in places which had previously seen very low rates.
So I spent all that time last year restricting myself to the letter of the law, and sometimes going beyond that for the good of society but I increasingly wonder why I bothered as the rest of society didn't return the favour.
Following the end of summer though, I did say a few times "f* it, from x date I'm giving up". Each time though they relaxed rules slightly which made whatever minor act of rebellion I had planned technically legal. I never took silly risks but decided that if I wanted to cross the border to go to a socially-distanced concert, I was bloody well going to (technically legal each time). I also went to my parents in England for Christmas, as a single person I was technically allowed to visit a support bubble even though the Welsh Government had cancelled Christmas bubbles. Having my brother attend too was a bit of a grey area as the English tier 3 rules allowed it but I came from Wales where it wouldn't have been.
So what next? As far as I'm concerned, January and February were always write-off months anyway, even without Covid. It is too cold to do much other than hibernate so what do I care that we are locked down? I wasn't going anywhere anyway. I will however be having tradesmen in for work which isn't strictly urgent (not like burst pipes or anything) but frankly I've spent quite enough time shivering in my living room next to an oil lamp trying to keep the dust at bay because the plaster is down and with it the radiator and electrical fittings. Chances of an Alpine holiday are looking more and more slim as Europe drags its feet over vaccination but I will take any chance I can get. After all, any loyalty I felt I owed to the rest of society evaporated last year when they all took the piss.
