Are a minority of people stupid? Probably not entirely, but ignorant enough not to realise what they are doing to others’ prospects.
While those of us who follow the news are well aware of the government advice on restricting contact, and even though some of us might harbour doubts about the fullness of the advice on which government acts, are not foolish enough to ignore it in public, there is a small minority who are either unaware of the advice or think it’s clever to defy it. These are always the minority who spoil life for everyone else.
Whereas in normal times this is the minority the system would seek to penalise, in the current climate they are likely to bring terrible consequences on the rest of us, for instead of dealing with them, the government will probably impose blanket laws on us all, preventing us doing even reasonably safe things like going out for a walk in the country or sitting by ourselves in the sun or shade. These irresponsible young people are robbing us of our summer, and that’s too precious in this country to lose.
Why are they doing this? Is it selfishness, or is it that their idea of news is celebrity gossip and they have no idea of the advice they’ve been given because they do not follow mainstream media at all?
I do not know. What I do know is that those of us who are trying to maintain some sense of balance and reason during this current crisis, may well be deprived in the next day or two of the ability to do so. We might be unable to do what we need to do to stay healthy, because others cannot maintain at least the semblence of good conduct.
Of course, in the classroom, those who got the whole class into detention because they would not own up to their bad behaviour would be sorted out by their peers outside the school gate. The teachers knew that when they kept the whole class in; that’s probably why they did it. We cannot do that now, so those who ruin life for everyone else will probably go unpunished and fail to learn, making the hardship worse and longer for everyone else.
What a sad state of affairs we have come to. Try to keep well. Stay safe, and most of all, don’t provoke authority. You can’t win at that game.
