As indoor hospitality re-opens on the 17th of May along with the official return of hugging no less, are we one step closer to normality?
As you can see from the image above, the dream of a new dawn of alfresco drinking and dining in dreary old Blighty fell a long way short of reality. First, we were scuppered by COVID, then the rain, but everything will be ok on the 17th right? I wouldn’t count your chickens.
Sure, the doors will be open, but it’ll be table service, with lots of venues operating a booking system and a few even charging. That last point worries me the most. Rip-off Britain? You ain’t seen nothing yet! Businesses will be upping prices left, right, and centre, exploiting a nationwide desire to let our hair down.
This worrying trend is spreading too. I think it’s fantastic that new businesses have sprung up and thrived in this new environment, but is that £3 coffee in a tiny cup really a good deal for the consumer? In a world that was just starting to get a little more caring, I get the unnerving feeling the next chapter, out of these terrible circumstances, will be more dog-eat-dog than ever.
This leads me onto something even more worrying, which I’ve noticed particularly over the last few weeks, and that’s the impact COVID has had on crime in our neighborhoods. Not to put too a fine point to it, but it feels like it’s getting out of control. It feels the policing resource isn’t there and more and more undesirables are roaming the streets unchecked.
There are no two ways about it. The effects of COVID will scar our society for years to come, perhaps even permanently. Businesses, governments, and individuals will play on that fact until it either becomes illegal or unprofitable, while the bad apples will, as always, take what they can in this newly fertile land ripe for picking.
Did you really think you’ll get a cheap deal on a stay-cation this year?
How inflated do you think the prices will be for a holiday abroad next year?
Do you think the price of a pint will go down to get punter in?
I think we all know the answers.
No matter what they say, we’re definitely not getting back to any sort of meaningful normality for a long time yet.
What’s your take? Drop me a comment below.
