A little bit better

 Some days don’t start well.

“You know that music person who was a little bit better than you? What happened to them?”

“Who do you mean?”

“The one that was a little bit better than you. My half sister told me about her.”

“But I taught your half sister. It must have been me when I was a little bit better and now I’m just a little bit worse.”

“Oh”

The day got a little bit worse because of computers and trying to keep children who were excited to show their compositions to their friends in their seats, facing the front, trying to be creative without sharing.

The weather has turned and well ventilated rooms suddenly feel like a bad idea.

Knowing that this is all going to last for another six months is very depressing.

At the end of the day, the press were reporting the inevitable outbreak in a university in Scotland. The thought of a whole load of sick students being stuck in a house of 15 people they don’t know, not able to leave broke my heart a little bit. Then the BBC asked Hancock if students might be forced to stay at Uni for Christmas. The stupid idiot said that he’d learnt never to rule anything out. That made things a little bit worse for anyone who is about to go or send someone to University.  I know it won’t happen. Students might be asked to stay but if you are able to travel then no one can stop them. They are reluctant to do a second lockdown and there is no way they will make it stricter. My tip, that I learnt from noticing drug dealers, while I was walking during the first lockdown: buy your Uni starters a nurses uniform to guarantee they can travel home unchallenged. I’m not advocating breaking the law but some things are worse than Covid-19.

When I got home I downloaded the NHS test and trace app and checked my area. 

I swore. “WTAF! A medium risk area! That’s something that male cows have!” (Probably not just male cows but I always think the swear is worse if you think of bullocks bollocks)

I clicked on the definition of risk. It said medium risk is where cases are rising. 

“That’s odd,” shouted the data nerd. “We have a change of rate of -1 to -10 cases per 100,000 of the population. A minus number is a fall. They are lying to us. If we can live in an area where only 3 people have died of something and cases are falling, how is that not low risk?”

You’re right. I’m the data nerd and I was ranting wildly to myself. The thing is the app has decided that there are no low risk areas in the UK. The app says, “Be afraid, very afraid. Remember, your life is over!”

That makes life a little bit worse.

I’m beginning to agree with that little boy who greeted me yesterday morning. Where has that music person gone that was a little bit better than me? Where has the world gone that was a little bit better than it is now?