Shop 'till you drop

I think we have all had enough of Donald Trump now. His latest irrational act is (as I am sure you have heard) was to cut off U.S. funding for the World Health Organisation. Since he has been in office, he has unilaterally made many decisions which directly and detrimentally affect the lives of everyone both inside and outside America, but now that the world needs international cooperation, even - or especially - with China, he is potentially setting the end of the crisis back by years.

In this dream-like world which we all inhabit now, I have noticed that people who entered the lock- down in a less than stable mental state are beginning to show signs of extreme stress. I don't think Trump is stressed though. He is just showing himself for what he really is - a tin-pot dictator with an IQ of about 3. If ever there was a President who would be willing to launch an all-out nuclear war, it is him. It is time he was removed from office on the grounds of mental illness. He is, quite literally, unfit.

For the last week or so, people have been dotted about on street corners, silently watching the slow-moving and spaced-out queue  as it heads toward the supermarket. They give a  very Georgio de Chirico look to the area, so I went from feeling that I was not just in a film, I was in a painting too. I wondered what these people were doing, but eventually realised that they are just waiting for their partners to come out of the shop. The supermarket has a policy of only allowing one person in at a time.

Yesterday, ahead of me in the queue was a Chinese man in a beige outfit with matching baseball cap and thick spectacles. He looked like a miniature version of Jacques Tati in a face mask.

He had a shopping bag on wheels which he used to keep his place as he frequently stepped out of line to check the length of the queue, which was growing longer by the minute. Us under 70s (I was asked my age but decided not to abuse the system by going to the front) were waiting for the elderly and vulnerable to finish shopping before being allowed in to do our own.

After the fifth check on the length of our queue, the Chinese man could stand it no longer. He went up to a security guard and pointed out how many people were waiting. 'Yes, we know', was the inevitable response. He did this three times, each time becoming a little more agitated.

Eventually he was at the front of the queue and could go in to shop. Instead he stopped at the door and began shouting at the guard.

"The queue is very long!" (Arm gestures)

"Yes, it is isn't it."

"It goes down the street!" (More arm gestures.)

"I know. I don't care". (Guard becomes impatient. We are being held up behind him).

"Why don't you care?!"

"Listen, go in and do your shopping".

I see this sort of thing every time I leave the house now.