Space Invaders
My memories of Space Invaders were unlocked during our Lakeland visit as a consequence of what I shall refer to as a Covid incident. Whilst we pretty much kept ourselves to ourselves, socialising only with the eldest and his fiancée who joined us for the week and exchanging fleeting greetings with strangers we passed on the fells, I had cause one morning to join a queue at a local bakery.
Customers were limited, according to a sign, to one at a time and were invited to wear masks and sanitise their hands on entering the premises. I lined up outside leaving a socially distanced gap between me and the lady ahead who had left a similar gap in front of her too. We both put on our masks as we shuffled forward.
Suddenly three unmasked adults added themselves to the queue only a matter of an inch or two behind me, towering over my somewhat diminutive height and unduly crowding me. My space was well and truly invaded by strangers and after all these months of precautions, it felt uncomfortable. Laser fire and a beeping noise were hardly appropriate so instead I stretched up to the whole of my 155 centimetres, turned round and asked for space. I'm not sure what I had expected and although they seemed totally taken aback, duly obliged.
What point they then tried to make when they entered the shop together, still mask free, as I left, I know not. When honey pot sites (which popular tourist destinations are now being designated) are experiencing a rise in coronavirus cases I would expect a little more consideration for others, particularly the shop's staff. There again perhaps I'm a lone voice on such matters.
Still it wasn't only fellow humans that imposed themselves on my territory during our trip but local wildlife too. On arrival at our lodge we were a little perturbed by the presence of a mouse trap in the spotlessly clean cupboard under the sink. However, we left it there and I thought little more about it until our last evening when I leant in to grab a dishwasher tablet. It was then that I saw it: a long grey tail! The tablet dropped out of my hand, the door slammed shut and I SCREAMED, so loudly that the rest of the family shook.
I enjoy and respect other creatures but not dead, inside kitchen cupboards.
Little wonder that I'm being drawn back to the late 1970's and the comfort and security of staring at a black screen full of nothing more than images of robots from outer space. Retirement thrills are just too overwhelming.
Comments
The UK deaths from the virus still amount to the equivalent of a big plane crash every week. How that doesn't prompt the continued use of precautions is baffling. My understanding is that those deaths are mostly the vulnerable or unvaccinated but that does not make them "something we have to live with" or the price we have to pay to allow the uncaring the freedom to inflict their germs on others. Two of my younger family members, double vaccinated, caught the virus and had minor symptoms, but the fact that they got it at all fills me with dread.