Thursday 3rd September 2020 – The deterioration of customer service
Customer service is suffering. Purchasing goods is not as spontaneous or as simple as it used to be.
I needed a short length of timber, and visited our local timber supplier, but I was told that “The Lads Down The Yard” had finished early because of Covid-cleaning. I visited again the following day, when The Lads Down The Yard were working, but, because of Covid precautions, I was not allowed to visit The Yard to choose the appropriate type of timber, as would have been the case pre-Covid, particularly useful for those of us who don’t know a length of beading from a batten. Instead I described what I needed it for, and one of The Lads happily carried what he had correctly interpreted was the right type of timber to my car, but then had to it take back to The Yard to trim to my specification.
We are considering a new wood burning stove, and so I went online to check the opening times of the closest retailer. It appears that, thanks to social distancing precautions, visits are by appointment only. I called to arrange an appointment for the afternoon of the same day, but I had to wait for a call back. I was told that they couldn’t possibly manage a same-day appointment, but could spare me half an hour at lunchtime the following day. This company is merely one retailer in what nowadays is a competitive sector, and so I decided to take my custom elsewhere. I called another local-ish stove retailer, confident that my custom would be valued, and spoke to a very friendly and helpful chap, who also needed advance notice for a visit. His show room has not had visitors for months, his stock is low, and, he admitted, his showroom is in a bit of a state. He suggested that we select a stove online, call him, and he will see if he can obtain the desired model.
Amazon sell wood burning stoves. Is this really the post-Covid future of all retailing?
Friday 18th September 2020 – “Just a sharp scratch”
Today I donated platelets at our local blood centre, as I have done in almost every month for some years. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces, with many new staff, some still being trained. The reason for the extra staff was because of extra plasma donations, harvested from donors who have recovered from Covid-19. This “convalescent plasma” contains antibodies to the disease, and is used to treat Coronavirus patients. A trainee was assigned to me, and began to set up the centrifuge that, over the next hour or so, would suck the blood from my vein, spin out the platelets, and return the residue to my body. The trainee was clearly not confident, and I was relieved when a more experienced carer came over to insert the needle.
Saturday 19th September 2020 – Sofa So Good
We have been sofa shopping, visiting four stores at our local retail park. As we entered each store, a besuited staff member ensured that we wore masks, sanitised our hands, and explained the one-way system. Obviously, sofa-selection is a bums-on-seats exercise, and we were followed around by someone with sanitising spray, disinfecting cushions that we had occupied as we progressed around the store. Under normal circumstances this would have been most disconcerting
Monday 21st September 2020 – Brace yourselves
When I started this blog it was obvious that when things return to normal, the frequency of posting would diminish. What I didn’t expect is that the things that I wrote about at the start of the blog, all so different, exciting and novel, would be the normal to which we have all returned. We wear masks, we sanitise, we socially distance, we meet in groups of six, we scrupulously follow arrows on the floor, we sit at work stations separated from colleagues by Perspex screens. All perfectly normal, not worth writing about, which has meant that my blogging enthusiasm has failed to engage every day.
However, as I write, life-under-Covid is likely to become more interesting. Despite a rash of local lockdowns, infection rates are rising, and a second Covid peak looms on the horizon. Youths were initially blamed for it all, and then the blame ascended the social ladder to fall into the lap of the magnificently named Baroness Dido Harding, head of the test and trace programme, who neatly deflected the hot potato, without so much as a burned finger, to the Government, who had encouraged everyone to book a Covid test, and were taken by surprise when everyone did. A dog walking friend gave up waiting to book a test by phone, and so went online. He entered his symptoms, ticking the appropriate boxes, and was relieved when the Computer assured him that he was Covid-free. Who needs uncomfortable swabbing when the Computer can make a diagnosis with just a few taps of the keyboard?
The Government is talking of circuit-breaking, breaking the paths of infection. This morning the Scientists, who for a while were broadly absent from Covid briefings, were pushed firmly back onto the stage, blinking in the limelight, as they spent half an hour presenting curves, columns and statistics, which could all be summarised as “Brace Yourselves!” We expect an announcement that a short sharp lockdown will commence, although with essential activities permitted, such as going to the pub, as long as you are all in bed by 10pm. We are only just getting used to the most recent directive, The Rule Of Six. This has actually suited those of us who pick up our dog leads and head for the pub on a Tuesday evening. There are generally five of us (and four dogs) from five households. The two-households-to-a-table rule was a a bit of a faff, either involving one of us alone at a third table, or a bit of flexibility in rule interpretation – surely if two if us are close neighbours, then that must practically be the same household, mustn’t it? The Rule-Of-Six is so much easier, although in practice maintaining social distancing still requires that two tables are occupied.
Saturday 27th September – All quiet on a Saturday night
On call last night. Under the latest Covid restrictions, at 10pm sharp it was time for those taking advantage of the lively and vibrant city centre atmosphere, to blow each other goodnight kisses from a distance of 2m, and wend their way home, and in consequence I had a very quiet night. Shortly before 10pm I headed for the local Tesco-Express store, a block away, for a bottle of milk At 9.55pm the streets were quiet, with just a few isolated small groups out and about. At 9.59pm I entered Tesco and was followed in by several boisterous groups, all intermingling and pushing past each other. Many were not wearing masks, and the security guard was more concerned with ensuring that due payment was made for items, than with requesting those without face coverings to leave the store.
At 10.05pm I left the store, and the streets, quiet just a few minutes before, were suddenly very busy. Pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants had all, as required by law, evicted their customers promptly at 10pm and closed the doors firmly behind them. The customers now thronged the pavements, and social distancing was generally not an option, despite the footway width being doubled by coning off part of the road as part of social distancing precautions. Nevertheless, I am sure that the risk of Covid transmission is lower than on a normal Saturday night. Six or more hours of drunken uncontrolled intermingling has been reduced to two or three hours of less inebriated behaviour, although since the Government claims that transmission between people within the home is the cause of local infection spikes, it seems to be a bit of a mixed message to send customers home early from establishments where, in theory, groups of six are all seated and socially distanced, and this is probably being enforced.
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An on-the-ground assessment of how the hospitality trade is coping. The Tier system of risk is introduced
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Life in the UK changed for everyone in March 2020.