Downtown

Yesterday, we went, as Bristolians say, ‘in town’. All masked up, we took the excellent Metrobus and having arrived together, went our separate ways. Bristol’s shopping area is basically divided into two with the ageing Broadmead at one end and the shiny newish more upmarket Cabot Circus at the other. I don’t care much for either of them and conducted my entire shopping expedition in HMV.

I am not a dedicated shopper at any moment in time and, having done next to nothing and been next to nowhere since March, the experience of being in town was not an enjoyable one. Whilst HMV were keeping close tabs on numbers entering the shop, there were no obvious restrictions in others. However, at no stage did I feel relaxed and safe. People walk where they like in Broadmead and social distancing was non existent. Arriving at Cabot Circus was far, far worse.

There are directional arrows all over the place in Cabot Circus but no one pays any attention to them. There were queues to access many shops and it’s fair to say that people weren’t two feet apart never mind two metres. And, despite instructions all over the place for people to wear masks, barely a third, in our estimation, were doing so. The majority who weren’t sadly included me, my abysmal lack of observation powers being to the fore once more. I didn’t notice the very obvious signs, so best not to virtue signal in this instance. That may have been why I did not feel safe.

And then to the pub, the excellent Phoenix. We got a table easily enough, sitting outside in the pleasant autumnal sunshine, but there was a problem. On every table there were smokers and it was like going back to the days when you could smoke in pubs. We moved inside the pub but because windows have to be open for ventilation, the smoke drifted in. I’m that reformed smoker who now loathes the small of tobacco and now, having developed asthma over the years, I move away from smoke when I can. I’ve noticed from having visited a few pubs since they reopened that the presence of smoke in pub gardens and drifting into pubs is a real issue which the pub industry and government should really address.

And then there’s the cost of everything. I’d never dream of buying a bottle of wine in a pub because the mark up is so much. Now, beer, lager and cider is headed the same way. The fiver plus a pint is already with us in some pubs and cities, yet I can buy four bottles of ale in Asda and Morrisons for £6. With all the rules, regulations, restrictions and the need to book when you fancy a pint, this summer I’ve enjoyed a quiet drink in the Open Arms AKA our back garden. Things have changed.

If I don’t much care for the new way of visiting the pub, the desire to leave my house and go shopping has totally gone. I’ll do nearly all of it on line, thank you very much.

Going into town isn’t like it used to be. I didn’t feel comfortable, I didn’t really feel safe. And I didn’t feel comfortable because I could sense that many people think COVID-19 has gone away and act like it. Spoiler alert: it hasn’t.