Dear LPG,

I have a picture for you today which, I would guess that at first glance, most would feel had no real place on these pages but, as they say, every picture tells a story.

This is a picture of my young nephew.  He has been caught out by the Covid-19 situation just like everyone else.  Including the governments of the world.   Let’s take ours for example who, with the extended benefit of some of the world’s leading scientific minds to call on, have not been able to really make their minds up about so many aspects of making the rules that will keep the British man in the street safe. You would think that with all the technology they have at their disposal there would have been more agreement on some of the more basic of precautions.  The first case in point has to be their ever changing attitudes towards one of the most fundamental aspects of the whole affair; the waring of masks. 

First we were told that they would not be a lot of help to the average person, so a lot of us all but ignored them.   But then we heard the news that there were not even enough for the NHS workers to wear when at the forefront of the battle as they came into contact with known victims, which I suspect had something to do with the rulings we were given.  Then there was the drive for so many manufacturing companies to produce them while television and You Tube videos featured more and more ‘make your own’ instructions.

Then we were all given the ultimate mixed message.  ‘Go out if you have to but stay home if you can; Stay Alert’.  In other words, our government appeared to have decided that there were more important things at stake here than the health of the individual; the financial health of the nation.  This was followed with a directive that masks have to be worn on all public transport. This news was swiftly followed by ‘shops can open but you have to have a mask’, although I have to say that it is being received with a half-hearted response even now. 

Now we come back to the picture; a selfie which he took on his hi-tech smart phone having unlocked it with one of the latest bits of technology; face recognition.  The masks are now very available but rarely sold singly.  My nephew is the one who ventures out to the shops on behalf of his young family and he went online to make sure that he would be suitably dressed on such occasions although he does admit to having been caught short at times (short of a mask I mean).  You get all the way there and then remember that you forgot to put one in your pocket.  At his local supermarket they are sold in packs of 10 and he invested.  The next time he went shopping he was caught short again and bought yet another packet of 10. He told me that to insure non repetition of his forgetfulness he went on to distribute the masks to every pocket he could find so that whatever he chose to ware for his next shopping trip he would be prepared, and a week later he found himself in the shop again armed with the mask and the phone which also, in the most modern way, he uses instead of a debit or credit card when he needs to pay for things these days. 

Finding himself at the checkout, he got his phone out to pay and looked at it only to find that it did not recognise the half of his face that the mask allowed, so he pulled it down to retry the procedure and popped the ear-loop as you can clearly see.  Of course he needed another mask at this point and had to buy yet another pack of 10 because they are not sold singly.

So he is now armed with 28 masks and the selfie to remind him not to make the same mistake again.

LS, Hither Green