Queuing up outside Tesco the other day, I noticed an old man behind me in a dark blue padded jacket – both had seen better days.
My first thought was: “What on earth is he doing out during the lockdown?” but I decided to just smile politely as he looked a little spooked.
He smiled back and told me he’d just been to Aldi where they were letting only four people in at a time so he had given up – after getting barbed comments from others in the queue about his not being at home.
He’d then walked a good mile to reach the Tesco Metro where I stood.
In hindsight I should have given him my mobile number and offered to buy his shopping, after all I have plenty of spare time these days.
But instead we engaged in conspiratorial chat, both saying how we didn’t believe half what the Government told us and how we wished things would go back to normal.
I later passed him inside the store – Tesco was letting 10 shoppers in at a time – and we exchanged a knowing smile, as if we were the French Resistance in occupied France.’
Read more: Considering the social etiquette and consequences of the lockdown
