Corona - Society Unravelling

My lovely husband was a "glass half empty" person. He insisted we had a conversation about what we would do if society as we knew it, fell apart, over 11 years ago. None of the scenarios he considered likely related to a Pandemic. Currently I truly miss the support he would have given me more than ever, but I'm glad he isn't here to see this.

People are not just selfishly stockpiling & panic buying, apparently they are forcing their way into supermarkets & queue jumping at times designated for the elderly , the infirm & key workers.

Supermarket websites are going down because of the volume of traffic. I'm unable to get onto Sainsburys website to register for home delivery despite being "at risk". In fact we are in danger of the internet going down completely as servers can't cope.

People are ignoring safety precautions, not keeping to safe distances.

One by one everything is closing down - pubs, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, the National Trust... Public transport is operating on emergency timetables & rail networks have been taken over by the state. The Government is likely to impliment Emergency Legislation very soon, including imposing fines on non compliance & changes to death & funeral arrangements. The army is on standby.

We have new words in our vocabulary - social distancing, self isolating
https://www.dictionary.com/e/coronavirus-words/

We have new behaviours - handwashing singing "Happy Birthday to you twice"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51914645

We have become information junkies
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51235105

This is life changing for everyone & even life ending for many. It seems to me that the important thing is how we each deal with this. What lessons we learn individually & collectively. Do we succumb to greed, self interest & panic? Or do we discover our innate social & personal humanity?

"To be (good) or not to be, that is the question"