Pejorative times
I collected Penny from the vet yesterday.
Apart from being delighted to have her home again, the trip was significant in another way. It was the first time I have worn a face nappy since the start of The Madness.
It was a horrible experience. It fogged up my spectacles so I couldn’t see where I was going but even worse, I couldn’t breath. Grabbing great lungfuls of carbon dioxide just didn’t do it for me and I just felt dizzy and gasping for some decent oxygen. I felt smothered and suffocated. I couldn’t wait to get the fucking thing off.
On the way home I had to stop off to get some fags for Herself. I didn’t repeat the nappy experience, nor did most of the customers in the shop. Sanity is slowly creeping back into society.
I have learned that there is a new term for the likes of myself – apparently I’m a “Rat Licker“. Frankly that is a name I will carry with pride, along with “Covidiot”.
Back in my school days I had several nicknames [never mind what they were!] and I quickly learned to live with them. On leaving school those names vanished along with the smell of sweaty kids and chalk. Happy times.
Since the Millennium though I seem to have acquired a few new names. The first was “Smoker”. This was a name spat out by various health people and some members of the pubic. It was supposed to label me and shame me into becoming a non-smoker. It didn’t work and I carry the name with pride. To me, the word symbolised a free thinker and someone who isn’t afraid to bend to the submissive herd. That was quickly followed by “Denier” which is supposed to label me as an idiot who doesn’t believe in climate change. This amuses me as of course I believe in climate change – I just don’t think we have any kind of control over it.
So now I’m a “Covidiot” and a “Rat Licker”. At this stage that doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I have become completely inured to all these names as to me they represent the baying of the compliant herd. Once they start calling me names, it means I’m on the right track as name calling is just one of those modern tactics to try to force me to conform.
So bring it on, lads. Let’s hear a few new names.
Sticks and stones …
Me? I'm not only utterly disgusted but also very very tired by all the name-calling … in my opinion it's by the way not the herd that's doing it, it's mainly very noisy minorities.
Life is too short to worry about what people call me, or indeed what they think of me. I honestly think it says a lot more about the caller than the callee?
By the way: The "Martin Scriblerus Latest" and "Other Links Latest" are not actualizing any more …
Bugger! You're right [of course]. That's my afternoon sorted so……. Thanks for pointing it out.
You
Ahem
Er…..
First time I've seen two people get conversationally awkward in a comment thread.
That made me really laugh out loud!
The awkwardness is owing to my comments being cut short after the first (part of a) word – the rest has gone into some kind of Interwebs-Nirwana, I guess …
So the morons are self-identifying by calling non-conformists and dissenters names? Give 'em a big cheerful grin and a "Got a rat? They're yummy." then watch their faces.
Haha! I must try that if the occasion arises.
Don't let them forget the ketchup.
Masktards. An equal opportunity term if I ever saw one.
I learned from the New Yorker magazine that "maskhole" is the name for those who wander around with their mask around their chin.
Visiting Gloucester today, I discovered that in the Gloucester Quays shopping centre, you must wear a mask if you are standing up but do not need one if you are sitting down.
Those wearing a mask remind me of a religious cult. I call them the Branch Covidians after the cult at Waco.
Throughout history insults have been adopted as marks of honour.
Desert rats, the Dispicables, D-Day Dodgers, Ladies from Hell,
So assume yours with pride.
You don’t catch the Black Death from licking rattees, you catch it by getting nibbled by their infected fleas.
Silly Covignorants! Sadly though, it’s them wots running most countries…
PS: if you haven’t seen already, quite a lot of informative stuff at UK sites Hector Drummond and Lockdownsceptics
I'm wearing masks when in shops, on public transport etc. Not because I'm afraid of catching Covid-19. Is it a scamdemic? I don't know. Is it dangerous? I don't know. Do I think a mask will work? I don't know. Do I believe what the government tell me. Absolutely not. Do I believe this could be some world wide conspiracy? I don't know. There's so much false information out there and the information published by our national broadcaster and unindependent media is far from impartial. I'll tell you waht I do know though. I have family who have pre-existing lung issues. If they catch Covid-19 and it is as serious as we are told to believe, then they probably won't survive it. So I'm wearing a mask. Because I don't know if someone can spread it to me and I don't know if I can spread it to someone else. I simply don't know what to believe so wearing a mask is the safest option I have. But do I care if you or anyone else wears a mask? Not in the slightest. It's entirely an individual choice. Also, there's something else I want to say while I'm scribbling down a few words. I'm more bothered about the social nannying that's going on. I have two young children who are meant to be going back to school next week. I'm not bothered if they catch it. as much as I'm bothered by the teachers frightening the shit out of them because there's this collective doom and gloom surrounding any groups of people getting together. The teachers are in an impossible situation. They need to be seen to operate in the best interest of keeping the virus out of their class rooms. They need to teach a room of snot bags about new levels of personal hygiene and if children in the class get infected resulting in a spread of the virus among several children in that class, the teacher will probably be blamed for letting it spread. So of course, they are going to start off the school term frightening the shit out of their classes. It's inevitable. OF course, if we can avoid an out break, perhaps the teachers will be allowed to relax and school can return to normal. My grand father is 91. He proudly and stubbornly goes out in the morning for milk, bread, the paper and for a bit of social interaction in his local shop. I absolutely admire his determination. He's out at the moment trimming back some trees and moving branches that got blown around over the past few days. He's not wearing a mask but his social circle is small. The risk he's taking impacts him more than anyone else. He has one lung but he's very aware and happy to believe only bits of what the media tell him. For me who's healthy though, I'm not wearing the mask for myself. I"m wearing it for him, my mother and others who are vulnerable if the risk is what has been reported. If the reports are bullshit then I'm not harming anyone by wearing a mask. Emma, my wife is making custom masks. They stand away from your face and because of a smart thing she's doing at the nose, people wearing glasses have no problems with lenses fogging up. I would be happy to send you one if you like. You have my Email address. Give me a shout if you want one. Free of course.
The handling of the schools is abysmal. It's almost as bad as their handling of the exams [which is a fiasco which will have ramifications for years to come]. Will they open? Won't they open? How will classes be handled? How will school buses work? All I can say is thank God I don't have any school going kids.
My attitude to mask wearing is basically one of scepticism. Their efficiency is highly debatable as even the experts admit. I see them as more of a psychological comfort to the wearer and a badge of conformity. Personally I find them extremely uncomfortable and will only wear one if the situation is unavoidable, such as the visit to the vet. If I thought I was a threat to anyone then I would quietly remove myself from society for a while, and if anyone is a threat to me then so be it – my fault.
Thanks for the kind offer but I'm sure there are more worthy recipients of Emma's hard work!
Dear Grandad
I've not heard of either epithet before your revelation. If folk mutter 'covidiot' near me, I'll just tell them not to be so hard on themselves. Who's the idiot? The epidemics are over: UK peaked around 10 April and is down to a rolling 7 day average of 9 deaths 'with covid' out of roughly 1,600 daily deaths. Even common or garden 'flu is killing many times more people than that. Face nappies are a government demand for a public display of obedience with a fine opportunity (up to £3,200!) and a tax on the public to pay off the nappy manufacturers via corony capitalism.
I have not worn a face nappy at any time, including in Boots. No comments, no hard stares in Sainsbury's or Waitrose. I've noticed only a single customer without a nappy in 5 out of 7 visits. Waitrose's customers seem remarkably compliant.
I'm wondering when the first cases of face nappy rash will appear.
DP