Covid 19 coronavirus: Will Johnston - separation is a habit we need to break

Will Johnston outside Love Rosie Bakery/Cafe on the first day of Level 3. Photo / Supplied

COMMENT:

People have become uncomfortable with the physical presence of strangers.

As we move into alert level 2 and below, this is a scenario that's really worrying me.

And I'm not usually one to worry easily. Despite coming from a long line of worriers, with a pessimist or two thrown in for good measure.

We all know those people who heap their negative on your positive every time. Then, when you hit them up about being a glass-half-empty human, they laugh and tell you they're just a 'realist'.

That's when you know they're lying, because being a realist means you actually believe what happens most of the time, ie the real-ist scenario.

Usually, the outcome is good. Usually, that headache isn't a brain tumour (Google is a pessimist, don't do it), that plane is going to land safely, that person isn't going to rob you ...

So why do I feel right now that we are on the verge of becoming a community that doesn't like to be physically close to other people?

Oh, coz we've spent six weeks doing that.

And it only takes 10 days to form a habit.

We are in deep. I get it. But not only are we used to it, I'm seeing signs that we actually like it.

When we get to levels 2 and 1, we need to break this habit as soon as possible.

When we went to level 3 this week, the floodgates opened a bit in The Bay … like, how's that traffic? Every second vehicle on the road is some sort of tradie and, as great as it is that we are getting back to working in a more traditional form, I'm worried about how hard it's going to be for some to break the habit of isolation.

You may laugh at that. You may be itching to get to the pub (same).

But you may also find when you get there in level 2, it's weird. People won't want to look you right in the eye, they will take a half-step away from you, the tables will be further apart and some of the convos you have might be with someone still in a mask.

Or you might find there are less people there. And that's the real sad bit.

Look, I'm not saying that we should all start hooking up with strangers and hugging septic tank cleaners (though they deserve physical touch as much as the next person – maybe just after a shower), but we need to start getting used to the fact the people are going to be right up in our bubble again some time soon.

Remember when Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow announced to the world they were 'consciously uncoupling'? As much as I thought that was a hilarious and stupid phrase, we need to do that with our bubble. Sooner rather than later when we get to level 2.

Here's what happens if we don't:

Anything that involves more than five people being in the same place and has been hanging on for this damn lockdown to finish, dies.

Retail dies. Hospitality dies. NZ-based tourism dies. The Bay of Plenty as we know it dies.

Eww!

Look, I know it's a risk, because there is no such thing as a completely virus-free New Zealand in the short term, but the risk is low and your region needs you.

It needs you to leave your sweatpants-on-the-couch-eating-biscuits-and-drinking-wine-at-11am bubble and go to a café to catch up with a mate.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

Don't have a Zoom catch up with your family/friends/colleagues, drive to see them as soon as you're allowed. Even the small amount of money you may spend doing these things is what will get this country and region back on its feet and HAPPY again.

I'm not telling you to be irresponsible as the restrictions ease off.

I'm just telling you to work harder than you ever have before to find the normality you may have forgotten you missed while forming antisocial habits these past six weeks.

In short: Go Local, go to the pub!