It's all getting quite complicated

After years of resistance I signed up to WhatsApp. This was because my charity's CEO and chair of the Trustees wanted to talk about how our finances might or might not stay the course. So we had a WhatsApp conference. Quite strange talking to two very small faces on my mobile phone screen. Also my poetry group started a WhatsApp group, so I joined that as well.

Then I started to get strange texts from people I didn't know. First there was the one from Mrs Ismail at No 38a asking how I was. I thought it must be No 38a from our road so I texted back hoping they were keeping well. Next the address changed to 37b: I ignored that: to be followed up by a request for me to move a greenhouse and tools  from a Mrs Majeed's allotment plot to Mrs Ismail's.

I finally twigged. The WhatsApp text was from Mrs Ismail on plot 37b at our allotment site and she was asking me to move stuff from another plot to hers. Apparently she's in lock down which is not surprising as she is well into her 70's and her hubby's not well and in his 80's.

I suspect her daughter of linking Mrs Ismail and me on WhatsApp. I did rather abruptly point out that I was also in my later years and was about to say since she's in lock down and can't get to the allotment what's the point of the greenhouse being moved now. Why not wait until we can all safely move stuff around - but you've got to admire her forward planning. Except, if it's Mrs Majeed's plot that has the greenhouse on - well it's not there. It was last seen badly crumpled 6 feet off  the ground in one of the hedges on the allotment. The very high winds in February had picked it up like a toy and dumped it!

I've yet to figure out how I can break this news gently to Mr Ismail.

I've also Zoomed and used  Microsoft Team: rather a steep learning curve, but I suppose we've all been on a rapid learning course these past few weeks.

It's encouraging that people are thinking about the exit strategy from this pandemic. I'm sure we'll muddle our way through with possibly a few missteps on the way. The West's very poor preparedness has brought home dramatically that you can't let the social fabric and infrastructure wither. Robust public services, effective contingency planning and deep public purses are needed. We can't let something so left field as this catch us so dangerously unprepared ever again.

My sympathies go out to Netflix and all its programme makers. Much of its content rests on pandemics, mass death and end of the world story-lines. This pandemic and its impact makes all that fake drama seem rather weak and out of salts. Hopefully, they'll start turning out real human drama; less CGI and bombastic stars: more quiet underplayed drama and acting. More MovingPictureTV less Disney.