There is a greater need for patience among the general population this year. You can feel a tension that did not exist last winter. Last year in the quest for the ‘meaningful Christmas,’ there was some expectation, some risk, a releasing of tensions as people knew that beyond the peaked mountains of the ‘meaningful Christmas,’ vales of great possibilities abounded. The vaccine was on the cusp of general release and people were working out when they might expect to receive the manna from heaven that it represented.
And even though we were told all along that we might be living with Covid for a year or three and that ‘it wasn’t going away, ya know,’ there was some hope that the summer wind might blow it out, like the winter wind blew out Trump.
Alas, that has not been the case; the vaccines have reduced infection, but the efficacy of these seems to be reducing all the time as the virus mutates from one strain to another. So, it may well continue.
But this year, there is a frustration that the world has not moved on as we thought it might. And this seems to be borne out in the way people are interacting with each other. There is less patience, more tension.
I was always bemused by the signs at the M6 toll-booth in Cappataggle and Enfield, asking drivers not to abuse the staff in the booths — what sort of person would you have to be to resort to that. I had never found them anything but charming.
Then when I was grabbing a sandwich during the week, I read signs on the deli saying that there are lots of reasons why staff are under pressure during this time, and that rudeness and insults from customers should not be added to this list. It was a plea for tolerance from staff.
When I enquired, I was told that seemingly not everyone is pleasant when ordering food or asking for a service. Staff said to me that while remarks about service or quality are as welcome as they always were, in the last few months, there has been a simmering tension being exhibited by customers that is being taken out on staff in many walks and professions.
Not just in retail, but on the roads too. The amount of anecdotal evidence about inexcusable road rage being caused by the simplest of disagreements has increased.
People should not be abused for simply doing their jobs or going about their lives. The world has slowed down a little in the last 18 months, so queues might be a little longer as people unfamiliar with being out again, fumble at the till, getting out contactless cards or loyalty cards or showing Covid certs. The treadmill of everyday living does not run as smoothly as it once did; we might be waiting at the door a few minutes longer than we did before, so we just need to chill a bit and let patience kick in.
Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.
We all need to temper our expectations a little when it comes to our interactions with each other. Retail staff and health care workers have been feeling the brunt of the frustrations of the public in recent times and this should not be tolerated.
We will get through all of this eventually — it is taking a little longer than we expected, but we should hope to emerge the other side with our respect for the dignity of others intact. We can all play our part in this, but let us not emerge post-pandemic as intolerant balls of stress who cannot appreciate the travails of providing a service.
Patience can be bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
