Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884

This Side of the Pond

Still staring out the window, dreaming of better days when you weren’t sick of the sight of your own sofa? I’ve been looking out for the rays of sunshine during this confusing time, just to remind me that when worst comes to worst, we’re actually pretty good at looking out for each other.

I’ve been watching our community react to the outbreak with fundraising initiatives, ideas to support our businesses, tireless efforts to make sure the housebound stay healthy and fed, kind gestures to the front-line workers who will get us through this chaos and so much more. Circling the wagons isn’t a cliché in Crook County, it’s a way of life.

This being a column about what’s going on over the pond, I’ve been watching the reaction in the UK, where the outbreak is a couple of weeks ahead of ours and things are getting worse by the day. Perhaps my favorite moment so far was when the government called for volunteers to support the National Health Service by delivering things, fetching things, visiting people and otherwise taking on tasks to lighten the load of medical professionals.

Within 24 hours, half a million people had signed up.

Meanwhile, last Thursday at 8 p.m. precisely, Brits headed to their balconies, windows and doorsteps to join together in a nationwide round of applause. Called the Clap For Carers campaign, it was a national salute intended to show the UK’s healthcare workers how appreciated they are.

(In an excellent demonstration of the dual nature of the Brits, my friend Adam decided to take his daily government-permitted walk so it would feel like he was being applauded for getting his exercise.)

We’re all pretty proud of our NHS in Britain, so this wasn’t the only effort. Landmarks such as Wembley Arch, the Royal Albert Hall and Lincoln Cathedral were lit up blue, some broadcasting thank you messages to the NHS on overhead screens.

Meanwhile, a fundraiser brought in $36,000 in three days to pay restaurants unable to open during the lockdown to make and deliver food to hospital staff. A Glasgow company has donated 5000 pairs of its compression socks to help combat fatigue during long shifts, schools have been using their 3D printers to produce protective masks and hotels have transformed themselves into closed facilities for NHS staff so they can rest in comfort while staying as safe as possible.

The health service isn’t the only place we’re seeing acts of kindness. A woman in London noticed that a lot of people were still out and about despite the severe restrictions now in place, and it began to worry her that some of them were elderly or in such a hurry they were clearly key National Health Service workers. She also noticed a few of them were homeless.

She decided to increase the quantity of the soups she was making for lunch and place them in portion cartons outside her front door, with a note to let people know the name and ingredients list. Every day, the portions disappear one by one – not once has anyone abused her offering, and all across Kilburn there are people with satisfied tummies who might otherwise not have had a proper meal.

A UK nursing home found a way to keep its residents in contact with their loved ones by having them write messages on whiteboards and pose for photographs that were then shared on social media. The messages ranged from words of hope and love to a few that can best be described as British-style encouragement, such as one gentleman named Ron whose whiteboard read, “Bugger the bugs!” (and of course Albert, who pointed out “there is nothing to grumble about”.)

Our notable figures are doing their best to help, such as UK-born-but-US-based author Neil Gaiman. Responding to musings from LeVar Burton about how to record stories for children without breaching copyright, he gave permission to use his children’s tales any way Burton liked.

When a teacher reached out to ask if he could do the same for his students, Gaiman upgraded to a blanket permission for anyone, anywhere, to use his stories to help with the isolation.

If you’re feeling cultured, you could also look for Patrick Stewart on social media. The Star Trek actor is reading a Shakespeare sonnet a day for those of us who like to pretend we are cultured.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, the man who brought you musicals such as Cats and Phantom of the Opera, will help you complete the set with a daily piano recital.

Not everyone is upset by the quarantine, of course, and you’ve probably already seen the memes about our canine population, which is experiencing unprecedented levels of People Being Home. One little wiener dog in Essex took this to a whole new level.

When his whole family began working from home, he was so pleased he didn’t stop wagging his tail for days – until suddenly, he did, and stopped moving his tail at all. The vet’s diagnosis was that he had wagged his tail so hard he managed to strain it.

I could go on, and it’s been wonderful to watch.

One of the first things I was told when I moved here was that I’d be living in a place where keys are left in trucks in case someone needs to borrow them and you’ll never be stranded by the side of the road long before somebody stops to help. It didn’t take long to figure out the truth of these sentiments.

I suspect that’s why we were all so quick to do the right things when we were told the virus could be heading our way. Quietly, without fuss, those who were able to isolate did so and everyone else started pondering plans to keep the wheels turning.

Here in our quiet corner of the world, we didn’t have to burst our brains coming up with ways to offer each other support, because we’d already built the mechanisms to do so and helping out is just a part of daily life. And that’s why this community might be staying six feet or more apart from each other, but we’re still standing strong together.