New Coastie – Bright side view

“Always look on the Bright side of Life”, the song from the Monty Python movie Life of Brian was written to lighten up the grim crucifixion scene. Now it’s lightening up my mornings during Level 4 lockdown. While I am not hanging off a cross like Brian, I am hanging off the positive case numbers that are revealed at 1pm every day. I find solace in the first stanza of the song that has become my philosophy during this lockdown. Let us go through these six lines. 

Some things in life are bad – Delta is bad. Worst than Alpha. It is more infectious and spreads faster than its elder siblings. It decimated large swathes of people in India and continues to wreak havoc across the globe. It is even dangerous for our tamariki, which makes it really bad.

They can really make you mad – Hundreds of days without Covid-19 and behold Covid family’s murderous member slips through fort New Zealand. Immediate Level 4 lockdown and empty supermarket shelves make us clench our fists and wave them at the disease, the government, and the panic buyers. We get mad at panic buying while making a video of panic buying while being in the supermarket engaging in panic buying. 

Other things just make you swear and curse – There are only a few people who haven’t cursed at the TV screen while watching the news. Oh those “blimming” conspiracy theorists, those “flippin” lockdown protestors, those “ducking” antivaxxers, those “bullsplit” racists. During this lockdown we all have sworn like a sailor at the nitwit government and the whiny opposition.

When you’re chewing on life’s gristle, don’t grumble, give a whistle – Yes, life is complicated at the moment. Locked up in the house, lining up for hours to get a test, no revenue coming in, and realising after 25 years of marriage that your partner bangs cutlery on the crockery while eating – excruciating. Just hang in there. Think of how many days we had without Covid-19. We were prancing with freedom while the world was having year-long lockdowns and thousands of deaths. We can be patient, follow the rules and get vaccinated. As I write this, cases seem to be hitting a peak and going down. 

And this’ll help things turn out for the best – As time passes, I am confident that we will be at Level 1 again. We will be able to be with our friends, loved ones, and not so loved ones. With high vaccination rates we might not need such a strict lockdown again. We will have that difficult conversation with the partner about banging the cutlery while eating, and they will be free to go to their mates to complain about you. So be strong and sing – “Always look on the bright side of life!”