Covid-19 flavoured chocolate

The lockdown, at least in England is effectively over. With the re-opening of shops today, just here in Scarborough the high street was crowded this morning, and ‘social’ distancing was out of the window. It’s not hard to understand why, since the government’s advice has become so multi-layered and confusing people are taking liberties left right and centre. Out for a walk this morning, I noticed groups of three or four people strolling along hogging the whole pavement, oblivious to others walking in the opposite direction. It still seems safer to walk in the road. At least here there’s less chance of being knocked over by new cyclists, many of whom seem to believe that it is normal to ride on the pavement. I take with a pinch of salt the idea that a new communal spirit of respect has swept the nation, although I’m sure there are plenty of examples of that. Maybe it’s just that you don’t notice good behaviour quite as much as the bad. But things at least for me are likely to become more paranoid, since it is quite obvious that the incompetence of the government which has led us to one of the worst death rates in the world is showing no signs of diminishing. So now we’re entering a phoney war period. This only heightens my levels of anxiety. Thus, when I see some geezer in Marks & Sparks inspecting a food item and putting it back on the shelf I find myself muttering ever louder beneath my breath ‘Don’t touch it if you ain’t buying it you stupid &%**er! And then in Lidl, thinking I was buying two bars of 95% cocoa chocolate I got home and discovered that the second bar was a raspberry flavoured version from the same brand—which can only mean somebody picked  up something they decided they didn’t want and put it back in the wrong place. Does this mean I have risked bringing the virus into my house? (Of course, there's no logical reason why what I wanted would be any less infected.) Each little and seemingly inconsequential example we can think of like this, whether based in common sense or not is bound to increase exponentially now that we have supposedly ‘conquered the invisible mugger’ when it is plainly obvious that we haven’t. Most relaxations of lockdowns around the world have led to increases in Covid-19 cases. I think there’s a good case to be made for paranoia on this one, even when it comes to buying that all-time essential, chocolate, which I'm sure has anti-viral properties. Surely there's some theory doing the rounds on social media to back that one up?