How I'm Reacting To Being A #CoronaHostage

I’m not missing the commute. I’m not missing my hectic morning schedule that gets me out of the house fed, shaved and dressed in forty minutes. I’m not missing paying £11.40 a day to travel into London. Nor am I missing paying £3 for snacks or coffee. I’m not missing the Central and Piccadilly lines to my gym. I’m not missing the short evenings at home, where I’m just de-stressing so I can get to bed at 21:30 or earlier. I am not missing the office, about which I have complained enough. I am not missing the 8,000 - 11,000 steps a day. It’s too many when combined with everything else. I am not missing the traffic. I am not missing the crowds of people.

I know some people miss the buzz, but for a long time I’ve just found London crowded and all the people a bit pointless, and I don’t miss that.

It’s been a long time since I went to the cinema. I’ve stopped going to restaurants because the food quality has gone down and the prices have gone up.

I am missing the workouts at the gym. I am really missing convenience shopping - especially for Boots-y things. I miss going to Foyles and Fopp. 

My gas and electric bills have gone up from working from home.

Most of all, I like that if anything goes wrong, it’s not my fault, it’s Dominic Raab’s. If I have to stop paying my council tax because I need the money for food, I can tell them to get the money from good ol’ Dominic.

But then, I have a house and a garden and the weather is fine. What it’s like for couples in small flats in Hoxton I have no idea. I’m still employed and my employer has enough money to pay my salary for a couple of months yet.

I am doing some basic bar-bell and body-weight exercises at home. I’ve just taken delivery of a proper gym mat with lots of foam in it. I’m eating better than I do when I’m at work. I wake up about the same time, but I don’t have to rush when I do. I’ve been keeping up with the MUBI’s, which is pleasant. I’ve stopped with the media, which has turned out to be even more pleasant.

So far, to be honest, so good. But then I’m an a-social grumpy old man, and I don’t feel the loss of the kind of socialising I used to do when I was thirty. And it’s been sunny and warm. What’s not to like?