Alex B Cann column: Company and contact

As we dare to think about the roadmap for the months ahead, Tameside Radio Breakfast presenter Alex B Cann's latest unique take on lockdown life is well worth a few minutes of your time...

Ian McMillian, the Bard of Barnsley, tweeted this week that ‘the next generation will be known as Baby Zoomers.’ 

I absolutely loved this line, so am shamelessly stealing it for the beginning of this week’s column. After almost a year of living life largely gazing at screens, and being told to travel only when it’s absolutely essential, we’ve been presented with an ironically titled ‘road map’ out of lockdown.

Everyone has their own priorities in life. Some are planning a session at the pub in June when they reopen (I love the pub, but I won’t be in the first wave I’m afraid). 

Others are craving the return of the gym, golf, tennis, hairdressers, beauty salons or, in my case, Ashton Cineworld! I don’t even care if the only film showing is Peter Rabbit 2. I’ll watch it with zeal. And a large salted popcorn.

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about a conversation I had on the doorstep of my support bubble on Friday night. 

After I finish work on Fridays, I head to Worksop to spend the evening with one of my best friends, Tom, who lives alone. I really enjoy his company, and hopefully our socials also brighten up his week during these strange times. 

Anyway, I’d booked us a delivery from a smashing chap who delivers beer from his local pub, which is a lovely cosy place located on one of the platforms at Worksop railway station. He is not able to sell takeaway pints from his premises under current restrictions, but can deliver two or four pint containers to doorsteps. 

He told me that a lot of customers are in the upper age brackets, and he chats to them for a good ten to 15 minutes. He suspects in a lot of cases, it’s the only face-to-face conversation they have had all day. This really made me think about the value of human company and contact.

Whilst I totally respect the science behind social distancing and lockdowns, I worry about the loneliness this pandemic has inflicted, especially on those living alone. 

If you do just one thing after reading this column, pick up your mobile and text a friend who you’ve not heard from in a while. Or better still, give them an old fashioned phone call.

Another of my best friends, Andrew, is taking a ‘Zoom Holiday’ this week, as he likened the feeling at the end of an affable online chat with that deflated feeling at the end of a good party. 

One minute, you’re up dancing to Come On Eileen, the drinks are flowing and the buffet has been opened by the DJ. Next minute, you’re back in the same four walls, realising lockdown isn’t quite over yet.

We’ve all had time to think about the things in life that we love and appreciate during the last year. My conclusion is that whilst technology is great, we’re not designed to live life in solitude. 

I sincerely hope there won’t be a need for a fourth lockdown, provided we take things carefully. 

Unlike many, I haven’t learned a new language, or mastered banana bread, but I have paid off some lingering debt and really enjoyed a slower pace of life in many ways.

I just hope we can be sensible and realise that life won’t magically go back to how it was pre-March 2020. A mix of home working and office life will probably become the norm, which might not be such a bad thing. 

The days of lax hand hygiene will hopefully be behind us. With a bit of luck, Zoom quizzes will also be consigned to history, along with Downing Street briefings and television shows with a virtual studio audience.

I’ve heard a lot more discussions about mental health and well-being lately, particularly breaking down the stigma around men discussing this stuff.

I reckon if we can all be a bit more considerate and mindful of others after this pandemic, perhaps the ‘new normal’ won’t be so bad after all. Stay safe, and I might well see you in the cinema in late May, if not the barber’s in April!

You can listen to Alex every weekday from 7am to 11am and on the 'Super Scoreboard' show on Saturdays from 3pm to 7pm, on Tameside Radio 103.6FM. 

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