Talking of which, there has been little or no evidence of the hygiene police in action round here, I'm glad to say. Nearly everybody is behaving perfectly sensibly in their absence. However, if they do decide to show themselves, I wish they would target a particular menace that has vexed me on my blameless local strolls – runners who pound along at speed, paying scant attention to 'social distancing' and coating everyone they pass with a fine spray of sweat, saliva and testosterone. These are the same would-be alpha males who in normal times would be squeezing into skintight Spandex, mounting their racing bikes and hurtling along the streets, scattering pedestrians left and right. There is probably no stopping them, but they'd certainly make a far more deserving target than solitary walkers in the Peak District.
There are many recordings of the dawn chorus to be found online. This, one of the shorter ones, comes from a garden in West Sussex. Enjoy...
My youngest daughter down in Vauxhall was complaining of exactly the same thoughtlessness from sweaty male runners. She now only goes out on her bicycle, because it is much less likely anyone will brush past, spraying you with their sweat etc, on that, she thinks. I hope she's right.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it's not just me. Thanks Zoe.
ReplyDeleteAs one of the sweaty male runners, I think we are not all that bad. You will recall that the first story that brought the practice to attention was Sillitoe's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, and many of us who enjoy running enjoy the loneliness. I have taken to running around the neighborhood streets because the nearest park and its paths are full of the people who would be there anyway, but also many others whose usual recreations have been cancelled. Most of the others are families with small children. They seldom run, but sometimes the smaller of them are on wheels of some sort.
ReplyDeleteI punctuate my exercise walk by sitting on a seafront bench and reading for half an hour. A female runner, spraying sweat (and oestrogen presumably)everywhere castigated me by saying "Excellent exercise!" as she ran past with her dog on a lead.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, there are runners and runners, many of them blameless. The worst are the self-righteous and adversarial, of either sex – they're also the least likely to keep their social distance.
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