SHERINGHAM DIARY No 80 - The Many Triumphs of Selfishness

I've returned to my usual weekly swimming pattern. Gradually increasing the number of lengths as my stamina rebuilds. The Reef which is my local pool, has become very popular. I keep having to try different times of the day as each one progressively gets busier. I guess everyone is like me in search of the quieter pool. Also as Easter approaches you get teachers swimming midday more.

Outside of holiday periods, during the day in the fast lane its usually a few regular ladies and the occasional man with flippers and a snorkel. A bad sign is when Snorkel Man is not alone. Joined by Hand Paddle Man or a gent with an energy drink, a timer and a brightly striped waffle thing he braces his testicles with whilst he swims. Sometimes its not even that eccentric, its just very stereotypically blokey. Half a dozen men, some wearing lycra swimsuits, in their late, bulging, middle age, warned by their GP about heart murmurs, intent on getting fitter come hell or high water. So they thrash about doing a rather stylistically flawed, but speedy, front crawl, up and down, cut you up, overtake you because they can't bear being behind anyone, and generally treat the swimming pool as a venue in which to entertain the selfish need of their ego for the self validation of an improved lap time. Yeh, last Friday's 1pm session was like that. I did my twenty four, then quietly left.

How does one know the shop, and my Hubhy, will not be having a good days takings? When you are walking home and hear a gaggle of old dears down for the day from Yorkshire, traveling on a coach trip, stand outside a local card shop.  

' These postcards are forty pee' ' 
  Ow much' 
' Forty pee'
 'I'm sure you'll find they're cheaper elsewhere'

Its after work last Wednesday. We're on our way to Tesco. As we are walking up Sheringham main street we notice there is a car stopped slap bang in the middle of the road. Station Road is one way and narrow. Usually parked solid on the left, its single file traffic down the right. So this car stopped in the right hand lane quickly becomes a bit of an issue. 

As we draw closer we see the drivers door is open, and the driver, a white haired older woman is faffing about in the back seat looking for something. She emerges with a greetings card. She walks over to a woman in a parked car on the left and gives the card to her. She doesn't ,however, quickly return to her car and drive off, but proceeds to engage the lady in the car in a far from brief conversation. Our jaws drop at how oblivious she appears to be to the build up of traffic behind her, that she alone is causing. Cars are quickly queuing all the way up Station Road and back as far as the roundabout right at the very top. The woman, is parked pretty much at the bottom end of the road. So its a not insignificant tail back.

By the time we've walked to the top of the street, the traffic is still being held up by the woman talking to the lady in the car. Most of the car drivers don't realise what the hold up is, they cannot see that far. Those that can are being, to my mind, far too accommodating. There are a few short paps, to no immediate response. We stand looking back down the street, unable to see for ourselves now what is going on. Somewhat aghast at the apparent blinkered nature of what we are witnessing.

Its been clear for a while that one of the aftermaths of the pandemic and its lockdowns, is that there has been an increasing incidence of self centred and abusive behaviour towards shop workers. Both the cafe and the off license, in the Courtyard, have had some very rude and angry customers. I read in the paper that its also put in an appearance in theatres and cinemas too. Where often drunken parties have had to be evicted for anti social behaviour, and have taken it out aggressively or assaulted, the often female attendants, just for telling them to be quiet.  

There have been a lot of unacknowledged consequences of the pandemic. Of how much people really struggled with feeling isolated and their mental states. The damage to peoples consideration of others maybe a continuing symptom of this. Now add in the current stresses of the cost of living crisis and you have a pretty potent situation, where some folk just crack and lash out, I guess. We already live in a fairly atomised and alienated society. When social cohesion is further weakened, whether by disease or economic circumstances, altruism and collective identity can also be undermined too. The triumphs of selfishness are never a good thing, but it is becoming noticeably more prevalent.

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