Level 3 and the Big Cac

Do you want cornflakes with that?

And so New Zealand has moved from the highly restrictive lockdown of level four to the slightly less restrictive lifestyle of the third variety. In practice, most will experience no difference- at least that is the theory. Businesses can open if there is no intimate contact with the public. Thus, construction workers can get to it as long as they keep at least a shovel length away. Carpenters are expected to maintain at least a Planck distance.

Apparently, New Zealand has been lauded throughout the world and hoisted as the paragon of COVID-19 control. Tis true, as I write, on the 30th April, that only one new case has been reported. This is wonderful when considering the number of new COVID-19 cases savaging the known world (and beyond). 

We have become so complacent, that in lockdown, fast food establishments can open if they sport a drive-through. MacDonald's and their ilk have complied with gusto. And the public has complied with complacent gusto. In Wellington, for instance, folk deprived of their greasy fix for the past 5 weeks were prepared to queue overnight at MacDonald's drive-through. By opening time the line of cars extended way down the street and police had to initiate traffic control. The first person in line was asked why she had queued all night by an intrepid reporter. She replied prosaically: "I missed cheeseburgers". This is dedication to a culinary delight, of dubious provenance, that is mildly disturbing.

On Tuesday evening, at about 8pm, I was returning from a day in the 'windy city', after a hard day's graft, and I was gratified to see that the local inhabitants of my rural town were just as dedicated as sophisticated city folk in their quest to obtain a grilled patty of gristly goodness with the resultant queue of cars extending out and about and around the block.

As for KFC: well, that's another story. Arse.