As Covid-19 does its worst, taking away loved ones, especially the vulnerable, and in some cases robbing them of even the dignity of a funeral, its hard to see beyond that horror and imagine that matters which seem on the face of it to have little importance, could be actually more important. We are all born, and we will all die. Those lost to Covid died but Covid will not define them. The people they loved, the music they were passionate about, the skills they had, and, yes, for some of them, the football club they supported. These are the things that define all of us.
The current situation is having a secondary impact on us, a B story of sorts. The main aim is to save lives by preventing a huge spike of cases and therefore protecting our ability to help as many critically ill people as possible. We can all get behind that, and we all should. But the B story is the loss of our identity as individuals, and the threat to staples of our culture. In London, our pubs, our theatres, our cafes, our music venues and night clubs and our football clubs all lie empty, and many under serious threat of bankruptcy.
We will all live, and we will all die, but what we choose to do with our time, our free time, is what truly defines us along with our families and friends.
When the theatres, museums and gigs start up again, make a point of going. Learn something new, sing every word, visit a castle or town you've never been to before. When the Arsenal next kick a ball, cheer louder than you ever have before. These things are not petty, they are much, much more important than life and death.