The many regular long weekends, we enjoy should have us channeling the dowager from ‘Downton Abbey’ asking “what is a (long) weekend,” because it is an almost  bi-monthly predictable occurrence in our resplendent Isle!

Bags packed and at the ready, folks with constant ‘wanderlust’ throw caution to the wind at the hint of being able to travel a few miles away from their homes. Invites fly around asking, needling, and cajoling to be ‘part of the pack’ that literally and figuratively pack villas, hotels and private homes alike. Now is it just me or are we still in the midst of fighting a rampant pandemic that has devastated so many lives? It seems that the invites to join in the exodus out of the city, is a thinly veiled invite to join the latest covid cluster that is almost guaranteed to happen! Are we this desperate to belong? Belong to anything that gets attention? Even a covid cluster?

The beaches seem to be the place to be, as beaches are such a rarity while living on a small Island! Immediate families join extended families and more related families crammed into villas, delusional in their thinking that since they know or are related to each other, they are safe. Am guessing in their misinterpreted book infections only happen among total strangers!

With generations trapped in the same spaces, little knowing who is or isn’t a walking ‘cluster cause’ every caution is thrown to the wind, along with masks and sanitizers. Grandparents along with their spritely socially-ambitious offspring, and along with their younger offspring, mingle mask-less with more of the same from other households. How can anyone keep masks on when photo ops are beckoning?

Draped on lounge chairs, plunging in pools and toasting the consistent and ever predictable beautiful sunsets, masks are considered ‘optional’ in the case of social media uploads. As the cocktails flow so do the contagions as the ‘party scene’ kicks off many an hour spent heavy breathing on each other while attempting to navigate the limited floor space of the ‘must check in at’ hot spots! Inviting infections seems to be somewhat of a goal!

For those who have to escape the heat of the city for the heat of the beaches, I have a humble suggestion. We are living on an Island! Beaches are all around! You really do not need to all congregate within the same few cramped kilometers. Also within these few overrated beaches one does not need to all be at the same places! Surfboards and yoga mats, beach bags, and beach reads are a requisite. Never mind that not a page will be turned or the slightest stretch be attempted, as long as ‘the look’ is on point, the point is achieved. Does everyone need to also be at the same beach side watering holes and snack shacks? Packed with delicious food and drinks they may be, but they are also packed with other people! Herd mentality aside, it is for ones own safety that throbbing throngs should be avoided. I mean stretch your imagination and stretch your travel itineraries to check out less crowded and usually more beautifully pristine spaces, which may unwittingly protect your health as well! As the highway south packs with the ‘cool crowd’ why not head to a coast that will ensure your stress levels and body temperatures stay constant as well.

With April around the corner there will also be the predictable annual exodus of city dwellers who need to follow the colonial trail to cooler climates, to congregate again, at the same properties again, while seeing the same people they see in the city, again! Apart from wearing coats and boots channeling the imagined social scenes in Gstaad and Saint Moritz, they also need to emulate the likes of Madeleine Astor and Consuelo Vanderbilt with hut sized hats, to watch exhausted horses being bullied around a grassy field. How about we leave the poor horses alone and ask the lovely socialites to run around the track? Now there is something I would venture away from my home to see!

We also have those in the city and elsewhere who need to have a party at the slightest incline of anything! Leave aside the usual birthdays and anniversaries, it could be someone has returned from overseas, going overseas, thinking of overseas or has looked at a map with images from overseas, the result would be a party! These invites again bring in a ‘mask-less mélange’ that believes that if they are wearing lipstick, how dare anyone, be it the host, or the world health organization, ask them to cover up! So every sloshed Sally slurs her way through the soirée slurping sake bombs and Sangrias while spreading not just social cheer, but perhaps unknowingly being a more dangerous ‘spreader’ as well. These people packed parties should be cluster themed as that is going to be the ultimate result!

Apart from flouting global health guidelines, the dangers of close proximity socializing, does not really present a mystery when it comes to rising infection rates. Hugs and air kisses aside do we really want to regress to 2020 again? Global economies may be unpredictable, while we ourselves are facing a catastrophic financial situation within our shores that cannot tolerate more economic downturns from the infected numbers rising. Can we accept invites, enjoy our time, and still be safe? With common sense and caution, I certainly do think so. 

I may come across as the poster child for cloistered living and anti-social behavior, but the few who spend time with me within my sphere may beg to differ. I have always, just like my mother, been very content with a close circle, and the way of the world at the moment has only solidified this trait. As I have said before do go out, spend money, inject much needed revenue into the economy, but do be safe, and aware. The instant gratification of enjoying the ‘now’ should not lead to long-term fallout that would not only have an effect on individuals but impact society as well. We are all part of a social fabric that intertwines and being so, we should make sure that while we thrive in our own existence, we also need to have a sense of responsibility for those around us as well. Have fun, but make sure that while you have fun, you have health as well.