In or During

I've left it a while before posting this and have checked back regularly to see if anyone else has done it. I'm not aware they have.

It's going to be about the Prime Minister and his first appearance at the Despatch Box after what is known as #Partygate began being discussed. Remember? If you don't then it is helpfully on the Guardian's web-site where they list the seven occasions (up until 11/1/22) that Boris Johnson denied breaking Covid rules. Take a look at the first video. Listen carefully to what Johnson says.

Now, the Guardian gives us the text of what he said on the same page:

'What I can tell the right hon and learned gentleman is that all guidance was followed completely in No 10.'

Is that what you heard? I didn't.

We need to stop for a moment and remind ourselves of Johnson's style. He is a gifted orator within the character of bumbling-persona he has deliberately created, quick-witted and brilliant at bouncing from the interviewer's question to a related, but irrelevant, reply and then pursuing the subject he has diverted to.

I have upset two of my near neighbours, one because he likes Boris and didn't therefore like the BBC and I defended it in a sermon. The other, admittedly slightly the worse for drink on the day, who lectured me and a friend on how Boris was 'just a human being'. The implication being that we all sin so he should be allowed to. Obviously I am not party to the amount of leeway politicians of other parties are given. But I will never change the minds of these two. They are so wedded to their love of the man that any questions trigger their flight or fight response. When Trump said he could shoot people in the street and not lose support he was talking about people like this.

In the video in question what Johnson says is:

'What I can tell the right hon and learned gentleman is that all guidance was followed completely (during) No 10.'

And after the word 'during' there is a mini-beat. As I said, he is quick-witted. The questioning was about parties and illegal gatherings and a good interviewee always avoids accepting the premise of the question if it is awkward. What would/could have followed the word 'during' if he hadn't caught himself? Meetings? Gatherings? Parties? He stopped himself going there. But he knew. He knew. Something had happened that clearly didn't ring quite right with the regulations and guidance and if he pulled on that thread his whole outfit would unravel. As Allegra Stratton said in the now infamous leaked practice-briefing video, 'It was cheese and wine; is that alright? It was a business meeting.'

Johnson's own goals and gaffs reel is so long, and updated so regularly, that there isn't time to revisit them in detail. I think this one was particularly informative.

Thinking Foreign

Students of languages will tell you that there comes a moment when you know you have 'got it' because you did not translate what you heard back into your mother tongue before replying. You were actually thinking in <insert name of language>.

Adapting to change is similar. Those of us old enough to recall the day our currency went decimal will also remember the few months/years after when we still had to calculate the price in 'old money' before we knew if it was expensive. Sample conversation:

Me: Mum, It's only 25p

Mum: That's five shillings. It's a lot of money.

Now it is second nature. For anyone under 50 it is first nature.

Likewise thinking in centigrade and kilograms. Much easier systems but how many over 40s have to translate back before we actually know how hot or heavy it is.

I'm writing this because I have had to learn, along with many others, to think in Covid. Last night I entered a bar. I knew what to do and was getting out my track and trace app (how long would it take to explain that sentence to my pre-decimal self?) when I spied some friends. Old instinct cut in and I walked straight over to them to say hello. I was hailed from the meet and greet counter that I couldn't do that until I had signed in. Old thinking. Will it become new thinking? Permanent change? Who knows?