OUR STRANGE NEW WORLD

(In this strange  new world) Hours before the government did its latest u-turn in a long series of u-turns, telling people to work from home wherever possible, I was doing what turned out to be the contrarian thing.  Commuting to the office for possibly the last time until well into the new year.  I had things to collect and a desk to clear.  When some semblance of the old normal returns, probably when reliable vaccines are available, I will no longer have a desk I call my home.  I will be a hot-desker, probably going into the office once or twice a week at most. I chose to go early, leaving the house at 05:45 for a tram on the airport line shortly after 06:00.  Prior to lockdown, my commute was something of a toxic affair and I’ve long suspected I’ve already had a dose of you-know-what.  The airport line goes by several schools, a large hospital, a major Amazon fulfilment centre and culminates at Britain’s third largest international airport.  The outbound trip of this this partic