Mother - The Pink Floyd

‘Mother should I trust the government?’ 

My favourite line in ‘Mother’ from Pink Floyd’s 1979 double concept album ‘The Wall’. Since it’s release we’ve had a few governments, a few wars and a few health scares. With the latest Coronavirus providing an unprecedented heightened level of worry as maybe, like me – I don’t place any trust in the Government at all.

I mean their track record isn’t good…

Four years ago for instance there was another health scare in the UK – acknowledged by Public Health England in a letter sent out, nationwide, to every Doctors’ Surgery in the UK in January 2016 informing of a heightened level of Guillian-Barre Syndrome (GBS) cases in South Wales (10 for your information). By February 2016, the number of cases had reduced and sadly for me, no further action was taken. On March 21^st I was taken ill with GBS. No-one had a clue what it was in two visits to my GP’s surgery and a further two visits to the University of Wales Hospital. With that in mind for Covid-19 and as a person defined as being ‘at risk’ – ‘No’, I don’t trust the bloody Government!

I’d rather put my trust in common sense and listen to those around me who know exactly what to do and what course of action to take. In my opinion – it’s going to get a lot worse from here on in. The world is changing, and changing too fast – 1979 is merely a dot in the rear-view and long forgotten.

You see over the last forty years the world has changed - things kinda speeded up somewhere around the Millennium and went into overdrive mid 2000’s and since then it’s spiralled out of control. The latest news has Boris and Trump are telling us that everything is under control and that everyone within the government and it’s departments are working overtime to contain the spread of one the world’s most contagious viruses – you couldn’t write this stuff let alone imagined it back in ‘79. Boris and Trump – as much use as the Chuckle Bros.

Back then, we trusted more – I believe we had more faith. Back then as a 17 year-old young man I was still trying to find out who I was and spent a lot of energy experiencing life for the first time. My those times were exciting – carefree, innocent perhaps but not frightening as they are today and becoming bleaker every hour.

So if you’d like my thoughts - What happens during this next few weeks and months may become completely out of our control. I for one will be listening and making my own judgement on what to believe/not to believe and taking a course of action based on a) what I know to be true and b) what’s the best for me and all my loved ones.

Until then, trust only in yourself and have faith in what you believe.

1,052 Marathons - 255 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 15 Marathon des Sables