A few days ago I was talking with my friend George. George had got so cross with his neighbour that he’d nearly decked him. That’s not like George at all. Anger is always around. But in the last 12 weeks, it’s gone from small and local to intense and international.
Lockdown and coronavirus have intensified our feelings of fear and frustration. And when that happens over a long period of time, we’re like little pressure cookers. Steam builds up. And has nowhere to go. Our emotions are heightened. The steam looks for an outlet. Eventually, we blow a gasket.
At first, the anger came out in small ways. A few days into lockdown, I was passing the local chemist. Someone not yet familiar with what a socially-distanced queue looked like had walked straight up to the door. There was a bit of finger-wagging (this is England, after all). Then the guilty party slunk meekly to the back of the queue. Back then, feelings were running high but anger was tempered by a belief that “we’re all in this together”. And the steam hadn’t yet had time to build.
After a while reactions became more extreme. Lockdown life was beginning to get to us. And it had become apparent that we weren’t all in this together. That many were disregarding the rules. Including one of the people who helped make them. News sites were almost exclusively dedicated to incensed commentary on the Dominic Cummings story. Everyone you spoke to had a view. It would have caused a stir in normal times. But this furore? What Dominic Cummings had done was to provide us with an outlet for our pent-up feelings – a legitimate reason to let off steam.
We’ve lived with our heightened emotions for nearly four months now. Also, we’re coming to the realisation that there’s no quick fix. That a vaccine isn't imminent. That covid-19 will be around for a while. And with it, lots of restrictions and regulations that won’t feel easy or natural to live with. And that means that a heck of a lot of steam has built up.
Then George Floyd gets killed. We’re no longer talking about coronavirus at all. Huge protests take place. There’s firebombing and looting. Police use batons, tasers and other intimidation tactics. Members of the public get injured. Police officers get injured. People rant about “thick-as-fuck thugs” who aren't social distancing. Statues are defaced and pulled down. There's an international outpouring of anger. We've found an outlet for the steam.
To get back to my friend George, I’ve known him for nearly 30 years. In that time, he’s been my boss, my lover and my friend. I’ve never seen him act in anger in any of those situations. His approach to conflict has always been negotiation and conciliation. His neighbour acted in a pretty unneighbourly way but he’s dealt with a lot worse, so why was he so angry? Like many people, he’s reaching boiling point.
All over the world there are little pressure cookers like George that are on the point of blowing.