people losing their minds

One week after the very rainy walk, we took the same walk in very different weather. And today something weird happened instead. People's behaviours are truly mindboggling sometimes (too often if you ask someone like me, who feels she's living in a parallel world half of her time...)

Sweden has had right-hand traffic since 1967. Which is something most people usually acknowledge - driving, walking, meeting is so much smoother that way. 

But today we met several grumpy senior citizens (not in the same company) who persevered most adamantly their non-right to walk on the wrong side of the street. Ie from far away they suddenly decided to switch side from right to left on the street. Then firmly walking right (left) at us, stopping right in front of us, refusing to budge. 

Because apparently, amidst a pandemic it’s more important to claim your non-right wrong side of the street than to keep to social distancing. Especially when you belong to a risk group. And it’s so much more *fun* to turn it into some sort of (senile?) elaborate street hopping game. 

There were plenty of room for them to keep walking and properly social distancing on the right side of the street. So, maybe there’s some sinister senior citizen ”we demand left-hand traffic to be returned!” uprising. Or possibly a ”I am a senior citizen, whichever side you walk on I must walk too, give way!” movement. 

It was just such utterly weird and unpleasant sudden behavior from a bunch of grey-haired citizens that should know better.

Then someone commented just what I had been thinking, people are losing their minds from all this, stay at home, keeping social distancing, not being able to interact with other people like we used to 5 months ago. 

And you know the occasional oddball you meet on the street sometimes, that's acting similar to this, being rude and confrontational even? That's most likely their only (from their irrational point of view) way to interact socially with other human beings. Maybe we're now seeing a surge of this now? Instead of being kind, polite, talkative, in our craving for more  real life interactions. there's more cavalier, rude and defensive behaviors around? Stirring up a bit of rumpus is more important than social distancing (to some).

And just like these behaviors really made a negative, annoying mark on my day, I wouldn't have much noticed or remembered it if life was fuller, richer and with the once normal little daily interactions and everyday things, good and bad, maybe these senior oddballs felt it was a truly enrichening experience given all the restrictions and strains our lives are under?

Have you possibly experienced something similar lately?

My slowfashion outfit du jour (not granny toddler at all, mind you, but quite grown-up) consisted of

- orange shirt (blend of cotton/viscose, feels a bit like linen) from Swedish company Edblad (not a fan of the company, and I find their mass-produced jewellery very unappealing and, dare I say, cheap looking. But I found it on a toy car outing in 2015, in  their shop in Gåsvik.) I enjoy the colour and texture very much.

- blue-white striped skirt Marimekko (on my top three skirts-list since 2018)

- blue sandals ART shoes (on my top three summer shoes-list since 2015. The year I stopped buying leather shoes.)