We shall remember how you were during this pandemic

Baked bean stockpiles. Loo roll scuffles. Where’s the Blitz spirit? Old people reckon they behaved better in “the war” – but did they really?

Did no one buy or sell black market cigarettes, lipstick and sugar?

Did no one ever hide a laying hen?

Memory can serve us badly, for it is a soft thing: it corrodes with time, becoming slippery with overhandling as we cast ourselves as everyday heroes, after the fact.

Still, this is not war; we are not gathering in bunkers. We are isolating at home; the pubs are closed.

Covid-19 is a pandemic the likes of which humanity has never faced, and so we must row on together – albeit two metres apart – on the same raging river, trying to steer away from the abyss.

So let’s pay heed to what people and businesses are doing, the decent alongside the greedy and profiteering, and remember it all for when this is over, for when the world resets to a new normal.

I’ll remember my local takeaway – now handing noodles out through a barely-cracked door – for offering 50% discount to anyone in frontline service, like healthcare staff and emergency workers.

Let’s remember the businesses and institutions that step up for humanity: the suppliers extending credit, the perfume houses manufacturing hand sanitiser, the fashion brands making hospital gowns, the companies and individuals giving staff, both permanent and casual, guaranteed minimum pay regardless.

But also, let us not forget the banks lacking mercy, the landlords without compassion, and the people who are unkind or self-serving. Remember the mobile network in the Caribbean which has given its customers an airplane-drop of free airtime, allowing users to stay in touch, access their news, schoolwork, business and socialising needs online.

Surely this is doable in SA?

After all, online is where we live when in lockdown, from school to church to business to book club to exercising to entertainment. Some institutions are streaming previously paid-access content; some newspapers are lifting their paywalls. Some gaming companies are uploading free keys.

We’re seeing the good and the bad. Take note, take names. Remember them all.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.