Even before I got out of bed on Friday morning I was busy downloading my QR codes to confirm my status among the double-vaxxed.
I did so without a moment’s hesitation because that’s my passage to a normal life. It’s also my civic duty to help everyone else put the pandemic behind them as quickly as possible.
This is why Holyrood should not hesitate to go down the vaccine passport route when it debates the idea on Thursday.
No doubt, the tinfoil-hat brigade will brand me a “sheeple” and tell me I’ve been hoodwinked by sinister forces of the state bent on controlling all our lives.
I assume, then, they think passports that let you in and out of other countries are a bad idea.
We shouldn’t be carrying driving licences to prove we are fit to be behind a steering wheel either then, eh?
As for the electoral roll… that’s just a giant con game so shadowy figures know where to come to get us when the big round-up begins.
If I thought the person standing next to me … was fool enough to refuse a vaccine, I would not be happy.”
Either that or it’s all just the normal apparatus to help society run along smoothly, safely and fairly.
Which is exactly what proof of vaccination is, with the emphasis on safety.
I have absolutely no qualms about having to produce a QR code to get in somewhere. It means I can relax, knowing everyone around me has the same protection for themselves and for me, too.
If I thought the person standing next to me in a stadium or busy club was fool enough to refuse a vaccine, I would not be happy. Why would I want to be within 100 metres of a potential coronavirus spreading incubator for variants, let alone breathing in the same air?
If anyone thinks having to show proof of a double vaccine for some events is an infringement of their civil liberties, then fine. You have every right to hold that view.
I just hope you enjoy not going to nightclubs, football games, major events or on your holidays abroad.
To be honest the sort of things that might require me to flash a QR code are not the sort of things I would be going to in the first place.
I haven’t set foot in a nightclub in decades. It would be too sad for a man of my years to be gyrating around like a fool among people a third of my age (Michael Gove take note, please).
As for going to watch football – that would be a cold day in hell indeed.
It’s aimed at that rump of younger people who, for whatever reason, are slow to take up their jabs.”
But I rather suspect the vaccination passport idea isn’t aimed at the likes of me at all. It’s aimed at that rump of younger people who, for whatever reason, are slow to take up their jabs.
Not having a good night out or being able to join your mates at Pittodrie could be the incentive they need to get with the programme.
The quicker everyone is vaccinated, the sooner we can put coronavirus behind us. Of course, we all have the right to choose, but we also all have a responsibility to choose wisely.
Get vaxxed and carry a vaccine passport if asked, for all our sakes.
Raising a dram to Scottish staycations
This time last week I was sitting in warm sunshine under a blue dream of a sky in a quiet bay, watching sparkling, sun-dappled water lap against the shore.
Nope, not somewhere in the Med, but on the idyllic isle of Islay.
It didn’t hurt that I was at the stunningly beautiful Laphroaig distillery, with its weight of history and craft… and fine drams to be had.
The night before I had sat in wonder at a setting sun turning the sky over rolling dunes a glorious rich red that was awe-inspiring.
This was a part of the world I had never been to in all my years. Something I will put right, with return trips already planned.
Later that week, I was busy discovering the Black Isle and Cromarty – see “never been there in my puff” comments above.
To be honest, before we set out on our Grand Tour, Mrs B and I had said: “Ach, we could have been in Gran Canaria”.
By the time we were finished, we were waxing lyrical about what a great holiday we had and just how much of our own wonderful country are we unaware of?
So, shall we be turning our backs on trips abroad? Don’t be daft… we can’t wait to get out there.
But we will spend much more time holidaying at home and discovering Scotland and all its glories.
Shame of playing anti-English card
It is absolutely shameful north-east MSP Tess White trotted out the “anti-English” rhetoric Nicola Sturgeon was speaking out in Holyrood against prejudice.
She might have taken the offensive remark back, but it illuminates the thinking behind too many people in the Tory ranks that playing the anti-English card is acceptable in the independence debate.
It was heartening to see the social media reaction from English people who have never felt anything other than welcome, with so many of them backing the idea that Scotland should run its own affairs.
Those who want independence aren’t anti-English, they are anti-Westminster and given the current state of affairs, who can blame us?
Scott Begbie is entertainment editor for The Press & Journal and Evening Express
Read more by Scott Begbie:
- A free bus pass doesn’t make me an instant old codger
- We lit a beacon of hope for Afghan people, now let it shine on these shores
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.