People from other parts of the country just don't get this. Take myself and Richard Headicar. We are the best of friends but whenever we are in each other's presence the insults fly.
So when I went to help celebrate Laurie Brettingham's 90th birthday (see yesterday's blog) in his garage (social distancing being observed) and found Richard there the conversation went along the lines of: "Oh no if I'd known he was going to be here I wouldn't have come." (that was me) to which the reply from Richard was something along the lines of "if I'd known you were coming I would have left 10 minutes ago."
Somebody once said when we had one of these exchanges: "My word you must really hate each other."
The answer is "no we are great friends." You see it's a Norfolk thing.
Richard, who is 87 in a month's time, is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met and I am honoured to know him. To say he has had a fascinating life would be something of an understatement.
If you want to read about his life go along to my Hethersett Herald archive via the website www.hethersettherald.weebly.com and have a look at edition 17 and you will see an article about Richard which runs to almost 4,000 words. I have cut this article down to 650 words to submit to the Eastern Daily Press newspaper in my new role as a community contributor. So check out the EDP 24 site and you might just see it in the next couple of days.
To me Richard is the most open-minded person I have ever met. We have crossed swords on more than one occasion in a variety of settings, but have always remained firm friends even if our views are opposed at times. As Richard says in the article, he never lets his views get in the way of friendship. And that's a powerful message - respect for another person's views at all times. I'm afraid I don't always follow that path!
Today made a quick visit to Norwich. The main reason, apart from having lunch, was to take books back to the Forum library. Got there to find a long queue snaking through the Forum and out onto the concourse. Luckily I saw a large bin where returned books could be deposited. It was full almost to overflowing.
To my mind lining up to get access to the library is taking social distancing to a ridiculous level. The library is a large space and it's very easy to avoid other people. Having to queue up for what would have been ages to get in is "rather going over the top." There were no such restrictions at Jarrolds Department Store or on the market. So there now seems to be considerable confusion about what is social distancing and what isn't and how it should be applied.
We had lunch at our favourite small restaurant in Norwich - Saporita in St Andrew's Hill. That's the small narrow road that goes from London Street to St Andrew's past the side of Cinema City. They are open once again for both sit in and takeaways. Another step back to normality.
Just took a few shots of the area around Norwich Market Place and they are below.