Corona Daily 423: Mum or Girlfriend

To the delight of the English people, Boris Johnson explained the concept of “Support Bubbles” to be operational from Saturday, 13 June. For nearly three months, singles in England (and there are more than 8 million of them), have been deprived of company. They have not met their families, friends, and lovers. Forming support bubbles offers an opportunity for a reunion. The rules are exclusively for the English, not Scottish, Irish or Welsh. The kingdom doesn’t unite in loneliness.

Support bubbles will allow any two houses to form a bubble, provided one of the two houses has only one adult (the lonely adult who needs support). Forming a bubble makes them a de facto single household. They can meet, eat together, stay overnight, and come as close as required by their relationship. Children are not counted, meaning a single mother staying with two children is still one adult. She can combine with any household of any size. In this fashion, Saturday onwards, every English person comes out of solitary confinement.

That’s the carrot. Now the stick. Once you form a bubble with another house, both the households can’t form bubbles with a third house. Such pandemic infidelity is not permissible. If one member of either house gets infected or tests positive, both houses go into quarantine for fourteen days.

English media is abuzz with readers seeking clarity on the new rules.

One set of grandparents haven’t seen their grandchildren for three months. Can they see them now? No, sorry, says the advisory. Grandparents living together don’t qualify. If one of them was a widow or a widower, by all means that person could form a bubble with his/her grandchildren’s family.

But, the advisory cautions, if the widowed grandmother has several children, she can choose only one of them. If she chooses John over Eddie and Martha, then she is allowed to mix only with John’s family, and hug only John’s children.

Two romantically involved singles can form a bubble, live in the houses of each other, and stay overnight. However, it is important to remember the rule of one single party in a bubble. If four young boys are sharing a house, only one of them (say Ian) can meet with his girlfriend (say Emily). As soon as Ian does, the remaining three automatically become part of that bubble. And if Emily is sharing her house with another girl, then Ian is prohibited from forming a bubble with Emily. Because neither Ian nor Emily is living alone.  

All English people face tough choices. Some men have not met their mother or girlfriend, at least not officially. Now they must choose between the two. Single men can form a bubble either with mum or girlfriend- not both.

And the process doesn’t end once you decide. The person or the house you want to form a bubble with must agree to bubbling with you. For all you know, they may prefer to form a bubble with someone else.

*****

Having a PM who has studied at Eton and Oxford usually results in super-intellectual regulations. Of course, in a democracy like England, nobody takes them seriously.

However, forming Social Bubbles (unlike support bubbles) is an interesting concept, which I will discuss tomorrow.

Ravi