So when this dreadful pandemic is over how will our lives change?
I suspect with family life and socialising it won’t be long before we are back to as we were. However, the wearing of masks is likely to continue for some people as we adjust to the new world we are living in. And surely Facetime, Skype and Zoom calls are likely to continue. How about the working lives of people? Is a change likely to happen? Let’s look at a few examples.
In my old profession of estate agency I think people have got used to virtual valuations, online viewings and remote appointments with advisers over the past few months. Buyers and sellers will continue to do a lot of homework online to avoid visiting estate agent offices. Once a shortlist of properties has been drawn up the actual physical viewings can happen.
This brings me on to dress codes. With far less face-to-face appointments, the trend of agents dressing in formal business attire has declined. This has also happened with other professions such as solicitors and accountants. My guess is that the wearing of suits and ties will continue to diminish. In London ties have been a rare sight for many years. However, you don’t see male TV Newsreaders without a tie! With ladies the business attire has changed over the years but I don’t think I’m qualified to comment about ladies fashion! I think the majority of customers aren’t too concerned about what people wear. They say you only have ten seconds to make an impression and that is what is important. Therefore being smart and presentable is key.
I was chatting to a former colleague the other day about how meetings have been held during the pandemic. My former company has just had their annual awards and conference online. We were discussing how much time and money had been saved by doing this and of course it is so much better for the environment. The added bonus is that people were in their offices and were soon back dealing with customers rather than returning from head office. Personally I don’t think you can beat a face-to-face meeting but why not have more regular video meetings?
Online shopping is obviously expanding more at the present time but I still don’t think you can beat buying from shops in person. You are then engaging with an expert and getting good advice on the right product for you. The physical look and the touch are so important whatever you are buying and you don’t have the hassle of sending things back if they are not right. Everyone will have their own preference and it will just be good to have a choice.
Last week’s sporting highlight had to be Dom Bess having match figures of 8 for 130 for England in their victory against Sri Lanka. As he said, when interviewed afterwards, he will bowl a lot better than that and have worse figures but you don’t have pictures in the scorebook! The wicket when the batsman smashed it against the short leg fielder’s leg, as he was taking evasive action, and back into the wicketkeeper’s gloves was comical! A story about his time playing for Sidmouth came up the other day. An opponent’s coach approached Sidmouth Colts’ manager and asked if he could ask the young Sidmouth spinner to stop turning it so much! That Colts manager is my brother so I know it’s a true story!
Finally, it was good to see two policemen on foot patrol in the town last Sunday. They were heading towards the seafront. I wonder if some locals had reported a high volume of people gathering on The Esplanade? Let’s just say a number of people did not appear to be going about their daily exercise or doing essential shopping!