Out walking this afternoon, with the dogs on leads and mask at the ready, I passed a young family of a father and his two boys at a safe distance of two metres plus.
All well and good until the older boy, around four years of age, suddenly veered towards us and patted one of the dogs on the head. He did that smooshing thing that kids do when they try to be gentle with their patting – very cute. Ruby is not a huge fan of small children but she took it well. I was aghast and conflicted, though. It was all the usual anxiety around small children and dogs – would the parents be upset, would the dog acquiesce or growl or even snap? – but in addition, all the complexities of level four lockdown: this boy is bursting our bubble, should I tell him to keep away, should I pull the dog clear, should I try to put my mask on, was the dad going to get involved somehow? I was trying to balance doing the right thing to avoid potential viral exposure versus causing psychological trauma to the poor boy. In the end I just stood rooted to the spot for the few moments it took for the boy to wander back and join his dad. I’m pretending to myself that my nonintervention was an active decision, but I’m fooling no one.