'Northampton's unsung heroes...supermarket workers. Applaud them for their fantastic efforts'

A few weeks ago, I started what I fully intended would be a series of opinion pieces in this newspaper which emphasised positivity.

I didn’t decide to do so because it was politically correct but, instead because, generally speaking, that is who I am.

Despite one or two very small, but welcome, positive indicators to the contrary, it is very clear that as a nation – as a species - we are by no means out of the woods yet in this coronavirus crisis.

In saying so, I think it’s clear that we have now all embarked on a new kind of normality in the way we live our day-to-day lives.

Which elements of that normality stick with us once the coronavirus pandemic recedes remain to be seen, but I hope that a large proportion of the good work

currently being done, and which has been exposed by global circumstances, continues and flourishes.

If it does, it means that we might have learned something about ourselves and each other.

Earlier this week, I talked to a number of people in the theatrical world about the state of their industry and how long it will take to get back to its former normality.

With venues currently dark and festivals cancelled, they were stoic about returning audiences, but in no doubt that it will take a long time and require a lot of visible effort to demonstrate and convince us that, as patrons, we are safe to sit shoulder to shoulder in a venue full of people and enjoy a performance.

We might be seeing a lot more fully-stocked, anti-bacterial hand sanitisers appearing in prominent public locations before very much longer, therefore.

We have seen various public outpourings of gratitude in the recent past, and rightly so.

The initial round of applause for the NHS caught the imagination of the nation, prompting similar demonstrations in the days that followed.

However, there is a group which I suggest deserves a hearty pat on the back but which, at the time of writing, has barely been referred to.

Through various social media platforms, I have noticed people from outside the retail sector applying for, and taking, jobs within our supermarkets.

I think everyone who serves the rest of us with our domestic shopping, including the logistics teams getting goods to the stores, fully warrants the same vote of thanks.

Imagine if the supermarkets had been obliged to shut their doors or stop grocery deliveries in the same way that other businesses have had to.

There would have been, at the very least, civil unrest swiftly afterwards.

Instead, the supermarkets and corner shops in our communities have continued to serve and have provided much-needed employment for many suddenly plunged into redundancy.

It has been fascinating to see actors, musicians, airline staff and others putting up selfies of themselves on their first days on the checkouts.

All of these people are earning the most honest of livings through one of the most honourable of jobs.

Their pride in re-employment should be applauded because it takes pressure off the public purse and supports community in its widest sense.

Nobody should be pointing the finger at people who get up off their backsides to do whatever they can to keep the plates spinning.

So, if you are in the retail business – and particularly in the grocery sector of it – I take my hat off to you.

Right now, you are not just holding down a job...you are also helping to make sure that the rest of us stay alive.

Take a bow. Bravo!