Grumpy man is back to being grumpy! And he’s glad it’s off his chest!

Thanks for the emails about my little stories from my youth, and I’ll probably do some more, but for this week at least I need to be grumpy again.

We have been walking along the paseo each morning. The instructions are very simple and, in fact for absolute clarification, there are arrows painted on the pavement. If you are walking towards Marbella you walk on one side of the street if you are walking towards Malaga you walk on the other side of the street. (Obviously, that’s if you live on the Costa del Sol!) So now I have to stop myself saying to people, ‘Oi, you are on the wrong side of the street!’ I’ve seen others do it, and the responses haven’t been that pleasant. No-one I’ve seen has said, ‘oh dear, I’m so sorry’.

I actually think this should be carried on forever. It’s a bit like shopping in Ikea. Another thing is what’s the etiquette of walking now? If you are walking down a non-one-way pavement with your dog and someone is walking towards you with or without a dog who crosses over or goes into the road? It’s easy when you are driving. If the obstruction is on your side of the road you hold back till the car passes… or at least you should. But there is no guidance about the pavement situation. Is it a sign of weakness to cross over or is it politeness, or is it a game of social distancing chicken to see who caves in first?

OK- mask wearing. Wear it or don’t. There’s no point in walking along with it on your chin or dangling from your ear! I have to admit I’m a chin wearer sometimes but have now decided I can’t go out for my walk with a mask on. I wear it around my wrist ready for when I stop. I only really wear one if I’m in a store. Oh, and by the way, in case nobody has realised it yet it doesn’t matter how much the locals support their restaurants, bars and cafes, they can not exist without tourism. Until that starts again this coast is economically in a stranglehold. I went to a local deli yesterday and in the parade were six eateries. Four of them had ‘se vende’ signs in the window and were closed. And that feels better having got all that off my chest