Perception is powerful, and I'm sensing that the public's pandemic patience has peaked.

If I was allowed to go to a pub, I'd order a tray of fluffy ducks before proceeding to get a few things off my chest.

I hate to waste a good rant, so I've pulled up a stool next to Waz at The Parallel Universe, a pub that exists in my mind.

It's on the corner of Un-Bloody-Believable and Ya Gotta Be Jokin' streets.

Me: So what do you think about Gladys pulling the plug on her 11am show?

Waz: To be fair, she and Dr Chant look exhausted. They need to get back to work.

Me: But that is their work. They are servants of the people.

Waz: But they are very busy people.

Me: That's their job. Especially for Berejiklian. The people pay her handsomely to lead.

Waz: Well I'd like to see you do that job, handling all that daily pressure.

Me: If I accepted that job and that pay, I would be obliged to. If I didn't think I could weather a crisis, I'd hand the job over to someone who could. Leaders have to be there for the good times and the bad. You sign up, you're accountable.

Waz: Well I admit that I do miss the morning NSW COVID show. Anyway, I'm off to start my shift at the toilet paper warehouse.

Me: By the way Waz, have you had two jabs?

Waz: Yep. Got to get the job done. See ya.

Then Pat sidled up. She was on the lemonade as she was driving.

Pat: Hey, did you see on the TV the human tide swamping Sydney's eastern beaches?

Me: Yep. How does that work again?

Pat: What is the rule for us? We can share a picnic rug and a sandwich with a handful of vaccinated people?

Me: Pretty much. I didn't see many masks or anyone checking the eastern peeps' magic vax certificates. Maybe they left their phones and masks at home with their commonsense?

Pat: But they never leave home without their sense of entitlement.

Me: I might write to the Premier, and ask why the mounted police compliance squad deployed to the deserted streets of western Sydney hasn't stormed the east.

Pat: Good luck getting a reply, she's very busy you know.

Me: At least she wasn't too busy to hold a conference with the western Sydney mayors. I'd have loved to have been in on that chat.

Pat: A few heated exchanges I believe, especially when one mayor had a go about an elderly couple in his suburb copping a fine for going to the shops. Meanwhile, you couldn't wedge a hot chip between the hordes in the east.

Me: Typical [rolls eyes].

Pat: OK, well I'm off to work at the hospital. It's frantic. But clearly not as busy as the Premier's department.

Me: I hope your day's not too hectic, but somehow I think it will be a shocker.

Pat: You've just got to keep showing up.

Me: True. Take care.

deborah.richards@newcastleherald.com.au

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