
By the time this Covid 19 pandemic is finally over – whenever that may be – I wonder how many previously busy retail stores will lie empty across the UK, how many High Streets and city centres will become facsimiles of ghost towns, how many other businesses will have failed? One way or another this virus has killed more than people; it has taken both lives and livelihoods.
I was made redundant last month as the department store I worked for has ceased trading for good, and so my last two weeks of work after my furlough ended (the first two weeks of March) involved packing up all the stock to be shipped out elsewhere. So even once lock-down is lifted there is no longer the potential hope of everything going ‘back to normal’ for me because like so many others in a similar position I now no longer have a job to go back to.
It was so strange and sad for us to see the store slowly being emptied department by department, but oddly enough the packing up process itself somehow helped give us all some closure on the final closure of the business – a bit like a funeral ritual, at least it gave us a chance to say our goodbyes…

For this year’s April Blogging from A-Z Challenge I’m aiming for an alphabetical exploration of my personal thoughts and feelings on the continuing Covid 19 pandemic one year on, using a mix of poetry, pics and ponderings…
I’m sorry about you loosing your job.
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Thank you – I’m sure I’ll find something else soon 🙂
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Such a shame that you’ve been hit in this way by Covid; fingers crossed for a silver lining 🤞
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Thanks Jez – at least I’m still alive! 🙂
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This makes me feel sobsad Ruth. Who would ever have thought all this would happen. I do hope you find something else soon but those friendships cant be replaced really
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This time last year I don’t think any of us thought we would still be stuck in lock-down… and yet here we are! It’s probably a good job we can’t see into the future 🙂
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I agree with you there Ruth. I wonder how they will write this in the history books!
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I am sorry that you lost your job, Ruth, and I’m sorry that we’ve lost so many retail stores.
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The writing was on the wall – with many retail stores on their knees before lockdown. I remember about eighteen months ago (or even longer) we heard that some of our Debenhams stores would close including the Harrogate branch. I never expected all of them to close.
I was sad when BHS closed, it was always one of my favourite stores, but Debenhams… I was so disappointed to hear the news and feel gutted for all the staff.
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Definitely a sign of the times… and I imagine there will be a lot more jobs lost in the retail sector before it’s all over…
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The images of the mannequins, especially in the box, are interesting yet haunting. Sorry to hear about the loss of your job!
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Thank you – But at least it was only my job I lost to Covid, and not my life… 🙂
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It’s so sad to see the store empty, I drove through a town I grew up near today and it looked awful, it used to be a lovely popular town with great outdoor markets, now it’s a town with mainly charity shops. Sad but true.
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The world is certainly changing…
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I’m so sorry about the loss of your job!
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Thank you! 🙂
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Oh, sorry about your job but I’ll bet something better is waiting for you. Appreciate your post 🙏
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Fingers crossed! 🙂
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It’s very sad and surreal what’s going on. Sorry about your job loss. Hopefully something better will come along very soon.
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I’m sure I’ll find something else soon enough 🙂
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