Your barber or hairdresser may look a little different in a protective mask, but the treatment will be welcome after weeks of lockdown. AP Photo / Jake May
Your barber or hairdresser may look a little different in a protective mask, but the treatment will be welcome after weeks of lockdown. AP Photo / Jake May
Opinion by Kate Hawkesby
Kate Hawkesby is the host of Early Edition on Newstalk ZB, Monday to Friday from 5am – 6am.
As well as the flurry of hairdressers making appointments, I noticed all the gyms, retail stores, cafes and restaurants flinging out emails quick sticks, welcoming clients back.
Well I predicted at this time yesterday that apart from schools and community sport, and maybe gatherings, that it would be all on for level 2 as of Thursday.
That it would be political suicide if it wasn't.
Our Prime Minister is a pro at reading the room and taking the pulse, and actually you didn't even need to be a pro to see that Kiwis had reached their limit on being locked up.
They were already taking matters into their own hands and heading out. As someone quite rightly pointed out yesterday, despite public health officials like Professor Michael Baker warning we should stay in level 3 for longer, the decision was really no longer a health one - it's all politics now.
So, in terms of a staggered release of freedoms, the only thing that remains shut next week are bars.
Gatherings are limited to 10 people. How you police that is beyond me – there'll be a handful busted for flouting that if they get rowdy I guess. But my pick is, if you have 11 people over for drinks to your house, you can pretty much bet your life that Grant Robertson isn't walking through your front door with the Police Commissioner to count heads.
I'm thrilled for the businesses that can get back to business, I'm hopeful for the amount of business that may flow their way.
I think if you're a hairdresser, you can guarantee to be booked up for the next couple of months no problem, but if you're a café you may find it's more of a slow crawl back to normal.
The Prime Minister seemed chipper yesterday and I hope that confidence and optimism is what we see more of, rather than fear-based scaremongering. I'd like to think the community fear starts to dissipate too, that the people still yelling "2 metres!" at you when you pass them on the footpath when you're out walking the dog, calm down.
Kate Hawkesby. File photo / Michael Craig
I'd also like to think we can wind up these daily press briefings where we get questions like yesterday's"what are you looking forward to most at level 2 Prime Minister? Are you wanting a haircut?"
Really? That's your question? You have the privilege of being one of the few people in the room for limited questions, and you want to treat it like a woman's mag fluff piece? We can all live without that, surely.
