There are just two residents in a remote town in northern Italy called Nortosce.
But despite the fact that they live their rural lives all by themselves, they wear their masks almost all of the time.
Whenever the two elderly men meet up for a coffee or a chat, they also make sure that they stay at least two metres apart.
Their logic is that “rules are rules” and “it’s a matter of principle” to abide by them for your own sake and the sake of others.
The men even sit at opposite ends of a big table when they get together, out of respect for one another’s health.
I tell you this story, because I’m still trying to understand the logic behind the party that was held at the Tin Roof bar in Claremont recently.
I am not at all unsympathetic towards businesses that have been teetering at the edge of financial disaster over the past few months.
I am a leading proponent of small business, especially entrepreneurship and I ache for all the small enterprises that have been forced to shut.
But I am first and foremost a proponent of people being alive and not causing the death of others.
After all, being alive is the most basic prerequisite for being able to consider and manage your own small business.
I also don’t mind business people who think up clever ways to bypass regulations to continue operating, as long as it isn’t illegal and doesn’t harm anyone in any way.
Which brings me back to the Tin Roof party, which was apparently widely marketed to matrics on social media as an event where cheap alcohol would be flowing freely.
Now knowing that the whole world is currently suffering a severe bout of cabin fever, more so socially-dependent teenagers, it was a no-brainer that they would turn out in their numbers; and be even more irresponsible than normal.
It was a clear case of placing temptation in front of a hungry audience, in order to make a quick buck.
And let’s be clear, every business out there is looking for ways to profiteer off the general malaise that’s in the air, but we cannot allow them to do so irresponsibly.
It’s one thing for a restaurant to limit numbers, enforce social distancing, take temperatures and record names, when they are dealing with responsible adults.
It’s a very different thing for what used to be a nightclub with a reputation, to advertise cheap booze and expect to be able to manage a bunch of excitable, hormone-fuelled teenagers desperate for a bit of escapism.
While the venue’s owner may well have stuck to the rules as he claims, given his experience and his clientele, he must have foreseen the possibility of the situation getting away from him.
Considering all the variables, and the possibility that the decision to throw that party was made in desperation to save his business, it was reckless at best.
At last count, 89 people got infected as a result of the party.
Who knows how many of them have comorbidities that could result in severe illness, or even death.
And not because someone had to do something of earth-shattering importance, but because a business needed to make money off a bunch of kids desperate to party.
Contrast that with two elderly Italians who are presumably very healthy because of the lives they lead breathing fresh air, drinking mountain water and tending to their sheep, beehives and orchards in tranquil surroundings.
And who go into the busy, big city only when absolutely necessary.
In other words, they are presumably super healthy with absolutely no reason whatsoever to adhere to any of the Covid rules and guidelines.
But they do so anyway!
And here we can’t pause our need to party for a few months!