Diary of an Optimist: The joy of sitting in a traffic jam

What a delight it was to hear Canberrans hooting horns because they couldn't get to the shopping centres fast enough.

I do not speak in jest.

I found myself on Canberra Avenue wondering why traffic had built up so much. The lights must be out somewhere. Maybe an accident.

And then I realised. It was the volume of traffic waiting to turn to the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets and to the Canberra Outlet Centre.

It's true there was an element of road rage.

Actually not so much road rage as road grumpiness - why do drivers think it's OK to hoot someone who is going a tad too slow for their own needs? Is an extra second of retail therapy worth the strain on the heart?)

But this was minor. Trade is picking up.

One shop-keeper I met had a beatific smile. I've got to know her because of a crazy addiction to glassware - you can't drink a good drink out of a bad glass. Her shop was buzzing. We tried to socially distance, but how do you keep apart in a crowd?

It was the same in the bookshop. It was as though a lid had been taken off a pot. There we were, buying presents to ourselves for doing so well.

Doing so well so far.

My optimism of the heart is tempered by realism in the head.

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This virus is not gone. The government knows that.

"It is important that Canberrans follow physical distancing measures at all times when out in public," a statement said.

"This includes in shopping centres, on public transport, or while waiting for takeaway coffee or food.

"Going shopping in large groups is not permitted."

Good luck with that.

I fear that like a dog let out after a weekend cooped up, we will be hard to bring back on the leash.

We need to constantly remind ourselves that the government on this is right.

The thing about social-distancing is that it is easy(ish) when everyone does it - but to be the lone one trying to keep distance in a crowd feels like being anti-social. It is to be the odd one out.

Australia is a sensible country, despite what you might occasionally think. It is a model of sanity compared with the US and UK.

Other sensible countries like Germany and South Korea are finding that infections rise once the clamps are off - but putting the clamps back on again is not so easy.

It was a joy in Canberra to feel a sense of normality among the shopping addicts, myself included.

But the coronavirus remains a nasty bug which takes life from people like us.

I'd rather deprive myself of the buzz of buying a nice new wineglass than receive the pain of an illness which might deprive me of the pleasure of wine ever again.

So I think - until next weekend.