The current campaign promoting farm safety and the need for constant, unwavering awareness of the dangers on a farm underlines the theme that familiarity can breed contempt. It points out that just because someone has driven a tractor for decades that the machine is no less lethal than when using it was a novel experience. The same familiarity may be undermining pandemic advice and discipline. The announcement yesterday that sports fans might return to shuttered stadiums or racetracks in less than two months is another milestone in our fight against the pandemic. It was also a neat combination of stick-and-carrot, a combination that has served us well over the last year.

Source: Irish Examiner May 11, 2021 07:07 UTC