THE spokesperson for Scotland’s pharmaceutical industries said it all on the airwaves during this week: when crises come along it brings out the best and the worst in folk.

Some people in chemist shops have been abusive to staff, as have some in supermarkets – in both cases, harassing workforces who already have a tough job keeping the show on the road whilst worrying about their own exposure.

Those folk still able to shop just now can beetle in and out of emporia with minimal contact – in contrast, the staff are there for the duration, not knowing if any customers are carriers or in contact with someone who is. That is stress!

READ MORE: Advertiser View: Your 'local rag' ain't going anywhere yet

One local essential supplies outlet apparently reported that despite notices everywhere asking people to keep a safe distance and come in one at a time, they were merrily going their own way as normal. Not fair and not defensible.

Which brings me to the sad tale of Scotland’s now former chief medical officer. It’s said she’s had a stellar career, is prodigiously well informed, and has made a huge difference in many vital areas during her tenure.

All the more baffling, then, that she could see no loss of judgement in twice visiting her holiday home in Fife whilst advising the populace at large to stay at base camp.

READ MORE: Crisis shows Helensburgh's spirit at its very best

Initially I had some sympathy with the view that she should stay on in some capacity whilst obviously being removed as the TV face of the stay put campaign – embarrassingly that was still running at the same time as the news story was breaking and social media was in overdrive about it.

What changed my mind was listening to her confessing that she’d actually had two family weekends there in succession, which I gather was news to her frontline colleagues.

Of course she’d been working all the hours God sent, and of course she was under a huge amount of pressure.

But so, too, are many people trapped in small spaces – not always safe spaces – seven days a week. Bottom line: in that branch of communications, “do as I say, not as I do” simply doesn’t compute.

Click here for all the latest Helensburgh and Lomond headlines