June 14

I was woken up by a strange alarm sound this morning. I didn’t recognize the odd noise, I just knew it had to be an alarm. My daughter’s phone was making strange sounds. I resisted the urge to throw it out the window and merely turned off the alarm… the second time it went off. 6 am was way too early for my liking, but my daughter was determined to make the first ferry. In a moment of weakness, I agreed to take her shopping in Vancouver on the way home. We were going to the Tsawwassen Mills Mall.

Despite getting up early, we still only managed to leave the hotel in downtown Sidney at 8:15. My beautiful wife decided to add to my stress by checking the loads/availability of the ferry. I know why she did but I wished she hadn’t. When she discovered the ferry was listed as full, stand-by only, I felt tension rise inside. I was surprised to see how many cars were already at the ferry terminal for the 9:00 am sailing from Schwartz Bay to Tsawwassen.

Stress started to mount as we sat in the line-up to pay. I told my kid to be prepared, we may not make the 9 o’clock ferry. We might not get to the mall until later. Marijke was not impressed. After all, she had gotten up at 6:30 am to get ready for the mall. Shopping has been on her mind for the past four days. We were finally going to do something she thought fun. I would rather go to a dentist than go shop.

We got to the front and paid for our ride. The girl told us we might make the boat, it depended on how many people with reservations didn’t make it. We went to our assigned line and waited. Getting on the ferry elicits the same feelings inside as going to the border or waiting for a plane. Anticipation, anxiety, and fear of missing out all combined to make the next twenty minutes difficult for me and almost impossible for my kid. I told her to expect to miss it and wait for the eleven o’clock sailing. If we expect the worse then when it succeeds we will be that much happier. That theory doesn’t work with everything but this time it did.

When the ferry worker flagged us on the ferry we experienced a sense of relief and joy. We were on the boat and could enjoy our next hour and half with relative ease. The ferry back to the Mainland was bigger, but they changed the rules since Friday. Now we could go to the passenger area but they want everyone in a mask. Strange days indeed. The ferry was busy and most people were being safe and practicing physical distancing. Last week it was called social distancing. We enjoyed the ride across the ferry and watched the shores of Active Pass go by our view.

The crossing was enjoyable and Krista and I soaked in the last of the salt air. The mall was our next destination. The mall. Tsawwassen Mills Mall is huge. For my young teenage girl, it was everything she wanted. Except not everything was open. A few stores she wanted to go to were not re-opened after Covid. Some retailers may never re-open. Retail stores have been suffering since the advent of Amazon and other online options. Now with the shutdown caused by the virus, many more retailers are suffering and the mall may cease to exist in its present form. If my daughter is any indication of the future, the mall should be safe.

I gave my kid a budget to spend and we entered the twilight zone of shopping in the coronaverse. Each store had its own protocol. Some were very strict, one shoe place had the staff greeting people and informing them of their ‘no-touch’ policy. No touching, any products. Other stores had a person at the front ensuring everyone that entered sanitized their hands. I don’t think I have washed my hands so much in one day as I did today in the mall. Some clothing stores had their change rooms closed, so trying on stuff was not an option. Meanwhile, the bikini place and the lingerie store had a person letting people into the change rooms. We went way beyond our budget and our time limit and escaped my retail nightmare after 3 in the afternoon. My daughter was satiated with her need for shopping and had head to toe new clothes. Hangry and tired, we got back on the road home.

We had a good trip to the island and cruised home on the highway. Traffic still wasn’t too bad and we made good time on our four-hour drive from the lower mainland to our home in West Kelowna.

The new normal is being created every day and many businesses are adapting to survive. Others will not survive the devastation wrought by closing doors and sheltering from an unseen villain. Regardless, we will survive and have a deeper connection after our road trip