As it turned out, my brilliant idea for a roadside kiosk by the ferry terminal 鈥� Wacky Jack鈥檚 Last Chance Masks 鈥� wasn鈥檛 as lucrative as I hoped.
I had dreamed of getting rich off travellers who didn鈥檛 know Monday was the first day of a new rule that says sa国际传媒 Ferries passengers must bring face coverings.
Alas, most of those who arrived at Swartz Bay already knew of the requirement, and those who didn鈥檛 just happened to have masks in their cars anyway.
鈥淲e take them wherever we go,鈥� said Curtis Bear, waiting in the terminal parking lot for the one o鈥檆lock boat to Tsawwassen. Bear and Rhonda Fox (鈥渢wo animals,鈥� he noted) were on their way back to Saskatchewan, where a six-week lockdown on the Little Pine Reserve got them in the habit of masking up.
Likewise, Rob Huntley, who described himself as a dual citizen of Salt Spring and Vancouver, always has a mask on his dashboard. 鈥淢ostly it鈥檚 because of my wife鈥檚 consciousness,鈥� he said. She鈥檚 a nurse at St. Paul鈥檚. Protection from infectious diseases is always a priority.
By mid-day, no one had missed their sailing because of the new Transport sa国际传媒-inspired rule. One woman turned around at the ticket booth and dashed back to her office to fetch a mask. A couple of other travellers benefited from first-day leniency; although sa国际传媒 Ferries has said it won鈥檛 supply masks to those who arrive without them, spares were found on this occasion. (Don鈥檛 expect that to continue, though; a corporation losing $1 million a day isn鈥檛 about to hand out free masks to 20聽million passengers a year.)
The new requirement says anyone over age two is supposed to have a face covering. You don鈥檛 have to actually wear it unless you can鈥檛 maintain a two-metre separation from other passengers. Really, sa国际传媒 Ferries would rather you just stay in your car.
Pull up to the booth and you鈥檒l see a posted list of COVID-related questions (鈥淒o you have a fever and a cough? Breathing difficulty?鈥�), any one of which could disqualify you from travel. If your sailing is longer than 30 minutes, the ticket agent will ask if you have a mask (though they won鈥檛 ask to see it).
Passengers interviewed at the terminal Monday had no problem with any of that. 鈥淧rotecting other people from what I might be carrying is very important right now,鈥� is the way Vancouver-bound Szilvia Korda put it.
Will that willingness to obey the rules persist? An Angus Reid Institute survey released Monday showed Canadians鈥� commitment to physical-distancing is waning. 鈥淛ust 36 per cent of Canadians now say they are staying away from public spaces as much as they were in the early days of the outbreak, while 56 per cent are continuing to keep extra space from others as much as they were earlier this spring,鈥� it said.
The number worried about catching COVID-19 has fallen from 73 per cent in early April to 46. It might be even lower on Vancouver Island, where the last positive test was over a month ago.
As COVID fatigue sets in, the ferries are starting to get busier. According to a loudspeaker announcement, Sunday鈥檚 5 p.m. sailing to Tsawwassen was the busiest since the pandemic began.
With so many chairs blocked off in the name of physical distancing, some passengers reported having a hard time finding somewhere to sit. On Monday, there wasn鈥檛 enough room for all the vehicles trying to make it on some Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen sailings (though even with passenger capacity halved by Transport sa国际传媒, there was still plenty of room for people).
All in all, Monday鈥檚 transition seemed to go smoothly, though, which is a relief given what ticket agents sometime endure. Most people are great, but others can鈥檛 see the futility/butt-headedness of unloading on frontline workers. (Monday was the 60th anniversary of the Tsawwassen-Swart Bay run; no truth to the rumour that the first sailing was marred by some purple-faced bozo pausing at the booth to moan about the lousy wi-fi.) Note that extra security was added at Swartz Bay on Monday, just in case.
Fortunately, it wasn鈥檛 needed. Other than those sitting on a roadside kiosk of unsold masks, everyone was being calm, kind and safe.
