On Friday, September 18, Saanich Police fined 11 UVic students for not adhering to physical distancing protocols and for openly consuming alcohol in public. It would appear those students aren’t learning too well: this is after police had to go to the university on Friday, September 12 to shut down a gathering on campus.
The students were fined for not maintaining physical distancing, and 14 people were ticketed under the Liquor Control and Licensing Act; both fines are $230. It would appear that—this time—the fines stuck in people’s heads: when police returned the next night, the partygoers were gathered in small groups, maintained physical distancing, and even thanked police for being there, a Saanich Police spokesperson said.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t on the verge of dancing in my seat right now. After what seemed like weeks of near-constant reports of house parties, people effectively doing whatever they pleased just to make a point, and the knowledge that all of this was a dreadful background horror soundtrack (think Jaws) to schools being stuffed to the rim with hundreds of students, we all needed some reassurance.
This past weekend could serve as a prime example of adjustments that are necessary to keep on living through this strange time in a way that is at least marginally, somewhat, occasionally fulfilling.
“In the fall, stay small.” “Stick to six.” These catchphrases are vital (and childish, sure, but how else do you reach people like those UVic students?); they’re the advertising slogans that stick in our heads and keep us safe and sane. And, come on, they’re not that bad—they’re not saying, “This fall, see no one and start peeing in milk jugs.”
Whether you’re a booze-hungry first year who was fined or an old-souled professor researching for a doctorate in metaphysics and wishing you could still smoke at your desk, just wise up and follow the catchphrases. You’re not above them.
And hopefully this is all starting to stick and the police won’t even have to go to UVic this weekend.