Welcome to another edition of Hindsight 2020. If there were no pandemic …
1. A restaurant patio would be a novelty, not an economic necessity.
2. WE would be the 2020 version of 2019 blackface and 2018 SNC.
3. Stanley Park would not be a public art exhibit of pylons.
4. Donald Trump might think he had a chance of re-election.
5. The third Canucks defence pairing would be worrisome as the playoffs persisted.
6. A mask would be for criminals and the odd wrestler.
7. We would be gripped by tales of money laundering’s B.C. infiltration.
8. The Olympics would be properly glorifying our athletes.
9. We would not be certain we’d seen the Rolling Stones for the last time.
10. The projected $343-billion deficit and $1-trillion debt would make us grumpy, not grateful.
11. Huawei would know, one way or the other, if it were welcome.
12. We would just about be due for the season finale of Billions.
13. Dr. Bonnie Henry could walk the streets serenely and not feel she was one of the Rolling Stones.
14. We would complain that Canada Line was crowded, and only because it was crowded.
15. Zoom would only be a function on your camera.
16. Kennedy Stewart might think he had a chance for re-election.
17. Airport passengers would at last get a ride into town within the half-hour.
18. Cruise passengers would at last get a ride into town within the half-day.
19. Effusive hugs would be considered inappropriate for other than health reasons.
20. Education, startlingly, would be in schools, in classrooms, with teachers, featuring students.
21. The stock market would still be playing us.
22. We would not know the brand names of several hand sanitizers.
23. John Horgan would still need to prove himself.
24. We would not know that six feet equals (roughly) two metres.
25. We would be finding a lot more time for reconciliation and systemic revision.
26. Social distancing would only be with someone you didn’t like.
27. Televised sports would not be nostalgic.
28. The pantry would not be corporate headquarters.
29. Our concerns about the WHO would involve whether it would tour again.
30. Climate change would be something we would contemplate daily while grousing about gas prices.
31. Sourdough bread would only be something you bought.
32. Surgical priorities would be focused more on those in imminent need than on the spectre of those who might be.
33. The B.C. Lions would still be in the playoff hunt.
34. We would not have discovered the brilliant Sarah Cooper.
35. Some would soon be lining up for the Birkenstock Running of the Folkies.
36. Dogs and cats would remain unadopted.
37. Airplanes would fly.
38. Movies would be released.
39. Restaurants would be experiences, not just lovely meals and dedicated servers.
40. Traffic would exist.
41. Bankruptcies would involve businesses that didn’t deserve to live, not those that didn’t deserve to die.
42. Outdoor cannabis would be as unacceptable as outdoor alcohol.
43. Joe Biden would be selling himself properly as the world’s most powerful person.
44. Parliament, the legislature, all democracy, would sit, a lot.
45. Hong Kong would be the world’s focus.
46. Parking lots would be full and bike lanes would not.
47. We would see loved ones in three dimensions, literally, not just figuratively.
48. Shaking hands would be a statement of greeting, not of defiance.
49. Renovations would properly remain an objective.
50. Hairstyling would represent an appointment, not an anxiety.
51. Movie popcorn prices would be something we could again complain about.
52. Being a tourist would be treated as something other than a threat.
53. Our Queen, despite her family at times, would still be pretty great.
54. We would publish an entire edition without using the words coronavirus, pandemic, unprecedented, challenging or difficult.
Kirk LaPointe is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Business in Vancouver and the vice-president, editorial, of Glacier Media.
