by: heather owen and jason allsopp
thinking back to last spring, we were showing our support for health-care workers by hanging red hearts on our front doors and banging pots at 7 p.m. each evening. while british columbians had a healthy degree of fear of the novel coronavirus, we were “all in it together,” and were heeding dr. bonnie henry’s instructions to be kind, be calm, and be safe.
fast-forward a year: jason was waiting for the seabus when an elderly woman reprimanded him at length for pulling down his mask to take a sip of his coffee. the same weekend, heather was in line at her local café when a man in a red hat scolded her for not standing squarely on the social-distancing decal pasted to the floor. we had both been called out by strangers and we decided to investigate: are british columbians publicly criticizing each other for violating b.c.’s covid-19 rules?
leger’s research shows that 97 per cent of us think we are as committed or more committed than others to the provincial health orders. we have also learned 55 per cent of us admit that there are rules we break some of the time, and 15 per cent of us admit there are rules that we never follow.
for the most part, british columbians choose to break covid rules so that they can connect to other people — in restaurants, by attending social gatherings and events, or travelling when they shouldn’t. we are social animals, and we crave contact with others for support, well-being and entertainment.