How COVID-19 crisis has turned what I would do to what I can’t do

I would love to be holding my newborn granddaughter. She lives in the Netherlands.

I would be in my beer-league hockey playoffs this week. I’m the goalie, so admittedly our prospects would be limited.

I would enjoy seeing the Vancouver Canucks at last in the playoffs, though, even if they didn’t last any longer than my team did.

I would enjoy the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto Blue Jays early in their seasons and still be typically skeptical but hopeful they would amount to much.

I would prefer that the Toronto Raptors defend their title instead of hold on to it for another year.

I would expect to be seeing Peter MacKay now on his way to the Conservative leadership. Given the campaign time-out, he must be losing sleep, and not about what all of us are.

I would like to know why our prime minister still lives in a cottage and emerges each morning at 8:15, rather like the Bill Murray character in Groundhog Day.

I would normally be seeing now if Joe Biden really has the stuff to take down Donald Trump. Instead, I am satisfied to count my blessings I am on this side of the border.

I would prefer that the stock market feel more like it’s based in New York or Toronto, not Marrakech.

I would like to see the Rolling Stones one more time. But sooner than later.

I would think the jazz festival would be terrific to take in. If only. The folk festival, too. But unlikely.

I would find it fun to walk in the park and see groups again, and it would be even more fun to hear them talk about anything else.

I would love to read a newspaper where I could be surprised about what the first several pages would cover.

I would get great pleasure seeing friends in three dimensions again.

I would enjoy walking down a supermarket aisle without people recoiling.

I would love to never have another virtual toast.

I would be pleased to learn I could have elective surgery if it were so desired and needed.

I would find it great if the Canadian Olympic team were coming together about now instead of promising to at the same time next year.

I would wish to next bang pots and pans only on New Year’s at midnight, not this evening at 7.

I would love to help build a better news organization in stable more than in destabilized times.

I would prefer, in part because I own an electric vehicle and in large part because I know what it means for the energy sector, that gas not be cheaper than bottled water.

I would love to know if I am right not to hoard toilet paper.

I would like to see late-night talk shows with the energy a live audience provides. I almost miss Saturday Night Live – little parts of it, anyway.

I would like to go shopping. Doesn’t matter for what, or what I might spend – just to go.

I would like to book a holiday. Doesn’t matter where, or what I might spend – just to go.

I would get great pleasure from a hard workout in a gym, even if I hurt for the next three days. OK, two.

I would love to listen to music. Performed. In a packed hall.

I would feel so much better if I never had to read anything again about staying productive while working at home.

I would gain so much joy hitting a seven-iron to within inches of the flag for a tap-in birdie. Not saying it’s ever happened, just that it would bring joy.

I would love for us to be dealing again with easier matters, like climate change and reconciliation.

I would prefer to enter the bus at the front and pay my way.

I would like to reserve binge-watching for when it is miserable outside, not miserable inside.

I would like to see a #eurekavaccine Twitter trend very soon.

I would wish to be in a position to never complain about a real lineup again.

I would choose to not feel pressured with this extra time to learn how to create on TikTok.

I would love to go to a movie and willingly pay so much for buttered popcorn.

I would like to start writing about the contributions of business to our prosperity again. •

Kirk LaPointe is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Business in Vancouver and the vice-president, editorial, of Glacier Media.