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Cancel Culture is alive and well. No, I'm not talking about being blocked or unfriended or ghosted on social media. I'm talking about stuff that literally gets cancelled at the last minute. Important stuff. Stuff that demands considerable planning, preparation and fancy logistics, all of which turns out to be for naught.

In the past few weeks, I've endured two such cancellations. One was a cataract operation. The other was an Air Canada flight. Let's take them one by one, shall we?

My cataract surgery was to take place on May 31, at the Riverside campus of the Ottawa Hospital. So I got there as instructed around noon on the 31st, having had no solid food since suppertime on May 30. I was allowed only clear fluids, like black coffee, apple juice and gingerale. The surgery itself was scheduled for 1:30 PM and it was estimated that I'd be allowed to go home again by 3PM, as long as I was escorted by a responsible adult.

So far, so good. I got there and was seen by various nurses and technicians and whoever, who pumped the eye full of various varieties of eye drops at regular intervals. Then back to the waiting area. 1:30 PM came and
went. then 2PM. Then maybe around 2:20, I was finally called into an interior waiting area where I waited prone on a gurney, glasses off, a goofy cap around my hair, a little bag with my meagre accompanying belongings at my feet and a heated blanket over me. And waited, along with a couple of other patients in similar poses.

Finally some kind of supervising person came in and gathered other hospital people around her in a huddle and explained to them that there was no way that all three of us could get our surgery this afternoon. Just one. The woman who won this patient, patience-straining lottery had come in for the day from Deep River along with her escort, so really she was the most logical choice. And as I recall, she was already there when I arrived at noon, so goodness knows what time her surgery had been scheduled for. Supervisor-lady told me: Sorry, I'm afraid your surgery has been cancelled. But we're going to feed you! You can have crackers & cheese or a carrot muffin. I'll even give you both if you like!

I never actually saw my ophthalmologist while there, but he phoned me that evening to apologize for the cancelled surgery, mention when his upcoming operating room hours were, and assure me it would definitely happen this summer.

In the "Talk about coincidences!" department: Just minutes ago, I got a phone call from my ophthalmologist's
office: my new surgery date is August 28; it may even be before then, as I'm also on the cancellations list (for patient-initiated cancellations, that is). We shall see - and more importantly, I shall see!!

Now for the Air Canada flight. This past week, I've been in Winnipeg for the Canadian Health Librarians conference and afterwards in Toronto for the Bony Blithe (crime fiction) Mini-Con. One of my sisters lives In Winnipeg and I hadn't seen her in person in years. Nor had I ever in my life been to the Human Rights Museum there.

So I booked the only direct Air Canada flight I could find from Ottawa to Winnipeg. At time of booking, it was scheduled for 4:10 PM last Monday (June 10). But several weeks later, they informed me that the new departure time would be 6:30 PM. That was less convenient for me but still doable. On June 9, they invited me to "check in" for my flight, which I did, and they e-mailed me a boarding pass. Since I wouldn't be arriving in Winnipeg until the evening, I had decided to splurge on a nice seat and its associated amenities, including a vegetarian meal.

On flight day, I arrived at the Ottawa airport and everything seemed to be going according to plan. I presented my boarding pass, got through security in good time and the departures board indicated the flight was on time and even indicated what gate I'd be departing from, although the flight wasn't due to leave for another couple of hours.

Great! I could grab a coffee, read my book, maybe avail myself of the free airport wi-fi, browse the shops.

Somewhere around 5:15 or 5:30, I thought I'd better check the Departures board again in case the flight was delayed or the departure gate had changed.

Well. The flight had been cancelled altogether!

I was directed to an Air Canada customer service desk between two of the departure gates, where I learned they had booked me on a new flight. One that didn't leave till the next morning. One that was NOT direct, but rather had a connecting flight at Pearson Airport in Toronto. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike that airport and try to avoid it?

So I told the agent that didn't work for me and she then booked me on a Westjet direct flight leaving at 9:35 that same evening. It was in the Economy cabin, 3 seats across, I was seated on the aisle whereas I prefer a window seat, and I had to pay for my own food. Still, it was better than waiting till the next day. I'm now working on getting some sort of partial refund from Air Canada.

So I got to my librarians' conference, I got to the Human Rights museum with my sister, brother-in-law and niece, and then I flew from Winnipeg to Toronto for the Bony Blithe event. The Bony Blithe event, by the way, was supposed to happen in 2020. Then in 2021, then in 2022, and so on. But in 2024, it did happen! I had a great time and it was worth the wait.

Overall, I much prefer train travel to plane travel. I took a very efficient train from Pearson Airport to Union Station, using my Presto card. I took a VIA Rail train from Toronto back to Ottawa. It was late, of course, but the food and wine and service were all great. And kudos to VIA: they actually announced right off the bat that in light of the late arrival, all passengers would be entitled to a 50% off voucher for VIA rail travel that we could redeem any time in the next 12 months. I'm already planning my next trip!

On June 5, 2012, I wrote about having been in the wrong place at the right time, also in regard to a trip to Toronto. I relived that sensation last week - although this time the tragedy occurred in Ottawa.

Last Monday, I took the 8:30 train to Toronto for my Ex Libris board meeting, which was on Tuesday. I stayed an extra day and night, returning to Ottawa on Thursday on the 4:20 PM train - which I selected deliberately as it normally is a non-stop trip from Toronto Union station to Fallowfield (ending at the main Ottawa station) and takes slightly less than four hours for the complete trip. This time, however, we were only able to go as far as Brockville by train and then had to board one of three buses - to Ottawa's main station, the Barrhaven (Fallowfield) station, or Dorval/Montreal. Which meant arriving over an hour late. If I'd waited till Friday to go home, I could have gone the entire way by train. And yet, if I'd gone two days later, it would have been so much worse.

News of the catastrophic bus-train collision that killed six people (and a number of others may still be hanging on by a thread) was all over the news on Wednesday - not just in Ottawa but also in Toronto, Niagara and no doubt elsewhere. Even the much-maligned Toronto mayor was making all the right noises, extending sympathies and offers of assistance (whatever that meant) to Ottawa and Ottawans. Of course, there were probably quite a lot of Torontonians on that train too! As a train passenger, I probably would not have been injured even if I'd taken the Wednesday train - physically, at least. The psychological and emotional turmoil, however, would have taken considerably longer to overcome! I do know people living in Barrhaven; I think I may even have met at least one of the people who died, though I certainly didn't know any of them well.

So where should we go from here? I'm not sure if we'll ever know quite what caused the crash. But additional safety measures could certainly be implemented. I think an overpass or underpass is definitely in order, although that obviously can't be built overnight. Meanwhile, I'm wondering what numbskull decided that trains mustn't blow their whistles at certain times of day - funny that the City can get exemptions to allow construction noise at Lansdowne Park at 3AM but trains aren't even allowed to blow their whistles in the suburbs of Ottawa during daylight hours!

Should the number 76 be retired? Although I have the utmost sympathy for the people involved in the disaster, I vote no on that one. The gesture would be at best symbolic. It's confusing enough when buses change their numbers without substantially changing their routes (as, for example, when the 71 became the 86 or the number 53 was used for a new route that was nothing like the old 53 route). And it's not like hockey or other sports players where a specific number corresponds to a particular person: there must have been dozens of people behind the wheel of the 76 over the years it's been in existence.

I still think that on balance, train travel is very safe. But that doesn't mean we should get too complacent, as this episode makes clear.