Four and a half hours of organized chaos

After much debate between us on Wednesday and Thursday evening, we decided that, at the very least, the three of us (me and the kids) would get the shot. Ryan was undecided on whether he would get it, and since he doesn't classify as high priority, he could decide later.

We also decided that we would wait a few days until the lineups dwindled.

But somehow, that whole plan got thrown out the window this morning. And I'm not really sure why. After we heard that there'd be a vaccine shortage next week, we drove over to the nearby clinic at 9:45 (15 minutes before it opened) to check it out. And joined the end of the line. And then 30 minutes went by and then 60 minutes and then 90 minutes. And suddenly, we'd commited so much time already, that the thought of leaving just to come back and do it again another day seemed foolish.

So we stayed out in the cold, in the never ending line. At one point, Ryan took Austin for a walk to Tim Horton's for coffee and Timbits. At another point, I packed the kids in the car and drove to the nearest McDonald's to feed them lunch.

At 2:15 -- 4 hours and 30 minutes after we arrived, it was our turn to get shot in the arm. The kids hated us for it and will probably never trust us again when we tell them we have to go somewhere and wait in line.

The lineup was organized chaos -- in the sense that although everyone in line was orderly and friendly -- the information being passed around was chaotic. Early on, a security guard said that health officials would be coming through the line and handing out cards with a timeslot to return. These cards never materialized, instead the line just inched forward.

And the more it inched forward, the more you felt as if you were getting somewhere and therefore didn't want to give up all that you'd already been standing for. So we kept standing there.

But it's done now. All four of us got the shot -- even though, technically, Ryan wasn't eligible to get it yet because he doesn't classify as high priority. But after standing in line for that long -- he opted not to be socially responsible and stand aside as the three of us got our shot for fear that when the time comes for the general population to get their shot he'd have to stand in line all over again.

But of course, 21 days from now we'll have to do it all over again so that the kids can get the second half of their shot. Hopefully by then, a better system will be in place.