The Bay Goes By The Way

With the announcement of the bankruptcy and liquidation of The Bay a few weeks ago, Kathleen and I decided to pay the departing department store a visit this Saturday. We’re in need of some new pillow cases, maybe a dress or two, and for the love of all that is good and holy slips. For something as indispensable as a slip, they’ve sure disappeared from the market!

When we arrived at the store, it was quiet. Too quiet. While it wasn’t exactly deserted inside, there were few people. This is no different than before bankruptcy though: The Bay at Rideau was usually fairly quiet all around.

What was different yesterday was that there was no music playing. And no announcements. And no real chatter either. It was almost like a church, library, or museum. People slowly milling about, looking at tags, and not really buying anything.

I always feel for people working retail in a store with a known end date. In the specific atmosphere – without the courtesy of overplayed Coldplay, Hozier, and Teddy Swims songs to pass the day…

As for us?

We didn’t find anything either. I guess it makes sense that a store that had very little for us in life would have anything more of us in death.

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As a Visibly-Trans^TM woman, I’ve gotten used to the occasional confused stare or even the occasional death stare. It used to bother me quite a lot, but nowadays, while I see them, they don’t tend to register. So yesterday, when “occasional” turned into “frequent”, I did begin to wonder why. A few quick checks in mirrors and with my phone showed everything normal.

Then it clicked: there was a Conservative conference in the neighbouring facility and the mall was, we’ll say, well-populated with individuals who have spent an inordinate amount of time ginning up hatred for trans people.

The stares, the glares, and open air speakerphone podcasts, the “bring it home” merch… it all snapped into place.

When I got home.

It all just seems like a silly waste of their energies to me.

Especially the man who yelled aloud when we passed about me “getting [mine] soon” and something about our masks.