I remember the initial hype in December before the Holidays for those cute
red mittens with the little maple leafs on them. There’s plenty of time. I
ignored rumours that said they were selling out. They’d get more. I also
assumed there would be plenty of time to stroll into one of Ye Olde Hudson’s
Bay Companies in January and pick up any gear I needed. Plenty of time
meaning, I’d wait until I was jealous someone else had the zip-up or fleece
I wanted. It was a slow build, but eventually everyone was smitten by the
hysteria of the Games and had to own a piece of it. The stuff looked OK in
December, but once we got closer to the opening ceremonies, everything from
the hoodies to the fleece jackets to the t-shirts to the sweater jackets
transformed into some form of talismanic collectors’ items.

The night before the opening ceremonies my wife and I decided this might be
our last chance. We heard there was a long line-up just to get into The Bay
downtown, where the selection was. But we decided to avoid it and went to
Oakridge Centre instead. Everything was picked over as you might expect the
night before the opening ceremonies. My wife tried to convince herself she
could fit into a boy’s 7/8 zip up. So what if the sleeves were rocker-jersey
length? We managed to claw our way through the crowds and get a couple of
graphic CANUCK t-shirts and some of those ubiquitous maple leaf mittens. But
suddenly, in some kind of Olympic fervor, what we really wanted was those
coveted Canada zip-up hoodies. So we went to Metrotown Centre, trying to
beat the system, only to learn you can’t beat the system. There was even
less merchandise there, just a few stragglers picking over the under- and
over-sized low lights of the collection.

On the day of the opening ceremonies, a group of us – me in my oversized
CANUCK t-shirt - watched the torch relay come down Mainland in front of the
agency and then followed it with everyone else for several blocks. That took
me close to Robson and Granville near the Bay. Maybe the torch relay would
be just the lull I needed. Nobody would be thinking about shopping for
Olympic gear now, right? Admittedly, quite a stretch, but I was desperate.
That hoodie would make a great Valentine’s gift for my wife. I entered
through the Georgia doors and followed the crowds. The musak calm of the Bay
had been replaced with the din of an Olympic gear crazed mob seeking answers
about the various lines they would be required to wait in.

Polyester-slacksed Bay employees wearing CSIS earpieces took on a more
serious demeanor, radioing back and forth to one another, keeping the crowds
back with riot shields, batons and tear gas. The Bay worker at the barricade
was telling everyone the line up to get in was outside. Over the barricades
you could see the complete collection in all its glory. Sweater jackets in
adult sizes. Zip up hoodies in every colour. Those toques with pom poms. The
good stuff. I briefly thought about hurdling the barrier and risking being
tackled and tazed, but then decided to check the line-up outside first. It
was enormous, five deep and I couldn’t even be bothered to see the end of
it. This line was long, like Space Mountain at Disneyland on the Fourth of
July long. People lining up to get into the Bay. That hasn’t been seen since
beaver hats or those crazy stylish Bay coats first went on sale. This
Olympic collection is pretty, pretty hot. Maybe worth risking a tazing for.