A commentary by a Saanich resident.

I am 82 years old and my breathing is laboured.

I was recently a passenger in a vehicle returning from the Interior. We did not have a ferry reservation so we suffered a two-sailing wait, and when we finally boarded the ferry, we were assigned to the “deck of doom.”

My friends got out of the vehicle to make their way upstairs. “You coming?”, they asked. “Nope,” I replied, “I need to snooze.”

“You know you’re required to go upstairs, but suit yourself.”

I put the seat back and napped quietly and contentedly for an hour, until my friends returned to take their dog to the pet area.

I resumed my nap for a few minutes until I was rapped awake by two navy guys in white shirts with epaulets on their shoulders.

“Sir, you are not allowed to be down here while the ferry is underway,” one said, telling me that he would escort me to an upper deck.

I began to explain my situation. I wanted to say that their demand was silly and that I would not accompany them.

The main guy cut me........

© Times Colonist