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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1973-09-19, Page 2Fenced in Sunday shopping ? Sugar and Spice By Bill Smiley • "Well, how did you find England after all those years?". This is the favourite question for people. asking , about Our jaunt. I have 'a stock of stock answers, "No trouble at all. We just went Where the pilot took us," That sometimes shuts them up. Another retort. "Just kept going until we heard a lot of Limeys chirping." I save that one for the Britons out here who haven't lost their accent. Well, I found it greatly changed and. Much the same. Despite the levelling off economically, the old class system is still there, and . causes even more ant , inoaity than it used to. That is, the poor are better off, and the rich are taxed iniquitiougly, so there/a leas of a gap financially. But you are Still labeled by your accent, your OcCii-. patiOn, and your background. There is still woeful inefficiency in a multitude of things .and amazing profi- ciency' in Othera. The standard of living has tleeti good deal, bUt so have costs. The papers are headlined With rising food costs and their real estate tea - an upward surge a feW years' ago. A hOlise there costs about the same as a similar one here. Fedd is a little cheaper than ours, Drinks a little Cheaper and a little Weaker, Transport is a bit cheaper 'and twice as good AS Mira'. That's because of the. thert distances, the heavy population, and the high cost, 'ter the' working Man, of owning a Car. 'Through trains rocket along at apeeda up to a m.p.h. Emplciytuent? Alitoa.00Mplete t if you Want a job.. There are supposed tube halt a unemployed, but thiiaineaattiaii told Me this represents only the unemploy- ables, and those who don't want to work. Everywhere-i newapaperg,. store Windt:Mt, there are tHeip Wintee ads. Admittedly, a lot Of the .job 'Are nieniali but not all, by any means. The Brita, don't - Want the More lowly occupations. And that's why the blaCks have moved in, mostly from. the west indieg. They are the big- 'etititiiietOrgi subway' workts:ts, 'waiters and unskilled 'labourers. And whenever things tighteh UP bit, There IS reaezitineht f,:kild racial tint there.. is a great shortage, right. tioW). both :Skilled kiid workers,. .The Post Office is desperately under- staffed. Postal workers are working over- time, and some of them, bleats a news- paper, are falling asleep at their jobs. That has a fathiliar ring, somehow. In London, the bus service is away below par, because it is short 4,500 bus. drivers. . A chartered accountant told me that it's alMost impossible to hire girls who can operate Inisines. machines, In des- peration, he cajoled a fortner employee, a good operator, into coming back 'for a Month. She Wa a seven months pregnant, Slight catch, She lasted one litair. Couldn't get C1080 'enough to the Machine. to punch the keys. A publisher in London advertised tengively for a secretary. He offered about $85 a week, a month's vacation and a bottle Of champagne upon engage- ment. He got zero answers. In frus- tration, he printed 1,000 handbills and had his staff pass them out on the streets to likely-looking candidatea. Result., four phone Calls. TWO of them were not interested. The other two made appoint- thetas for interviews. Neither turned up. AnOther aspect of England that has ohanged i, sadly, is the increase in Vio- lence. I 'met two young fellows in a pub. They were both employed and Making abtint. $100 a weeks Yet they boasted of being Borstal boys -(reform adh001).- The Older, WhO seemed 'seething With rage at the world in general, and ready to start • row with anybody, had alaO been in prieen. They were working olase, but hated everybody above them in The system. There have been racial riots whites, bliCka and. Indians. LOhdithi bus Stop signs warn that iiOWing to' hooliganism and attacks' on our staff" such and such buses will not run alter A certain Mut', this siiitinier then e was an Oiltbrealt Of shier viciousness and vandalism among some groups of football hitt; btanken fights at the gairiegii- Ripping up railway cars and kicking in compartment doors and abusing passengeig on the WAY Mite from the match. MattitedYdie gangs villages. It tinkeng to hear of this sort of tiling deo, old tdilandi ;loi,:yetts one of the :Safest and 'haat peaceliit Whittles the world ut there* ' -Serving Brussels and the surrounding community Plihlished, each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario by McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited. EVelyn Kennedy I' Editor Tom Haley - Advertising Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association. Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $4.00 a year, Others $5.00 a year, Single Copies 10 cents each. Second class mail Registration. No. 0562. Telephone 88'7-6641. While the prospect of Sunday store openings in the area isn't ex- actly keeping us all awake nights, well probably have to face the issue soon: Because most people have cars and can and do travel to larger cen- tres where Sunday and holiday shop- pi hg is becoming commonplace, it could be said that the issue is touching us now. There is an ethical problem- Sunday shopping keeps clerks, away from their families and leisure and a practical one - it increases prices for all of us. Stores and malls in' the cities .which treat Sunday and 'statutory holidays like any other working days have elevated shopping to the status of a recreational activity. In the good old days a Sunday outing for the family was a: picnic at the beach Now if the 7-days-a-week stores have their way, it'll be a trip to the shopping centre. Consumers are told that to buy is to be happy and "you'll' be'happier still if you can buy on holidays". Convenience is the other big bonus we are supposed to get from Sunday and holiday shopping. Nevertheless' little is said about the convenience of the thousands of retail employees who no longer know what it's like to spend a Boxing Day, Civic Holiday or even Sunday at their choice of lei- sure. We have no objection to the occas ional milk and bread or drug store staying open on holidays but it is rarely essential to be able, to buy a new pair of shoes on Sunday after .noon. Holiday shopping is a snow ball ing problem. One store stays open "for the convenience of the tourist as a major chain store in Goderich said. Then his competition is forced to work Sundays to get a share of the dollars spent. The merchant's wage and expense costs go-up and these increases cause higher prices. Most small merchants are against. Sunday and holiday store opening, yet they have to sit quietly while city stores funnel off buyers who like to shop on a holiday. Province- wide legislation to set uniform i not on holidays, store hours would be a good idea for,workers,merthants and shoppers. Nobody really benefits from Sun day shopping, Without stores Com- peting.for their attention on Sun- days and holidays, families might find they had a lot more to say to* each other and do together than they imagined.