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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-11-26, Page 4LMainstrearn Canada A. question of choice By W. Roger Worth The contentious retirement issue is back In the pews again. The question: should healthy individuals be allowed to continue in their jobs be- yond age 65, or be forced to retire? With the election of a 70 year old Ito the highest office in. the U.S., and a surprising Roger Worth. Is Director, Public Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. number of 65-plus lesser poll- 'ticians in Canada, the ques- lion becomes obvious. If a 74 year old (President- elect Ronald Reagan's age when he completes his first term) is capable of running the most powerful nation, on earth, why can't ordinary in- dividuals continue to handle ordinary jobs after the man- datory retirement age? Politics, of course, is one of the few professions where there is no retirement cutoff date. The other is independent business, where people still maintain the freedom to con- tinue working after age 65. Most other individuals (particularly unioni4ed employees) are forced out of the work force at 65, even though their mental and phy- sical health is in top condition. And the mandatory retire- ment age continues to drop. In the 1930s, for example, retirement peaked at age 78. By 1961, the normal retire- ment age was 70, and a decade later it had dropped to. 65. Now many unions are fighting to reduce the age to 60, or even 55. At the same time, members of the 56,000 member Cana- dian Federation of Indepen- dent Business voted 77% against lowering the retire- ment age. People operating smaller businesses, it seems, enjoy the freedom to choose for themselves. This is not to suggest that individuals should be forced to work after they reach retire- ment age, But the experts have term- ed "work" a biological neces- sity. And for a nation with a serious shortage of skilled manpower, some thought should be given to allowing people to make their own choice. Cancer can be beaten CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY. Everyone pays for shoplifting - from businessmen who suffer lower profits and the consumers who must ul- timately pay higher prices to cover the costs of the stolen merchandise, says the Fort Erie Times-Review. It is more important to remember, however, that shoplifting is stealing and stealing is a criminal act. If a shoplifter takes a $2 item from a store operation on a 10 percent profit margin, the store must make up $30 in merchandise to recoup that loss. If a $3 item is taken from a supermarket store operating on low margins of one per- cent, the store must sell $300 in merchandise just to cover the cost of that one item. There are professional shoplifters who are skilled thieves using specializ- ed techniques, but many are just members of the general public, solid citizens, who may be bored or may need to stretch their budgets. Greater awareness of these problems can reduce the incidence of shoplifting. Citizens should be concerned about shoplifting, since everyone is affected by price increased caused through shoplifting. If consumers would get involved in incidents they saw in a store, instead of shaking their heads, complaining about the rising prices and walking away, perhaps the amount of merchandise lost to shoplifters will decrease. Citizens don't have to accuse the person of shoplifting, but can alert the manager that they may have seen a person slip an article in his or her pocket. The manager can then monitor the "suspect", and either confirm suspicions or disprove them. By being attentive to a suspected shoplifter, the shoplifter may get cold feet and rush off before stealing the article. If he is only an average consumer, he will be flattered by the attention. By all chipping in, perhaps shoppers can keep price hikes through shoplifting from coming their way. Help the police With the increasing incidents of petty thievery, break and enters and vandalism being reported in this paper every week, honest citizens are con- cerned as to what to do to lessen their chances of being hit. Police, who are quick to act on such occurrences when informed im- mediately, have several pieces of ad- vice for those wishing to avoid this type of happening. First off is obvious protection to your own property by not being careless, like leaving the keys in your car, or leaving your doors unlocked in your house. Leaving valuable property in a car, especially within eyesight, is another open invitation to thieves. But probably one of the biggest helps to the police is the ordinary citizen who is like an extra pair of eyes to the protectors. For instance, a recent story in this paper detailing the items missing in a recent apartment break-in caught the eye of a sharp reader, who phoned police to report someone had tried to sell some of the stolen items. As a result of that tip, police carried out an investigation that resulted in the arrest of a juvenile and the solving of at least six crimes. It's easy to see that increased public vigilance would help the police greatly, and scare off many thieves, if they thought they were being watched all the time, So help the police, if you see anything out of the ordinary, phone them, even if you're not sure. They'd rather have a few bad tips than no tips at all. Clinton News-Record • By Syd Fletcher Going north on highway 21 into Forest, there was no doubt in anybody's mind about the condition of the roads. For two days it had snowed heavily filling the ditches and fields, but for the last three or four hours the snow had stopped, the temperature had risen en- ough to give the highway crews a chance to catch up. The roads had been cleared off completely and were almost dry. Then it started raining and the road turned to black glare ice. Those of us proceeding north were well aware of how bad it was. The traffic was just inching along, keep- ing a respectful distance between each car. Any sudden movement. resulted in a long hair-raising slide. The cars coming southwards from Forest didn'thave thosamewarning. Below the big hill just out- side of town the temperature must have been just a shade warmer, enough to keep the rain from freezing on the road. One truck, a half-ton pick- up came up over dthe top of the hill, made two or three wild 'fish-tails' then headed for the ditch, the camper on the back of it breaking into a thousand pieces as the truck rolled over onto its roof. I know everybody has horror tales of being strand- ed on the 401 with cars whiz- zing by, ignoring you in your hour of need. This was not the case here. People responded in a hurry. The truck's wheels were hardly stopped spinning before people were flounder- ing through the waist-deep snow, some of them without overshoes, in an effort to help the man trapped upside down in the truck's cab. One man took the coat off his own back and stuffed it through the broken windshield to keep the shivering man a little warmer. Another headed for town to get an ambulance and the police out, while still others directed the curious traffic by. With the aid of eight or ten men, strategically placed, the truck was lifted up and gently rolled over with not even a bounce to jar the man within and when the am- bulance came up, it only took a moment for the atten- dants to get the driver into the warmth and security of the emergency vehicle. In all, at least twenty peo- ple had volunteered to help free the accident victim. Not bad for a supposedly un- caring society. Perspectives Times EsteibInked 1473 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 I" 4 Tinto;-Advocate, Novomber. 24, 1940. dvoca e SERVING CANADA'S REST FARMLAND CLASS W and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER OCNA so.rcos. To become really independent, Canadians must develop the self- confidence to participate in con- stitutional changes which express a vi- sion of themselves and their country, says David MacDonald, a new colum- nist for The United. Church Observer. In the December issue, the former cabinet minister says that the present difficulties in patriating the con- situtional are due to Canada's history of dependence, first on France, then on. England, and now on the United States. The debate, which goes back 53 years and beats elections and the energy confrontation in creating "deep- seated anxiety and outright hostility", has been a discussion about federal- provincial relations rather than about the quality of our lives, our history or our aspirations, says Mr. MacDonald. The absence of a Canadian con- stitution is not only due to a lack of agreement about distribution of powers and taxes, and protection of rights, but to a much deeper dilemma. "The stark fact is, we are not at all sure that we really want our independence, our freedom, almost as if we didn't quite know what we would do with it." If we were really serious about our freedom, he says, we would seek to patriate large parts of the economy and social and cultural activities, to lessen our dependence on the States. Mr. MacDonald says he hopes that women, natives, ethnic minorities and the disabled will participate . in for- mulating a Charteeof Rights, although the present method of entrenching a Charter precludes this participation. Editor —Bill Batten Assistant Editor— Ross Haugh. Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett .Composition Manager -- Harry DeVries Business Manager Dick Jongkind published Each Wednesday Morning Phone 335-1331 at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0380 SUBSCRIPTION RATES;' Canada $14.00 Per Year; USA $S5.00 BL R B8C A ,Av A R D 1980 Develop self-confidence "Says he's striking a blow for Western separatism." Everyone pays So bad, they're almost funny Having decided to take a few days off last week, it would be assumed that the writer would have plenty of opportunity to find the necessary time for column writing. But, not so! What with having to dash madly, from station. to station to follow the ongoing saga of "The Edge of Night" or "General Hospital" there was hardly time to get the kids' .dinners, let alone attempt any work. One of the advantages of being sick is the fact it provides one with an indica- tion of what is available for daytime TV viewing, In most cases, the programs do little towards aiding a speedy recovery. It must be that the intelligence level of those who watch TV during the day is estimated to be much lower than average. That's the only way the writer could explain away some of the tripe that emanates from the idiot box. Some of the shows are so bad that they have almost hit the point of being humorous, albeit a rather sick humor. An example is Richard Dawson's "Family Feud". I enjoy Dawson as one of the rogues in Hogan's Heroes, but as the host for this inane show, he spends must of his time kissing the contestants on the show, often to their obvious em- barrassment. * * * Fortunately, if one searches diligent- ly, there are some excellent shows which can be both entertaining and educational, although most of the talk u ar and Dispe sed by Smiley I sometimes wonder if my college contemporaries are as happy as I, or happier, or less happy and just walking the old treadmill until they reach the end of the road and the dust to dust business. My wonder was triggered by a recent letter from no less a body than Sandy Cameron, the Ambassador to Poland. He seems happy, but that's only on paper, We used to kick a football around when we were ten or twelve un- til we were summoned home in the gathering dusk. He's since returned to Ottawa, after three years in Yugo-Slavia and two in Warsaw, and has invited us to drop around. I shudder at the cost of that, if my old lady thought she was going into ambassadorial regions. Can you rent a mink coat for an evening? Another guy I knew at college has emerged into a fairly huge jub, much in the public eye. He is Jan (not John) Meisel, a former Queen's professor who has been appointed head of the CRTC and is determined to move that moribund body. Jan is, as I recall, a Czech, gentle, brilliant, fairly frail but strong in spirit. Let's namedrop some more. Jamie Reaney is a playwright, poet, novelist and professor of English at Western, Two Governor-General's Awards for literature, but he's just the same sweet, kooky guy he was at nineteen, a real scholar, absorbed in children's games, yet a first-rate teacher and writer. Alan Brown has been a dilettante with the CBC, producing unusual radio programs from faraway places, and shows are dominated by authors who fill the guest spots in return for some rather generous plugs about their most recent books. However, an afternoon visit with the like of Farley Mowatt is always rewarded with some chuckles and a few common sense approaches to our national ills. One of the talk shows featured a doc- tor who had written a book on over-the- ebUnter drugs: He has samples of several drugs on hand and procebded to advise listeners about some of their contents. There was the cough syrup, for in- stance, that has an alcohol contest of over 50 percent. Small wonder that the manufacturer cari show users reaching for yet another spoonful! Imagine coughing away until you sink into drunken oblivion! It also helps to know your chemistry when shopping for some drugs. Some of these high-priced weight loss pills, for instance, have the same ingredients as a low-priced decongestant pill, with the exception that the caffeine is missing. So, as the author pointed out, the same results could be attained by taking the decongestant pill with a cup of coffee. * * * Even though it is often difficult to find some positive benefits from a bout with the flu, there is every indication that a guardian angel wasindeedlooking after the writer by forcing cancellation of attendance at Exeter council's final lately emerging as a translator of French novels. He came from Millbrook, a hamlet near Peter- borough. How we small-town boys made the city slickers look sick, when it came to intellect. George McCowan was a brilliant English and Philosophy student who was kicked out of school for writing an exam for a dummy who happened to live around the corner from me when I was a kid. He went off to Stratford as an actor and director, and suddenly disappeared to Hollywood, after marrying and being divorced from Frances Hyland. He is now on his third or fourth wife, has an ulcer, and directs Grade B movies. I knew Don Harron casually. His first wife was a classmate of mine, who later married that Hungarian guy who wrote "In Praise of Older Women", made into a movie. Harron, with lots of talent, energy and ambition, has parlayed his Charley Farquarson into a mint, and is still producing a lot of creative stuff. Another of the drifting mob was Ralph Ilicklin, a dwarfish kid with rotten teeth, and a wit with the bite of an asp. He still owes Me $65.00, because he had no scruples about borrowing money. He became a movie and ballet critic. and a good one, but died in his late forties. There were other drifters in and out of the gang, including my kid brother, who was mainly there for the girls. And boy, I'd better not start on the girls, or I'm in trouble. I was the only one who was about half jock, that sweaty and anomalous name session of the current term. Seems members have been plotting for months to assail the press gallery, and while there is little doubt that the game would have been more enjoyed with the editor as victim, they did seem to relish picking on his unsuspecting replacement. The incident is not so bizarre as some may suspect. The paper battles are a tradition between the press gallery and the MPs, although it had always been assumed that municipal councillors were above some of those antics. Will some kind reader remind me not to attend the council session plann- ed for November 15, 1982? And, just so .there's something educational in all this, we're happy to be able to inform readers why they see the,flags of various nations flying from the poles at Kongskilde Ltd. on Highway 83 East. John Burke reports that when a visitor from a foreign country is visiting at the local plant, the flag of the visitor's nation is hoisted along side the Canadian flag and the Kongskilde flag. Last week, for instance, a visitor from Sweden was in Exeter for a few days and the Swedish flag was un- furled. John notes that through the year, a large number of flags are used, although those of Sweden and Denmark are most commori, that is pinned on Phys. Ed teachers to- day. I played football, and my intellec- tual friends, had nothing but scorn for this. I loved it. And I made some friends among the jocks, or the hangers-on, the sports- writers. Notable among 'them was. Dave McIntosh, who still writes a mean letter to the editor from Ottawa, and spent most of his adult life working for The Canadian Press and newspapers. I also had other friends in the college newspaper. I was a couple of years behind the bumptious Wayne and Shuster, but knew NeilSimonland others Whose names appeared as bylines from all over the world. What I wonder is whether I would trade places with these bright guys I used to hang around with. I think not. I doubt if three of us are still married to the same woman, not that that is any big deal. I don't have the ego to hustle myself as some of them have done, nor the brilliance that many of them had. When I go up and shout at my noisy Grade 10's, or try to coax my four-year elevens into some sort of intellectual movement, I simply haven't time to wish I was the Ambassador to Poland, a director of B's in Hollywood, a translator of a rather obscure French novels, or the head of the CItTC. I haven't time. Tomorrow night I have to drive 140 miles and give a speech about "honor" to the Honor students of another school. Tomorrow I have to go to a Department Heads' Two Kirkton sisters, Marilyn and Pat Marshall, topped the list of the South Huron 4-H winners at the County Achievement night Friday. 15 Years ago Four of the necessary eight municipalities have agreed to share in the costs of the expansion of South Huron District High School. Exeter, Stephen township, Grand Bend and Tucker- smith township have all agreed to their respective costs. A recount has been requested on the plebiscite to regarding beverage rooms for Stephen township. ' Some came from as far away as British Columbia to honor Edna Follick, There were only two men who were unable to attend the meeting because of previour com- mitments. Mrs. Hearts (Follick) looked about the crammed room and said "Benson Tuckey, you're the instigator of this". No one argued the statement. 10 Years ago Jim Dingwell, an Exeter Police Constable for the past two years, has been promoted to chief with his new duties to start on January 1. One of the largest crowds in memory turned out for the annual Exeter Santa Claus Parade. Approval for the use of an old church as the new Whitings Furniture store was given this past week, It required a change in the zoning by-laws. meeting where we will, for the fourth time this year, dis- cuss "Smoking' in the school. Tonight, I have to call my old lady in Moosonee, tell her I've been a model bachelor and have only burned six holes in the rug. Thursday night, I have a Parents' Night, at which the parents of bright-kids will come to have me praise them and the other parents will stay away. I bought the paint for the back stoop, but it's been too wet to paint. Yesterday I had two young lady visitors, who caught me in my pyjamas, bare feet, and dirty dishes all over the kitchen. No. There's no way. I just haven't time to be an intellec- tual, a success, a good father, or a good husband. But I'm going to keep an eye on all those old friends of mine, and if they stutter or stammer or stagger under the load, I'll be laughing. Successful, buddies 55 Years ago S.J. Pym and sons of Elimville spent one day last week with D.D. Bell and sons, Shakespeare, and purchased an Oxford Ramfor a handsome price to head their flock. Dr. & Mrs. J.W. Orme and daughter, accompanied by Mr. C. Beaver and Mrs. William Smith motored to Detroit last week. Mr. & Mrs. James Oke of Centralia met with an ac- cident while starting out to church Sunday. The horse was frightened and ran into a gate post. 30 Years ago Twelve persons are con- testing the three seats up for election in a tense battle shaping in Stephen township. Roy Jewell, Farm editor for the London Free Press, said that a strong union for farmers, like labour unions, is what is needed to have the farmer's voice heard. Boxing Day has been declared an official civic holiday by the Exeter town council at their meeting on Monday night. Despite the high cost of foods of late, the South Huron District High School cafeteria is still able to prepare a hearty meal for 25 cents. 25 Years ago Exeter and Hensall Kin- smen toured the plant of General Coach Works on Thursday night. Con- struction has started on an $80,000 addition that will double the size of the plant.