Village Squire, 1974-06, Page 33Keith's Kolumn
Let's hear it for the working
mother - hero of small
business
BY KEITH ROULSTON
It's past Mother's Day, I know, but I don't think many people Will
mind (especially mothers) if I take this space this month to salute the
laches.
- We have to be for mothers, of course, because we all have one...one
of the few things we all have in common. But there's a special breed of
wife and mother I. have special admiration. You might see her working
in the shoe store downtown, or out bumping along on a tractor or here,
in the Village Squire offices. She is the wife of a small businessman or
farmer...one of the most important persons in the economy of the land,
and one of the most ignored cogs in the Wheel of commerce.
Most of us who have our wives working for us don't really realize how
much we depend on them.' I discovered how important my wife J ill was
to our operation of a weekly newspaper and the Village Squire a couple
of years ago when she decided to take a short holiday. It happened very
suddenly. She was working away one afternoon as usual and suddenly
said something like, "I think it's time to go to the hospital now dear,"
and so we did, hurrying off to the hospital where a few short hours later
our daughter Jennifer was born.
I said short vacation, and indeed it was, for she missed only one
edition of the weekly newspaper and the next week -was back at it,
helping to get the news to people again, though in a reduced capacity to
her normal output.
That one week that she was gone was enough to bring to bear
• instantly the knowledge of how important she was to our operation
Suddenly, the things we took for granted becarn' problems again. It
hurt doubly, both on the job, and at home. Most fathers have a hard
enough time coping with things while their wife is away, but nere we
had to cope with the dirty dishes and cooking meals and then go to the
office and cope with bills to pay and letters to be written and the
hundred and one other little and big things that had just been
automatically done before.
It's a lot the same in most businesses where the wife is a- part of
things. Few husbands know just how valuable their wife is until she
can't be there for a while.
Wives are a valuable part of small businesses, but even the
government doesn't realize it. Wives working in small family
businesses are the last slaves around. They don't get paid...in fact the
government won't let them be paid. Say a small family business...a
drygoods store for instance...brings in a net profit of S12,000 a year.
That looks good until you figure out that the husband and wife are
sharing that income: then the pay doesn't seem very high at all.
Some, of course, find ways of getting around this. I heard once, about
some businessmen who had divorced their first wife and were living
without the benefit of clergy with a second "wife" because if they made
it official, they'd no longer be able to pay the woman for working in the
business. Most of us, however, aren't that desperate.
So, instead of pay, they get a kiss on the cheek or pinch on the
bottom...one of the advantages of working with your wife is you can get
fresh with the staff without getting into trouble, and a few dollars every
now and then for a shopping trip.
It will just have to do until somebody in the government decides wives
are important. We in business already know they are.
ROSES
Everblooming Florabunda and Hybrid Tea Roses - Jumbo
grade and patented. Brilliant unfading scarlet red blooms on
long stems, spicy fragrance, steady upright hush with good
foliage.
FRUIT TREES!
DWARF BARTLETT PEAR - $7.25
CLAPPS FAVORITE PEAR - $5.75
STANLEY PLUM - S6.50
GOLDEN JUBILEE PEACH S5.75
RED HAVEN PEACH - S5.75
BING CHERRY - $7.25
MONTMORENCY CHERRY $6.50
RED DWARF DELICIOUS APPLE $7.25
McINTOSH DWARF APPLE $7.25
- GARDEN TOOLS - ROSE TRELLIS - ROSE
ARBORS - HANGING POTS - BULK SEEDS -
NARDI GREEN PASTURE MIXES - CANADA
NO. 1 LAWN MIXES - FERTILIZERS
- IN GOOD SUPPLY -
We Carry a Good
Selection of: -
Ornamental Shade Trees
and Flowering Shrubs.
(GLADIOLA BULBS STILL
AVAILABLE)
For All Your Gardening Needs -
Shop & Save at—
66 Hamilton St.
Industrial 8
Garden Centre
Goderich 524-8761
VILLAGE SQUIRE/MAY 1974, S I