The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1975-02-06, Page 4 (2)OUR POINT OF VIEW
Names for all fears
Everyone is afraid of something
sometime or another, pnd in this age of
technology, we must put a label on
everything.
So it -was with delight that we read an
article in the December issue of the "Cana-
dian Printer and Publisher" giving a name
for any fear you might have.
You've all heard of Claustrophobia.
fear of closed spaces. and Hydrophobia.
(technically, fear of water. but generally
meaning madness in dogs or in people
bitten by mad dogs). but have you heard of
these: ,Mysophobia. fear of filth;
Scopophobia. fear of being seen naked;
Brontophobia, fear of thunder:
Stasiphobia, fear of . standing erect;
Hyalophobia, fear of glass; Thassophobia.
fear of sitting idle: Ergophobia, fear of
work (didn't know you had it, eh?p.
Mythophobia, fear of Tying; Kenophobia.
fear of large. open spaces; Scotophobia.
fear of darkness: Amenophobia. fear of
wind; Galeophobia, fear of cats;
Taphophobia, fear of hair; Anthophobia.
fear of flowers: Basiphobia. fear of walk-
ing: Siderodomophobia. fear of trains:
Nucleomitophobia. fear of atomic ex-
plosions: and Phobophobia. fear of your
fears.
Still not satisfied' Well. how about pan-
ophobia. fear of everything.
Farm loss position
While area consumers may be pleased
with the lowering of prices they pay at the
meat counter these days. it is tar from en-
couraging for farmers.
- Already hard pressed to make ends
meet with increasing prices for the com-
ponents that t ago into their livestock produc-
tion. the declining prices have many of
them in a loss position.
Unfortunately. their pleas of hard
times often fall on deaf ears. because in the
past they have been inclined to suggest that
their incomes were too low. when in fact
they were not.
Now that they have legitimate com-
plaints. some people still tend to feel they
are "crying wolf" as usual.
But they are not Ilam• area farmers
engaged in livestock production are
operating at significant losses. and while
the consumer is benefitting from that posi-
tion. the tide will turn drastically if present
conditions continue.
Farmers. similar to the rest of society.
can not operate at continual losses. Some
are already getting out of livestock produc-
tion and the long-range ramifications of
that move are serious.
First of all. consumers will see their
food bills jump substantially as the supply
and demand criteria forces prices up. Of
even greater concern is the fact that food
will be in short supply as farmers sell off
their breeding stock. That is one of the
reasons for the over -supply and low prices
right now. Many farmers are getting out of
livestock production and flooding the
market.
Unlike the automobile industry.
farmers can not shut the door at the plant
for a couple of months while the demand
catches up to current supplies. They're
either in or out. and right now more and
more are getting out. ,
It's a fight for survival ... but one in
which we are all involved. not just -farmers.
When beef prices were 50 percent
higher than today's level. studies indicated
that no one involved from the producer to
the consumer was making an excess profit.
But the decline in price since that time has
been carried almost exclusively by the
farmer.
It is now a matter of national concern
and warrants immediate action by senior
levels of government and farm leaders.
Toll in public Iife
Announcement by Ed Broadbent that
for family reasons he will not run for the
national`leadership of the New Democratic
Party has focused attention again on the
toll of being in public life.
It was generally assumed that Mr.
Broadbent was the most likely man to get
the job.
Local members find themselves living
in Ottawa or Toronto apart from their
families most of the time. There are heavy
demands on their time for appearances at
public functions. Since they are asked fre-
quently to deliver a speech. a suitable talk
on a pertinent subject must be researched
and prepared. Politicians. especially
national leaders. must kc �'p themselves
well informed on the various issues of the
day. both for Canada and in other lands.
When something happens either here or
on the far side of the globe they often find
themselves faced with a microphone and a
request for an instant analysis and solution
within minutes after the event has taken
place.
We cannot offer a solution to this
problem. but the general public should take
this more into consideration than it does.
Even in municipal politics. many good
potential candidates have said they simply
cannot spare the time. and are unwilling
to put up with the flak which goes with
seeking office in Strathroy or any of the
area townships.
Strathroy Age -Dispatch
Beefs I've stewed on
With beef the price it is. most -of
us don't see much of it on the
table these days. However.
there's one type of beef that is as
cheap as ever. If you can't af-
ford the real thing. have a good
beef about something that annoys
you. It's not as tasty as the
genuine article. but it's good for
your blood pressure. even though
there isn't much protein in it
I haven't had a good beef about
anything for a while. so here
goes.
First of all. supermarkets.
Many of them are becoming
more impersonal. more in-
efficient, and more sleazy. from
day to day. The change has been
most noticeable in the past couple
of years.
Until then. there was a
crackling efficiency in most of
the big chain stores. The
manager and staff would bust
their necks to help you find what
Times Established 1873
you wanted. The girls on the cash
registers nearly always had a
smile and a greeting. Packaging
boys bagged your groceries and
would carry them to your car if
you wished. As a result. the
stores were pleasant places to
shop.
What a change' The only time
you see the manager is on a
televisionad.Try to find a clerk.
during busy hours. to tell you
where the unsalted peanuts or the
salted crackers are. and you
might as well be in the Sahara.
with an empty water canteen.
looking for a nice. fresh spring.
The girls on cash don't smile
enough. and are obviously
overworked. The packaging boys
seem to be an extinct species. and
when there is one around. he's
just going for his coffee break.
And he wouldn't think of carrying
outyouur parcels. _
11 must be that management is
Advocate Established 1 881
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SERVING CANADA
C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A.
Editor -- Bill Batten —
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Women's Editor —
S BEST FARMLAND
CLASS A and ABC
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— Ross Haugh
Terri Etherington
Phone235-1331 •
deliberately cutting back on staff
and service. Why? To increase
profits?
Yesterday, 1 went into a
supermarket to pick up a few
groceries. About $10 worth, or
one bag. 1 did my shopping in five
minutes. and spent 20 minutes
waiting in line to pay for it. Of six
checkout counter two were
open. One girl was frantically
punching buttons and bagging
groceries. No packaging boys in
sign. The other counter open was
the Express counter t8 items or
less.
And there's another thing that
makes my hair stand on end and
my temples throb with outrage.
The Express counter.
The very name is a laugh. They
should he re -named the Snail
counter. They are supposed to by
for the people who pick up a can
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N0- WE 90N' T (4L IE6ATE5 1N AVVANCti.
Where did winter go 2
Whatever happened to winter?
That's the question that
becomes rnore topical these days
as the weather plays strange
tricks. replacing winter's snow
and cold with rain and moderate
temperatures.
With only a few exceptions, the
past three winters in this area
have been abnormal. Snow fall
has been well below average and
those ear -tingling cold snaps
have been few and far between.
For some people that's
good ... but for others it could
almost be described as a
disaster.
If you're in the business of
selling snow tires. snow shovels,
heavy winter overcoats,
snowmobiles or the other hun-
dred -and -one things dependent
upon an average winter, then
you're in trouble.
For some merchants, it is no
great problem. After all, if you
don't use snow tires then you
merely wear out your regular
tires twice as quickly and the sale
of tire 'n general changes very
little.
However, it is easy to imagine
the anguish of those whose
livelihood depends to a great
extent on normal winter con-
ditions. For instance. the stock in
ski lodges must be falling
drastically these days and
anyone considering a business
venture in selling or servicing
snowmobiles would draw the
same time of questioning glances
if he were to announce he was
getting into the buggy whip
business.
Pointing the finger of guilt in
matters relating to the weather is
almost a waste of time. However,
the writer does point out that
many of the changes have come
about since weathermen started
quoting temperatures in celsius.
That has not only confused
most of us from "the old school"
but perhaps it has also had an
effect on whoever controls the
weather.
So. those in favor of old•
fashioned winter conditions had
Netter start writing their MP and
asking that this total change to
the metric system be dropped.
+ + 4 -
In
In view of the latter comments
it may appear foolish to make
suggestion regarding anoutdoor
winter sport. but we have often
of beans. a loaf of bread and some
bologna. They are supposed to zip
you through smartly. They don't.
I stood in line for about eight
minutes. wondering what the
holdup was. as there were only
two or three ahead of me. When 1
was close enough to see. I
realized what was going on. Two
places ahead of me was an old gal
with a nearly full shopping cart.
about 30 bucks worth of grub. 1
started to burn. Eight items is
supposed to be the limit in that
line-up.
When she finally got finished.
and muddled around having a
cheque endorsed, another woman
took her place, and started
unloading her cart. After she had
placed eight items on the counter.
I began counting. Aloud, in a
clear. penetrating voice. Do you
know how many items that old
kiddie had? Thirty-six!
I remarked, loud and clear to
the cashier: "I thought this was
the Express counter, eight items
or fewer." She had the grace to
blush. 1 half expected the old hat
to turn and pulverize me with a
slaami, but she kept eyes front
and her ears were red.
1 have a feeling there is room
right now for sothe old-fashioned
neighborhood groceries, where
you get personal service and your
purchases are delivered, if you
want to phone in an order. The
lig supermarket must be hell for
little old ladies with arthritis who
have to walk with a couple of
— Please turn to Page 5
thought that Exeter's RAP
committee should look at the
possibility of developing a
toboggan run for local
youngsters.
There are only a few hills
available in close proximity to
most of the youngsters, but they
are worth some investigation to
see if they could be groomed or
otherwise improved to give the
kirk more hours of en-
tertainment.
Toboganning is a family sport
to a great extent and no doubt
many in the adult population
would benefit by such a project.
It would certainly be good for
their physical well-being, if
nothing else.
The present run used by the
kids at Dow's hill has a few spots
referred to as "suicide jump" by
the youngsters and one wonders
if they could be improved through
some effort by the town with the
co-operation of the land owner.
With the sewer project ex-
pected to come up this summer,
plenty of fill would be available to
improve the hill for tobogganing
and the expenses involved may
,,and
comparatively small.
There are also hills on the north
side of the river in close
proximity to the curling rink
which may have some potential.
+ + +
Following their trips to
Michigan we've heard many area
residents note that they hoped
Ontario would never be like their
neighboring state in allowing the
great proliferation of signs along
highways.
Well. it may be that in the
future we'll have to change_ our
tunes slightly. and hope that
Ontario follows the lead of
Michigan authorities in reducing
the number of signs.
Legislation has been passed
prohibitingsigns on many high-
ways and the changes are most
dramatic. A total of 15,000 signs
have already been removed and
there are still 7,000 to come down
under the new law in Michigan.
The Lapeer County Press
recently ran a photo of the
change. One picture showing the
pte-law scene has at least six
signs in a quarter -mile section
and the next photo has no signs.
The houses along the road are no
longer obscured and the photos
even show that there are trees in
Michigan.
It's a move in the right
direction and one that is long
overdue south of the border
where the countryside has been
spoiled by the large number of
signs, many of which were not in
good repair.
+ + +
• Speaking of our American
cousins, we hear from area
residents returning from
holidays in Florida that things
are gloomy indeed south of the
border.
Depression and recession are
constantly among the chief topics
of Conversation and there are
those who suggest that this is
contributing innosmall part tothe
dip in the economy.
The more people talk about
recession and depression the
more they start to act as though
they are facing problems and in
many ways their actions then
contribute in making the com-
ponents of recession and
recession.
-That mhy be over simplified. of
course, but there's no question
that attitude still has a great deal
to do with any nation's economy
and it is therefore encouraging to
hear many political, industrial
and economic leaders in Canada
speaking more optimistically of
what they foresee for this nation
in the months ahead.
OLD 'TIM
50 Years Ago
W. W. Taman, S. Sweet and G.
Snell were called to Goderich
Tuesday to act as jurymen, the
former on the Grand Jury and the
last two on the Petit Jury.
Leonard Heist, who recently
purchased the butcher business
of Kirk Bros. took possession
Monday. Mr. Heist who is the son
of Ezra Heist of Stephen, has
been engaged in the butcher
business in Detroit for the past
year. Dave Kirk is contemplating
moving to Cobalt to run a butcher
business.
C. W. Bradshaw. accountant at
the Molson's Bank, Hensall, has
resigned his position and his
duties were taken over by Mr. S.
L. Peppier of London. Mr. & Mrs.
Bradshaw and family are leaving
for the West.
The 60th annual meeting of the
members of the Zurich
Agricultural Society was held in
the Town Hall and the following
officers were elected; president,
J. P. Rau; vice-president, Dr. A.
J. McKinnon, directors, E.F.
Klopp, J. A.Smith, A. Reichert,
M. Rader, O. Klopp, J. Decker
Jr., Wm. Hey, P. J. fFarEerer, J.
Pfaff and sec-treas. A. F. Hess.
25 Years Ago
The hpsital building fund is
514,000 short of its objective,
575,000 has already been con-
tributed.
Janet Kestle, Exeter and
Joanne McCurdy Centralia
received their caps at Victoria
Hospital School of Nursing last
Wednesday.
• Mrs. 11 E. Pooley was elected
president of the Exeter Red
Cross, succeeding Mrs. W. E.
Middleton who has held that
office for the past three years.
Mrs. Jack Fulcher was named
"Queen of the Ball" at the
sorority dance Friday night.
15 Years Ago
The Exeter Curling Club has
decided to build its own rink this
year, town council learned
Monday night.
The Alex Stewart and Sons feed
grain mill at Ailsa Craig was
destroyed by fire early
Tuesday. Damage was estimated
at $265,000.
Construction began Tuesday on
the showroom and office building
for Conklin Lumber Co. Ltd. on
highway 83.
Installing officer Rt. Wor. Bro.
William Cann presented Wor.
Bro. Eugene Beaver with gavel
as ruling Master of Lebanon
Forest Lodge, Exeter at a recent
installation of officers for the
centennial year 1960.
Tenders for the three-room
addition to Exeter Public School
are expected to be called this
month, it was indicated at the
board meeting Monday ni?ht.
10 Years Ago
Around 30 "Marching
Mothers" braved the cold
Monday night to collect a record
$536 -in_ the annual March of
Dimes blitz.
Three members of the Exeter
OPP detachment with the help of
Exeter Constable Lloyd Hodgins
walked off with the trophy at the
first annual police curling bon -
spiel.
Jane Southcott and John
Graham took top honours in the
senior public speaking contest at
SHDHS recently.
A class of 12 -students in the
Registered Nursing Assistants
class commenced training at
South Huron Hospital with Mrs.
J. H. Delbridge as instructress.
Mr. & Mrs. Albert Steeper
celebrated their 50th wedding
anniversary.
t�Uf l�K 4 tt i
Way doesn't matter
For a few beautiful days we've
been holidaying in Bermuda, sur-
ely oneof the world's loveliest and
most peaceful islands. Away
from the stress and strain of life
it seems like a touch of Paradise.
From our room we have two
views. One windowlooksout on a
blue-green, tranquil. protected
bay. For a landlubber. it's a
fascinating sight t� see the tide
come in. Slowly and quietly the
water of the ocean moves over
the pink sand until it's complete-
ly covered.
From the other window we
view hugh chunks of volcanic
rock jutting out into the wide ex-
panse of the Atlantic. On a windy
day the waves dash wildly up
against these boulders causing a
scene of fuming. fussing and
fighting as the hard rocks throw
the water back to the great sea.
This could describe two ways
how people come into God's
kingdom. With some, as with the
tide. it's a steady. even. gentle
process until. finally. that person
realized he or she has been com-
pletely immersed and given over
to God's will and purpose. But
there are others who come kick-
ing and fighting into the
Kingdom. resisting every inch of
the way until at last they find
there is no fight left and they
relinquish their lives to God.
often in quite dramatic ways.
Sometimes Christians discuss
(almost quarrel) about which
method is the best, but I'm sure
God doesn't care how we come
just so long as we do.
I mentioned the great jagged
rocks one sees all around the
coast of Bermuda. This is
because the island is built on the
summit of an extinct volcano. It
was first discovered by a Spanish
mariner. Juan de Bermudez, in
1503. However. it remained un-
settled for almost 100 years
becoming known as the Isle of
Devils due to its treacherous
reefs and hurricanes which caus-
ed many shipwrecks.
Strangely. it was a shipwreck
that brought about the perma-
nent settlement in Bermuda. The
Sea Venture. flagship of nine
vessels sailing from England for
Virginia, became separated
from the rest of the fleet by a
terrible storm. and on July 28,
1609. after five days of bailing
water. miraculously still afloat,
the crew sighted Bermuda. and
launched the ship's life boats. To
their surprise they found an
abundance of wild pigs (left by
the Spaniards). fish. birds,
turtles. prickly pears: palmetta
and tall cedar treesrovidin
P g
more than enough food ... and
not a devil in sight!
Here again. we see a parallel
of lives of some people who must
be shipwrecked and swamped
before they_ start rowing or
swimming for the shore of God's
kingdom. Often. they're going
down for the third and final time
before they can humble
themselves to cry out from the
desperation of their hearts,
"God, help me!"
Next column. I'll tell you the
remarkable story of such a man
whose life was so thoroughly
wrecked he was forced to call out
to a God in whom he didn't even
believe. It's also the story of how
this God stepped out. met him in
the deep water and rescued him.
Our response to now
By ELMORE BOOMER
Counsellor for
Information South Huron
For appointment
phone: 235-2715 or 228-6291
Soap operas and therapy
Mrs. X was silent. Different
issues were mentioned. The
therapist knew that some of
these very issues caused anxiety
in the lady before her. Yet
silence was maintained by the
one being counselled.
It was only as she used less
direct methods • that Mrs. X
became interested in talking.
She enquired about her daily
routine and soon found that she
watched a number of soap
operas.
This lady had had five pregnan-
cies. The first three children liv-
ed. but the fourth had died of crib
death. After this death she felt
tremendously guilty. The baby
had not been wanted. Then too.
she added to her guilt by imagin-
ing that she had been careless.
and by this carelessness she had
caused his death.
After her divorce, a fifth
pregnancy had come to pass
through her relationship with a
boy friend. He had persuaded her
to have an abortion and she had
agreed. Yet later she did not
accept responsibility and con-
tinuously blamed him. The
relationship could not stand the
strain and soon broke up.
As Mrs. X began talking about
the soap operas, she showed her
preoccupations by mentioning
the fact that few abortions came
to fruition in the T.V. serials.
(The viewing audience would not
have tolerated it.) Always the
man. or some man, saved the
situation by accepting respon-
sibility for the child and carrying
the expectant mother away to
pleasant prospects in the very
bright future.
Not only did she wish that
some man had saved her from
the painful decision regarding
her abortion and the stress that
followed. she also wished that
she might be saved from her pre --
sent style of living in the same
way.
She lived in a poorer section of
town. Her house was rather
dilapidated. She never cleaned it.
feeling that she could not invest
her energies in such a worthless
task. She would rather fantasize
about her 'prince' coming out of
nowhere to rescue her. Thus she
hoped and wished. and that
rather vainly.
This common theme of soap
operas was worked through in
numerous ways in therapy
between our lady and her
counsellor.
Again another of Mrs. X's fan-
tasies came to the fore as they
talked abopt the stories which
she watch4d daily. She had an
ideal man. a star in the show
business world. As she began to
realize that she would never gain
her ideal. she looked to some of
her soap opera heroes.
She decided to be more
realistic. If she could only find a
husband who would treat her
with respect. she would be con-
tent.
Then she became truly
realistic. How could she expect a
man to respect her if she did not
respect herself. She began to
realize that her first husband
had beaten her violently because
she had invited it with her own
' sense of worthlessness and self -
hate.
It was after this that she began
to make some very worthwhile
friends. Satisfaction came as she
accepted herself and thus could
accept others and allow others to
accept her in friendship.
Again the soap operas proved .
to be useful to the therapist and
her client in working out her role
as a mother. As the lady and her
daughters watched a program on
one occasion. one of the girls
asked if people used others as do
the characters in the soap
operas.
Mrs. X answered in the affir-
mative and of course this begged
a further question. "How can you
tell the difference between those
one can trust and those one can-
not trust?" The mother did not
know. When she brought this
question to the therapist she used
it to advantage to encourage the
mother to new usefulness as a
mother. She saw how she had
used her children and how she
had been used by them. Thus she
attempted a new way of relating
to them.
This is an example of the use of
one element of our culture, in
therapy, given to us by Anne
Kilguss of Framingham, Mass.,
in the Novemberissue of Social
Casework. It raises some in-
teresting questions:
1f soap operas can be so useful
in working with people to show
up personal problems, to ask lea-
ding questions, to give people
patterns by which they attempt
to live, just what effect do they
have on millions of viewers?
Why do people watch these
dramas daily. What does their
popularity show about our pre-
sent culture and society?
These leading questions re-
quire another column for their
answers.