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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1981-12-02, Page 4r Page 4 Times -Advocate, December 2, 1981 imes - Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 4 1()I\1 1 I I )1 Pi:hlisher dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited IIM Bt(Kl rr \t'rlr.inF; \1.111.1i;er 811.1. BALEEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mali Registration Number 0386. Phone 235.1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $17.00 Per Year: USA $35.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' It pays dividends Christmas shoppers should be reminded to look at two tickets on merchandise they are considering this year. The first, of course, is the price but the second may be equally important and it's the "Made in Canada" label. With the nation's economy either in, or heading for, a recession, it becomes more important than ever that shoppers buy Canadian -made goods to give the economy whatever boost they can. Declining sales of domestic products is one of the basic problems with the economy and shoppers who walk out of stores with foreign -produced goods are ad- ding to the problem. Yes, you may have to pay a little more, but in the long run, it is probably cheaper. The alternative is to help pay for the unemployment insurance or welfare cheques being picked up by Canadian workers. Worse yet, it can result in your own pay cheque being replac- ed by a welfare or unemployment insurance cheque. It's a difficult message to get across to people, un- fortunately. Many of this nation's auto workers can't seem to understand why they have no work and yet surveys show that a large . portion of them drive foreign cars. The answer to their problem can partial- ly be seen in their own driveways. But they're not alone. Everyone suffers when the economy is in a down -turn. Sooner or later it reaches us all. This year, give the economy and a fellow Canadian a boost. Buy Canadian. You too will benefit! No one escapes blame As expected, the banks and governments came un- der the heaviest fire when the Task Force com- missioned by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture presented its report last week. However, not escaping criticism, were farmers and farm organizations themselves. Some of the 20 recommendations presented in the report were for immediate action to overcome many of the problems being experienced by the agricultural industry, while others were for more long-term solutions. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the report was the clear indication that certain segments of the industry, and particularly the red meat segment, are in serious problems. Prior to the report, there were conflicting opinions and these were being used in a variety of ways that served only to cloud the situation and delay corrective measures. The Task Force has hopefully managed to clear the air to a great extent and many of the recommen- dations should now be given serious coii'siderations by those involved in the attempt to correct the problems being experienced in this province's most important industry. While • the main thrust must come from governments and banks, farmers should note that they are responsible for many of their own problems and should move quickly to consider the recommendations that pertain strictly to them and their organizations. Want more responsibility While the business world is still a male -dominated part of our society, there is one corner where women are finding equal role - the farming industry. A recent questionnaire to 200 women who attended a farm business course at Kemptville College of Agricultural Technology indicated women are becom- ing more interested in the total operation of the farm. Women appear to want more responsibility for the farm and want to know what generates the income for the records they keep. Completed at the end of the two-day course, the questionnaire said women wanted more instruction in taxation. herd health and farm safety. The women expressed a desire for more women speakers, more on beef and nutrition and a few wanted landscaping. They also wanted the course to develop beyond the present production and business orientation. All of this points to a growing interest by women in farming. Although wives always had a major role to play on the farm, it has usually been a subsidiary role to that of the husband. Today, many farm women want to become totally involved in the operation, the questionnaire indicates. Thanks to this intense interest, the family farm may be around to stay. Could turn many to crime If you have any sympathy to spare this week. don't bother wasting it on the prisoners at Warkworth Penitentiary. The season of good cheer may be coming. but it hasn't affected the Warkworth prisoners. They don't want to disturb their leisure time. It seems the inmates have been presenting a Christmas show every year for the past decade to children, senior citizens, relatives and the general public This year they won't. Duringthose last 10 years, the prisoners ave been allowed to rehearse their Christmas show during their work- ing hours - 35 a week for inmates at Warkworth. This year. the prison imposed a new policy that requires this rehearsal to take place during the inmates' leisure time. or for their pay (they make $5.35 a day r to he docked if they rehearse during working hours. The prisoners consider this cruel and unusual punishment, so this year they scrapped the show. You can hardly blame them. How can they he expected to live under the same conditions as the rest of us on the outside' There may he those wondering what plush facilities and programs are provid- ed for the prisoners' leisure time to make them so adamant in not wanting to waste it on rehearsal for a Christmas program. It's a good question, but probably best left unanswered for fear that too many would turn to crime to get in on the benefits. When I arrived home from hockey practice Wednesday night, I sat down in front of the boob -tube to watch Steve Martin in what was billed as his "Best Show Ever" or some other title of that general description. The selection was not mine. Steve Martin's humor is apparently designed for younger audiences and I suffered BATT'N AROUND with the editor through it after the threat of having my arm broken should I attempt to switch channels. I obviously do not understand today's humor, although there was some con- solation in the fact that my two teenage sons failed to roll around in fits of laughter either, at least not sufficient to rouse the old man from a deep slumber. In case you haven't noticed, TV shows this season have attempted to move into the area of humor as a respite from the sex and violence to which audiences were subjected previously. Most of the shows have fallen a little flat with many viewers, primarily because it is virtually impossible to create anything half as funny as the things that are being done in dead Glengarry News earnest all around us. For those who really enjoy a good laugh, there is always the question and answer period from the House of Com- mons. That show from the political arena in Ottawa has no fear of losing audience to the likes of Steve Martin. The computer age has added to the list of humorous situations in which peo- ple find themselves, although unfor- tunately the victims often find it difficult to laugh. Take the case of a young man in France who stopped at a service station to fill up the tank of his Peugot and paid the bill with a personal cheque. A mile or so down the road he was stopped by the police and when he protested at being stopped, was shot in the face by one of the officers. It seems that the garage owner, becoming suspicious of the validity oif the cheque, called the police to report that a suspicious -looking person had just driven away in a Peugot, and gave the police the license number. The police computer instantly turned up the information that the car had been stolen, which precipitated the ensuing shootout. However, somebody had forgotten to tell the computer that while the car had been stolen, it had also been recovered three years ago, and that the young man had bought it legally two weeks before the incident. Computers should be programmed to say something such as 'sorry about that" under certain circumstances. "I've decided to accept the constitutional agreement for 11'hat it is — unacc•eptahle! " A good mixture of .parents My son the juggler. Yes, he was able to "fit us in" for a visit last weekend. We were honored. It's not often that he can get home for about 30 hours. We see just a little more of him than we did when he was 8,000 miles away in Paraguay. I'll try to describe him objectively, then move to a more subjective point of view. • He looks like his Dad, from behind, I've been told many times. Something about the tilt of the head, the way we walk. About the same height and build, though I'm thickening a bit about the waist, dammit, and the hair is a different colour, his brown, mine white. From in front, he's more like his mother, es- pecially the brown eyes that can turn in seconds from misty sentimentali- ty to a couple of orbs that literally burn when they hit you. In temperament, he's a good mixture of his parents. He has his father's sweet, gentle, reasonable manner and complete disdain for the trivia of life. And he has his mother's ferocious anger over the trivia of life, her compas- sion, her desire for perfection, her urge to talk until the very bones of a listener are exposed. Like me, he's lazy as a coon dog, but can work like an ordinary dog when it's something he's in- terested in. Like her, he wants to be loved, and to have it demonstrated. We kiss and hug every time we meet, rather unusual in these days for a father and son, who usually shake hands and start talking about money and cars and other such fascinating things. He's also a product of his times: the sedate fif- ties, the roaring sixties, the confused seventies. No wonder he's a juggler. I called hithat, because from one meeting to the next, I'm not quite sure which balls (no pun intended) he's throwing up and catching. And sometimes failing to catch. And I guess the reason Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley he's a juggler is that he has a streak of adventure and audacity in him, which forces him into a continuous confrontation with things as they are. He was a model kid un- til about 16: good marks in school, polite behavior with adults, hair neatly cut, practised his piano, under pressure, but faithfully. Bandmaster in the school orchestra. Altar boy at the church. Then, one summer morning, he went • miss- ing. He was 16. There was a thoughtful note in the bread -box telling his parents he was taking off for Quebec to learn French. Panic. His Ma in- sisted I visit the police, who were rather amused. He was only about the six- teenth kid in our com- munity who had taken off that summer. I wasn't too worried, but what goes on in a mother's heart? I don't know. I've never been a mother, except to my two kids and their mother. He came home. Spoke pretty good French. Finished high school, went off to college. Then disappeared again. Was on his way to New Orleans when we nailed him in Baltimore. Went to three different univer- sities, tasting and testing. Found them all wanting, at that particular time. Don't blame him. Regret the years I spend acquiring a knowledge of English and philosophy and history, all of which I could got on my own. He travelled, all over Canada - east and 'west coasts, selling vacuum cleaners in Calgary, working as a waiter on coastal pleasure boats. Somewhere along the line, after he'd been to Mexico and the southern U.S., he became a Baha -i. That meant he had to make a pilgrimage to Haifa, in Israel. Which he did, stopping off in Ireland on the way home. Then pff to Paraguay for five years. The juggler? Right now, hes in Toronto. He is taking courses at the University in astrology, music composition, and playing jazz. He is an ex- pert, or thinks he is, on occult literature. Speaking Spanish, French and English, he has a variety of friends and acquaintances that would boggle the mind. Young women, old men, Brazilian waiters, blacks, French-Canadian play - writers. How does he support himself? Well, he works two days a week at a classy restaurant in the city, as a waiter. And he is also a reflexologist, and gets $25 a rattle for treatments. Reflexology? That's a system of probing and prodding your nerve ends to get rid of the pains and poisons in your body. He gave me a two hour treat- ment last Saturday mor- ning, and I, (thinking I was in good shape) hurt so much that I would have given him $25 to quit. He'll keep you up until three a.m., talking, then either bounce out of bed at seven, insisting you go for a walk, or sleep until noon. His mother had bought a roast, a rather rare oc- casion around our place these days, baked a pie with special love, and had all sorts of goodies ready for him. He was fasting, and had been for a week, taking only liquids. She was miffed. And, among all his juggling, he spends countless hours working at the Ba -ha -i faith, atten- ding meetings, speaking, etc. An interesting character;' the juggler. Generous to a fault when he has some money. Completely unscrupulous about borrowing when he hasn't. But, boy oh boy, I wish he didn't get so angry when I cant tell him the exact minute and hour his sister was born, so he could do her horoscope. A contradiction of the times Emergency was the name on the door. There because I had to be with a young friend, I could see through the doors which swung on the other side of the hall, the doctors and nurses working on her with the stomach pump and their hypodermic needles. She did not look to be very old. a child -faced young woman. It was fairly obvious that she was having her decision reversed, perhaps un- willingly. I read recently that the suicide rate among young Canadians is among the highest in the world, an apparent contradiction in• a country that is among the wealthiest in the world also. Perhaps it was Take it all home to a handsome hubby Make him so happy Perspectives By Syd Fletcher something like this for her: Solder here, solder there A little solder everywhere Acme Wire is the place to work Make a little, save a little Make him so' loving The sparkling car sits in the drive Pysh-button this, push- button that Stereo in front, vinyl all over The best set of wheels money can cover Cocktails for six at seven No problem my friend We'll be ready by seven Wash the dishes now, wipe the mirror quick - They woman's meeting with two pies No I don't mind, I just love to help Well yes, but usually I do not Take a drink before four Solder here, solder there A little solder everywhere Relieve those fears and worries Use Sominex tonight And sleep Sweet and restful Sleep, sleep, sleep