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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-11-26, Page 4111111111111111111111111111111 Page 4 Times -Advocate, November 26. 1986 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgams ed 1924 mes NIB dvocate Servin&South Huron, North Middlesex North Liltmbton Since 18i3 Pubushi Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 150 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 BORNE EEDY Publisher BIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK IONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Promotes violence Those on the shady side of the law who have come to view retailers as easy prey for their robberies, should be hav- ing second thoughts following two recent events in Calgary and Montreal. Store owners in those two cities more than turned the tables on two would-be thieves as they pulled their own guns and killed the intruders. As expected, the incidents have led to considerable public debate and there are many who see the acts of the store owners as justified, although it will be some time before the courts hand down their decision in that regard. Those who support the merchants suggest they should have the right to meet violence with violence. Others con- tend the practice will only.lead to further violences as well as court -imposed penalties for those who take the law into their own hands. The latter group, which includes law enforcement agencies, are torrent in suggesting that society in general is at risk when people start to take such drastic actions to protect . their businesses. The reality is that many criminals will not be deterred by the prospect of such forceful retaliation and they too will move to protect themselves by the "shoot first.., -ask questions later" approach that places store owners and their staff at an even greater risk than present. Obviously, the answer to the situa- tion rests with a greater degree of crime prevention and apprehension of criminals; but perhaps more important- ly, with court action that serves as a strong deterrent. Many store 'owners are perplexed over the apparent slap on the wrist given to some of those by whom they are vic- timized and the number of repeat of- fenders as well as newcomers to the criminal element suggests they obviously consider them in much the same context. It is very frightening to consider that the incidents indicate a growing number of people have lost faith in the present system to the point where they support r - such drastic and dangerous theasures by their fellow citizens and themselves to combat criminal activities. Law and court officials must move quickly to defuse the situation.* Need bold action The past month has seen some rather interesting exchanges between members of Exeter council and the South Huron rec centre board, although that descrip- tion is probably more complimentary than that which some of the participants would use to describe the situation. The recent debates over rec centre matters are, of course, just part of the long-standing turmoil and confusion that has existed over the setup and it is wor- thy of comment to note that a council committee dealing with personnel mat- ters this week presented a recommenda- tion that covered "autonomous boards" such As the cemetery and rec centre boards. The reality is that the rec centre board is not autonomous either in prac- tice or principle. By .its financial and membership criteria, it is the sole responsibility of Exeter council. That's not the way it was. envisioned at the outset, but.that's the way it has been and will continue to be until a formal agree- ment is reached among all four con- tributing municipalities. Unfortunately, the board members get caught in the middle of the frustra- tion by elected officials particularly those in Exeter, in failing to reach that formal agreement.,Current deliberations in that regard show little promise that anything will be accomplished. Perhaps Exeter's mayor remains op- timistic but no more so than those who were optimistic five or six years ago when he said in an inaugural address that the continuing hassle would be ended before that year was finished. His vision was apparently as blurred then as it was last week when he presented the board with council's view of their anticipated deficit. Council apparently came out of that questionable foray with some embar- rassment but that's in keeping with the embarrassment that should be felt by elected officials in all four municipalities, and again Exeter in particular, over the rec board status. The time for some bold steps continues to elapse to the detriment of everyone involved. In some trouble Tonight as i was sitting down to wryytte these columns my daughter tune into the house with some disturbing news. She had been at a local hockey game. One youngster had given a very hard check to another lad who had then crashed into the boards. The second lad did not get up. In fact they had to take him to the hospital in an ambulance. Last year in a similiar situation a boy was paralysed for life from the neck down. Another player •Mind -sided him (checked him unexpectedly frbm behind). Hockey is y its nature a rough sport. That's part of the thrill of it. You see two players size each other up and just know that they are going to try to throw a good check. Next time they come together, there it is. A resounding thump that can sometimes deck 1 one of the players. Even better, the smarter little player dodges fust as the big guy charges and inds nothing but air there. Those types of checks are relatively By the Way by Fletcher harmless and only rarely does so- meone get hurt then. After all, the players wear a lot of good padding. People get hurt( though when they are not expecting impact - r from sticks or deliberate checks from behind. (In football they call the latter offense 'clipping and they deal with it very severely.) It is important that the officials in a rough sport such as hockey come to grips with monitoring this sort of thing. Otherwise it may be taken out of their hands in one of two ways. First, police may be called in to investigate situations where common assault may have occurred. Secondly, insurance costs may rise to prohibitive heights if ex- cessive numbers of settlements occur because of 'accidents' dur- ing games. In many areas sporting events have had to be cancelled simply because insurance could not be purchased. Hopefully this will not happen to Canada's national sport. GAME TpMTE INHALERS vs "SEA SHEPHERD'S STRUCK AGAIN- THE ICE RINK'S MELTED AND ALL THE HARTFORD WHALERS SANK!" On the open highways There s little doubt that four - lane highways, city freeways and by-passes around some of those cities have been a boon to the motoring public. The time they save is im- measurable, although I have almost reached the conclusion that the minutes one saves in travel time is offset by an equal loss of time on one's life expec- tancy. In fact, after the • annual pilgrimage to Toronto to visit the Royal Winter Fair, there is a suspicion that those minutes sav- ed are really offset by hours or perhaps even months in life ex- pectancy'at least if the facts and figures on high blood pressure and stress are to be believed. No doubt some wag will sug- gest that the stress the editor ex- periences in tackling high-speed throughway and city expressway driving is really a sign of advan- cing age. I won't argue the point; it's as good a reason as any to ex- plain the phobia. Travelling along the 401 is seldom too nerve wracking. After a few miles it is possible to become accustomed to the closed -in feeling of having two huge trucks side-by-side in front of you, two others in the same position behind you and one either on your right or left, depen- ding on which lane you happen to be in at any given time. It's not unlike driving at the bottom of an extremely narrow and deep canyon. It helps if you have a radio to get frequent weather condition reports, because that constitutes one of the few ways of knowing what the "outside" world is really like as you travel in the convoy of the big rigs. At least there's the reassurance that you're in the company of some very compe- tent drivers and that tends to help overcome that trapped feeling. * * * * * * Of course, one of the major pro- blems on the 401 is not the drivers on the road, but the road' crews who are out patching things up. It's virtually impossible toi travel to Toronto without facing the prospectof one such road crew and last week was no excep- tion to the rule. Just west of Milton, traffic started to slow noticeably, at Batt'n Around ...with The Editor least to the wary, and the speed- way soon resembled a huge park- ing lot as hundreds of vehicles were funnelled into a single lane for a considerable distance. The impasse was made more so by a few vehicles pulled onto the shoulder as the police sorted out a collision among those who had failed to properly adjust their gas pedals. As the construction site was finally reached after the stop and go manouvres, one expected to see giant earth movers and other heavy construction equipment tackling the job at hand. But that was not the case. The ehtite blockade was devised sole- ly for -the benefit of the normal highway work crew: six men and one shovel. They weren't even working (wait for the rest of the sentence) on the highway; they were putting some patches on the shoulder of the road. Friends from St. Marys who traversed the area an hour after, reported there was another acci- dent at that time, as well as a lenghty delay in getting through the five -mile stretch closed off for the small work party. In retrospect, after simmering down from the apparent absurdi- •ty of the situation, it must be ad mitted that such safety pro- cedures must be extended, but this one appeared to be over- extended. Of course, all that pales in com- parison to tackling the city freeways. The only consolation is that the people who plan them have a generous degree of humor, sadistic though it may be. No sooner do we country bum- pkins push the pedal to the metal to keep up with our crazy city cousins, than we are confronted by some unusual signs. My favorite is "this lane . ends", followed closely by "two right 'lanes must exit". t _ Obviously,, there is noticing more humorous than"fSiSebding along at 100 km. per hour (or more if you don't want to get rear-ended) than to find you're in the lane that ends and there's a solid wall of high-speed vehicles in the only other lane left to your disposal. Tears of laughter well up as you approach the exit where cer- tain traffic must exit, regardless if that is the driver's intention. In fact, the cars shooting across in front and behind give- ample evidence that most drivers are usually in the wrong lane at the wrong time so there's some solace there in knowing you're not alone in having to attempt vehicular suicide. The major consoling factor in driving in that lunacy is in the statistics that indicete you're most likely to have an accident within five or ten miles of your own residence. I just keep praying the statistics hold up whenever the memory of driving in Toronto has lapsed to the point where I am persuaded to try it again. That persuasion becomes more dif- ficult each year! Free from elevators I am not talking about grain elevators. Maybe people in grain elevators have some peculiar habits too, but I'm no expert in that area. I am talking about • people elevators, the kind that is found in office and apartment buildings and other structures where folks for one reason or another have to go up and down constantly. I have come to realize that peo- ple in elevators behave in a very strange fashion, and I am wondering why. What is it that makes elevator passengers so funny? It starts out at the door. It doesn't matter how many thousands of times wehave taken 'the elevator, we never expect anyone to come out of it when the door opens. We're ready to rush in, ahead of the others, as soon as the light goes on or the bell rings. Ready to dash forward. And when people on the inside want to come out, we get in their way. We feel that they are intruders, slow'& ing us down. We've got to rush because - heaven forbid - the door could close before we get a chance to board. And that could mean a wait of anywhere from 15 to 45 seconds. Nothing is more agonizing than waiting for an elevator. No matter whether we're five minutes late or ten minutes early. Here is Peter's first elevator law: "Time waiting for elevators always count dou- ble." We look at our watch, we study the numbers that indicate what floor the elevators are on, and we jostle for the best position. Once inside, we hope for the door to close immediately - before others come in to delay our departure even more.. If so- meone tries to squeeze in, do we push the "open" button to make it easier for them or the "close" button to make it more difficult? It depends. I've been in situations where the "close" button was pushed simultaneously with the floor button, and where nobody had a chance to join us. On the other hand, I've been annoyed by the overly accommodating per- son who keeps pressing the "open" button as long as there is a remote possibility of someone else running for the elevator from far down the hall. Invariably I en- counter these friendly types when I'm especially late. And the newcomers always want to get off before I do. Here is Peter's second elevator law: "In a crowded elevator, my floor is always the highest going up and the lowest going down." What people do in elevators once they're aboard is very odd. To start with, they all face the door. They arrangg•themselves as if they were magnetic. Anyone turning in the opposite direction, face to face with the others, would probably be regarded as a pervert. Unthinkable. You just don't ride in an elevator looking at people's faces. While staring at the neck of the person in front of you, it is permissible, I think to glance sideways at your fellow - passengers' profiles ,or semi - profiles. But frontal exposure? Never! While it is alright to exchange weather information among peo- ple in elevators who know each other, • it is gauche to talk to strangers. Even the briefest con- versation would run counter to elevator etiquette. Quite apart from the fact that is is difficult to chat with a lady while starinat the back of her head or witha gentleman who breathes down Please turn to page 4