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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1987-02-18, Page 4Nage 4 Times -Advocate. February 18. 1987 • Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgama ed 1924 A imes EMI dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 ccww CNA LORNE EEDY BILL BATTEN Publisher Editor JIM BECKETT . HARRY DEVRIES Advertising -Mangey- —Composition -Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Council responds to mayors Despite some previous indication of opposition and even -resentment, it was encouraging to see that members of Huron County council were responsive to a presentation made to them last week by the mayors of the five county towns. County councillors have long been hindered by an urban -rural split, and while some of that is to be expected because of the different backgrounds and needs represented, it is apparent . that such parochial attitudes can only be detrimental- and short-sighted. The demographics of the county, as outlined by the mayors, show that there is a decided and on-going shift to the growth of urban centres. That shift dic- tates a subsequent acknowledgement that urban issues should be given more priority, and certainly that does not have to be -at the expense of rural residents. In fact, it simply suggests that members of county council have to con= sider the total population to a greater ex= tent and not merely their . own little domain. Hopefully, the presentation by the mayors will help trigger that transforma- '' tion as they clearly pointed out that their areas of concern and responsibility were running parallel to those of county coup-• cil and certainly not in opposing direc- tions. They made it abundantly clear they were looking to county council for policies, insight and leadership rather than envoking their own on ttie county government. All residents of Huron should be en- couraged by the initial dialogue and in turn he encouraging to their elected of- ficials to ensure that it continues. Exeter Mayor Bruce Shaw should be singled out for some special commenda- tion in the giant steps being taken for the sharing of concerns and solutions by the mayors through their own deliberations and -those with county council. Shaw initiated the original sugges- tion that the mayors should join forces for the betterment of their respective municipalities and the positive ideas already being generated are testimony to the validity of the benefits to be derived. As he explained to county council, the mayors have found in only.a few short months that their exchange of solutions and approaches can shorten that endless period between discussing a problem and devising a successful resolution to it. While some members of county council may have originally feared that the mayors may be attempting to under- mine current political structures, they should now have a clear understanding that the exchange of ideas can only serve to strengthen them. Looking for gripes While recent events in Ottawa show a growing cynicism with politicians, part of the problem may well stem from the fact many Canadians just don't have anything else to complain about. Given the national penchant for negativeness, some obviously -are going looking for gripes. • Even the winter weather in all but eastern Canada has eliminated the one normal area for venting frustration at this time of year:Those who can't escape the great white north aren't suffering, while those who have escaped, can't even complain about their worthless dollar as it has escalated by over six cents from this time in 1986. - Interest rates have tumbled to unex- pected lows and there's almost a buyer's market in that category and that has en- couraged the spending needed to grease the wheels of the economy. Things are so good in Ontario, it seems, that Treasurer Bob Nixon is hav- ing a difficult time in spending the unex- pected windfall fast enough; it keeps get- ting ahead of him. Canadians, in general, just can't han- dle all that much confidence building at one time and have to look for some areas or people on whom they can bestow some lack thereof. --mately;- the-current•antiesin-the--- funny farm in Ottawa do provide some needed respite from all that buoyancy. Are snowflakes It's difficult to agree with the many people who claim this is an age of skepticism, although they certainly have plenty of basis for their contention. The fact remains, however, that there are an equal number of incidents to prove that there are just as manyullible people who will accept without question an absurdity. Few have not experienced the joy of having a tongue-in- cheek statement or action wholeheartedly - swallowed by another, despite its apparent ab- 'surdity. There are some who are masters of the art and will tell youthat there is an almost limitless list of victimson which they can only ply their antics. Some examples of gullibility have been passed on for genera- tions, gaining validity by being dressed up as old sayings or bits of folk wisdom. Centrat among them at this time of year is the accepted no- tion that no two snowflakes are alike and that bit of nonsense has / been repeated to the point where it is generally accepted. But, how do we know that no two snowflakes are alike? Has anyone ever examined every single flake that ever fell to make sure? To be sure, we have seen photographs of a great many, but they have been only a tiny frac- ton of the billions that. fall each year. The incalculable number that fall on this planet each year would appear to suggest that, Batt'n Around ...with 11111kThe Editor through the laws of probability, some must be identical. The beauty of the mystery is that it will probably never be solved. First of all, few people are concerned enough to conduct the exhaustive research that would be needed to prove it a fallacy. On top of that, even the person who was successful in such a search would have to have that discovery accepted without validation, because the proof vyould melt before it could be suitably recorded. Naturally, no • one is gullible 'r alike? enough to accept anyone's word on such a matter. Not surprising, there are still segments -of society which hold fast to such theories as the earth being flat and that a curve thrown by a baseball pitcher is really only an optical illusion. Their gullibility, of course, has been well documented.. There are always those who take time to consider statements held as fact and then make the at- tempt to disprove them. Jim Moran, a humorist+of the 1930s, was one of those who believed in testing statements before he accepted them. He once hired 18 Chinese cooks to make an enormous pot of broth and found that, rather than spoil- ing the broth, they turned out a superb product. Jim also found a needle in a haystack, proving that it can be done. He built the stack on a smooth concrete slab, had a friend hide a needle in it, then set fire to the stack. After the fire burned itself out, he "sifted through the ashes and found the needle, ackened but intact. Equa y challenged, but less Please turn to page 5 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited NOW CAN YOU 1NSURt CANADIANS WON'T LAUGH AT YOUR UPCOMING BUDGET? INCLUDE AN AMUSEMENT TAX HA! Fashions change e g I remember long ago when ladies wore hats in church. No self-respecting female, from tod- dler to dowager, would ever darken the door of a temple without covering her crown- It was considered downright inde- cent to do otherwise. Well, fashions change. World War II came and went. In the 60's women were liberated from cor- sets and other foundation garments. During the 70's ladies' hats became museum pieces, but now in the. 80's they are sometimes worn again on Sun- days and even durin the week. In all those years, hink, men did more or less as t y pleased, hat -wise. If their he ds felt cold, they wore hats. their hats. messed up their rtfully design- ed, fashioned and blow-dried (or is it dry -blown?) hairdos, they'd leave their hats off. Hats off to individualism. Perhaps I am the first person to spot a new trend among the male of the species. Remember: you read it first in the Peter's Point column in your communi- ty newspaper! Let me tell you what I mean. The new trend is for men lc? wear their hats and raps indoors at all times. Most fashion trends develop in big cities like Paris, Rome, ,London or New York. Here, finally, we have a fashion fad that clearly has its beginnings in rural North America. My research is still inconclusive. There is, of course, a possibli- .-_ty _that..._the....firsl_aWhippies._. developed in the Blue Mountains of Virginia or in Hillbilly County, Tennessee. But I have my doubts. At any rate, until I'm con- tradicted by authoritative scholars, I maintain that here we finally have a distinctly Canadian fashion trend that may - on its way around the globe - become indentified with our country. And it's about time that we contribute • something to world fashion, don't you think? Whippies - as you may have guessed - stands for Wearing Hats Indoors Permanently, and the word was formed in the same manner as the word Yuppies which stands for Young Upwardly -mobile Professionals. I stand to be corrected, but I am fairly sure that Whippies originated in Canada; somewheke between Alberta and' Qtiebc. They have been reported and positively indentified in the Foothills, on the Prairies, in Nor- thern Ontario, on the Bruce Peninsula, in the Ottawa Valley, and in the Laurentians. Thus far, no sightings have come to my attention from west of the Rockies or from the Atlan- ticProvinces. - I can best describe the Whip - pies that frequent P.J.'s Restaurant because that is where I used to hang my hat (until I became aware of the new trend). Typically, Whippies are between 16 and 66 years old. Unlike the Yuppies who can be either sex, woollen -hats -or toques. The hats and caps for indoor -wearing are usually accompanied by casual clothing, from jeans to overalls, from checkered shirts to bulky sweaters. Often Whippies wear huge boots with open laces. Very popular among them is the un- shaven look - a carefully groom- - ed three-day stubble that must be extremely difficult to maintain at just the right length. I have questioned a number of Whippies about the new style and received conflicting, downright confusing replies. The most fre- quent response so far has been "Eh?", which seems to support my thesis that this custom has its origin in Canada. Several Whippies have told me: "When the Lord sent me forth into the world, He forbade me to take off my hat to any, high or low." Since this is a quotation from George Fox who lived in the 17th century, it suggests that the Whippies are more literate than one might think, and that they at- tach a certain religious significance to their hat habit. It would be wonderful if I could receive ( via this paper) more reports of Whippy sightings. And if you know or encounter Whip-- pies hip=pies in your neighbourhood, ask them what motivates them! I'd really like to know why they wear their hats and caps indoors permanently. Samuel Becket said in Waiting for Godot: "Ile can't think without his hat." Perhaps we are ...411 1KhiI�Bi� a�g.0.lyir�y� malc_.in.....�dealtag..suith.a..plleuoclwnen•-that- fact, they believe that a person is more complex than we realize. cannot be masculine without be- Who knows - the Whippies may ing a Whippy. And they may be not only represent a new fashion right, who knows about such fad, they may actually be a muta things? tion, a genetic development caus- Their hats may vary from ed by acid rain or excessive season to season, but yellow, cigaret smoking or volcanic erup- orange or bright -green baseball tions ... Could it be that baseball caps seem to predominate. Dur- caps actually grow on their ing very severe winter weather, scalps? Awesome thought, isn't these may be substituted by 11? .Freckles was different As I was going down the 401 highway not long ago in a little bit of a snowstorm I recalled a trip quite a few years ago in one of my first vehicles. It was an old gray Volkswagen, one of the first ones imported to Canada. We caHed it Freckles because somebody had started to paint the hood, had sanded down a few spots, painted them a beautiful rose colour, then decid- ed to do something else. Freckles was a good-tempered old girl usually but had a tenden- cy to be unforgiving in other cases. Those Volkswagens had no gas gauges. Instead there was a little lever down by your foot which was usually in a vertical position. As you were going down the highway you would suddenly get a dramatic loss in power and you would realize that you were run- ning out of gas. Immediately you would reach down with your toe and flip the lever over to the three o'clock position which would ac- tivate the reserve tank of one more gallon of gas. That was usually enough to get you -to a gas station. Unfortunately you would By the ..! Way by Syd Fletcher • sometimes forget to flip the lever back up when you refilled the tank. Imagine the sinking feeling you would have when you reach- ed down to kick the lever over and it was already over. There you would sit on the side of the road muttering sweet nothings about the Germans and their 'high technology'. Another lovely thing about Freckles was her total lack of in- terest in warming her occupants. The:engine was in the rear and had a very poor fan on the heater. The trip we were making was on a bitter cold night. Snow was coming down heavily and traffic was moving at a slow pace on the -four lane highway. The heater was doing its usual thing. Basically nothing. We were ready for that though and sat there in full winter gear. The defroster though was just as bad as the heater. There was one spot about six inches wide on each side of the windshield which was frost -free. The rest was com- pletely covered oyer. How we ever made it to our destination in one piece was and is beyond me. I mig t add though that eckl shortly after that went to •• appy wrecking yard in the sky : + my prime prerequisite on my next car was a,gas gauge and a good heater. •