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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1991-04-17, Page 4• Page 4 Times -Advocate, April 17, 1991 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte Business Manager: Don Smith Composition Manager: Deb Lord Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: CANADA Within 40 miles (65 km.) addressed to non letter canter addresses $30.00 plus $2.10 O.6.T. Ottisde 40 miles (65 km.) or any tetter canter address $30.00 plus $30.00 postage (total $60.00) plus 64.20 Q.S.T. Outside Canada $68.00 op • inion FD 1 1 OMZ1;AI. Equally unequal Right now, one would really hate to be an able-bodied white male who had his heart set on a career with the police forces of Ontario. Last week, solicitor -general Mike Far- nan announced the provincial govern- ment's new plan to increase the repre- sentation of racial minorities, women, natives, and persons with disabilities in the province's police forces. An affir- mative action program will insist that all forces take steps to hire candidates from those groups. It's not an entirely bad idea, of course. The predominant stereotype of an On- tario police officer being a six-foot tall white male with a moustache has no doubt led to many racial tensions over the years and a lack of understanding of some of the concerns of minority groups. The instance of a black youth being shot in Toronto for the offense of steal- ing a car has only served to heighten the awareness of the problem. The new government program makes no bones about how it will be enforced - if there is any hint of not hiring enough people from those heretofore disadvan- taged groups, then the penalties will be severe. An independent equity adminis- trator can take over the police depart- ment's hiring program completely, or in drastic cases the police chief can be fired or suspended. Naturally, all those responsible for per- sonnel in every police force, large and small, will be extremely careful not to upset anyone at the ministry of the solic- itor -general for the next while. So if you're a white male with a plan to make a career as a policeman in Ontario, better think again. A.D.H. When 1 get around;::tbit If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, it'll be clear sailing into the inferno for me. The trouble is that people ex- pect too much of me. I don't know why. I don't claim to be perfect. Why does everyone come to me when they want things done? Why do I have to build three wooden backboards for the science fair, although my family knows I'm a runner-up for the title of world klutz champion? Why do I get stuck with being the "newsletter chairperson" of the local figure skating club, when there is nobody to chair but myself? Why do I say "I will" when Elizabeth asks me to repair the kitchen chairs once again, when I know I won't have time to do it till after Labour Day? I must give people the idea that I'm just dying to do things for them. Is it the way I stand around sometimes? As soon as Elizabeth sees me in or around the house, she thinks of chores for me to do. When the kids see me sitting in the arm chair for two minutes, trying to catch up with just the headlines in the paper, they are reminded of their math tests or their public speaking assign- ments, and that ends my solitude for the day. If I escape to the office, even late in the evening, just to get away from the hustle and bustle of chores, there is always a mes- sage on the answering machine. Somebody needs me urgently and will be insulted if I don't make a commitment. - Iflshow myface inthe Mall, people come up to me and say: "I'm so glad to see you," and before I have time to glow with gladness in return, they add "Would you look at my manu- Peter's Point • Peter Hassel script some time and tell me what you think?" "I'll do it, if you're not in a hurry, I have..." "Next week would be early enough." "Look, this is Saturday. I'm going to be very busy next week...." But I'm ready alone left hold- ing 500 hand-written pages of reminiscences. I guess I11 do it when I get around to it. After I stagger around the mall for a while, I just don't know what i should do first, take the car to be ser- viced, pick up the kids from the dentist, go to the hardware store, have a haircut, take my books back to the library, have lunch, or pick up a video. The day isn't long enough. So I call Elizabeth and ask her which of my chores I should eliminate. Instead she gives me three more things to do. Instead of telling her that 1 can't, I admit that I've forgotten the thing in the middle, and she has to repeat it. At the office it's the same thing. Every time the phone rings, somebody asks me to do something I don't have time for. And the fax machine, of course, has priority over the phone, al- though I don't know why it should have. I'd make lists of things to do, but I don't have time to prepare them. There are detailed notes all over the place, but I can't find them when I',m looking for them. What I do find is always something to remind me that I haven't done what I promised to do weeks ago. When is it going to end? When will people leave mein peace? When I'm six feet under- ground, I think, people will come to the graveyard to give me chores to do. "111 do it when I get around to it," I'll say, and they won't even wonder why my voice is so abysmal. Yes, I agree that the basement is messy and needs cleaning up. I'll do it soon. How soon? Maybe when it rains. Because when the sun shines, I have to concentrate on the dandelions that are already sprouting on the law. Will I promise to do it the next time it rains? I know I should never promise anything to anyone any more, but I keep forgetting. It seems that lately my goals are becoming less and less achievable. There's no getting around it: getting around TO it isn't as sim- ple as ituscd to be. HAVE AN OPINION? - The Times Advocate welcomes letters to the editor. They must be signed and should be accompanied by a telephone number and address should we need to clarify any • information. The newspaper also reserves the right to edit letters. Letters can be dropped off at the Times Advocate Office or mailed to: Exeter Times Advocate Box 860, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 1 "Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." ... Thomas Macauley Published Each Wodasedsy Miming at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1.26 by J.W. tidy PPMMoatlons Ltd. Telephoto 1-8122351331 OAT. 0110041106311 ' fAH 1 HAVE, MYSELF FROZEN TILL A ZOB OPENING iS DISCOVERED?" Arrival of the Word We knew we were avant garde. Everyone else thought we were just stupid. Only a decade ago, my friend Andrew and I cast off our clunky hardware store ten - speeds and invested in real bicy- cles. Soon everybody would be doing this, we told each other. We were convinced all Canadi- ans would soon begin to discov- er bicycling as we had done. The revolution was inevitable and soon everyone would be zipping along the streets and back roads on two wheels and without benefit of the internal combustion engine. The world would be a cleaner, healthier place when people got the Word. Andrew and I had a few dis- coveries of our own to make first. We screwed up the cou- rage to buy toe -clips for our ped- als, and discovered they were not the death-traps everyone said they were. We also discov- ered that proper bicycling shorts made all the difference in the world. Aluminum wheels were not only lighter but were far stronger than cheap steel rims, despite the fact we'd always been told otherwise. And so it went. We leamed strange Italian dia- lects so that we could talk Cam- pagnolo, Cinelli, Duegi, and Vit- toria in preparation for the day we could eventually afford such stuff. Today such talk is nearly obsolete, with Japanese being the biking language of the day. Nevertheless, we generally Hold that thought... By Adrian Harte came to comprehend that better bicycles made for better and more enjoyable riding. They were more comfortable and ran smoother and farther than we first dreamed. And yet, people will still tell me today racing bi- cycles are horrible contraptions to ride, despite the fact they've never come closer to a true rac- ing bike than a $150 ten -speed. Consider a good leather saddle costs about $50 - so it's no sur- prise they complain about the vi- nyl junk they're used to. We learned all these things, and ignored all those who said we were crazy, those who laughed at our funny cleated shoes and our clothes. We trained hard, rode what seemed like impossibly long distances; we never planned to race, we just wanted to be ready for the Letters to Editor day when the Word got out. On my birthday the other Sun- day, I went for a ride along the mad south of Ilderton, a favour- ite biking road from years past. There they were, everywhere; people taking advantage of the first warm weekend to ride their bicycles. They all had helmets and padded shorts and gloves. Some had special shoes. All were having fun. All had re- ceived the Word. I no longer felt like a solitary crusader for the enjoyment of mankind's most efficient ma- chine. I was no longer out of place, nobody stared as they drove by - like they used to do. The Word is spreading. Bob Rae's getting his government to do some kind of Great Bicycle Study to see if there is room to expand on this trend. At the top of my wish list are 30 cm. wide bike lanes along every road and highway. Even the Multiple Sclerosis Society are bringing their wide- ly -acclaimed 150 kilometre ride to this area with the introduction of the Grand Bend London - Grand Bend ride on August 10 and 11. You may have seen the posters. I'm definitely going to sign up for this, along with 399 others who have got the Word. No support for Spicer Dear Editor: Down here in sunny Mexico, "The Land of Perpetual Spring" it takes three weeks for our Canadi- an mail to reach us, courtesy our pals in Exeter Post Office. You will note by the U.S. stamps that this letter will go via the Excited States, thanks to a "courier" service run by the Lake Chapola Library, where the ladies are lovely, of course, but not as lovely or efficient as the lovely la- dies in Exeter library! Zeila and I will regret saying a temporary farewell to the warmth of Mexico, but look forward to the best neighbours in the world - Ex- eter. Your March 13, 1991 editorial on Spicer struck a bell; a man liv- ing high on the hog thanks to the over -burdened taxpayer. His com- mission will accomplish exactly zilch, an empty blather of words, half-baked opinions and self- serving nonsense. How this conceited in- dividual keeps getting well paid sinecure is hard to understand; he has been a failure at 11 every government job he even held, inspire of a high powered self Public Relations cam- paign. I well remember how he loaded the findings of his "Bi- lingual" board with narrow-minded French influence. If it was French "good", if it was English it was "do it in both languages". Even an in- teroffice memo had to have French first, even it it concerned two or three people. And he is still with us. Nobody with any education or brains could dispute the value of spealcing and understanding sever- al including French, no longer the language of Diplomacy, but useful at times. But, it's time the tail stopped wagging the dog! If P.Q. wants to separate, really wants to go it alone, well go ahead, but stop whining about it. Yours truly J.M. (Gibby) Gibson Annual Rummage Sale in London Dear Editor: This month the Women's Com- mittee of Orchestra London is pre- paring for its Annual Rummage Sale. This event, which has marked the local and regional cal- endar for over three decades, will again be held in the Special Events Building at the Western Fair- grounds. I enclose a public service announcement with further details. Our records show that an impor- tant part of our clientele for this event has traditionally come from your readership area. We would ask, therefore, for any help you esti give us in publicizing this i annual project. We would note that a substantial part of our symphony audi- ence drives in from your arca and would emphasize that the money raised through our sale goes to pro- mote the Good Symphony Sound of Southwestern Ontario's Orches- tra London. if you have further Questions or concerns, please feel free to con- tact either the Sale Convener, Mrs. Levanty Kazarian at (519) 660- 1043 or the Women's Committee President, Mrs. Susan Merdcey at (519) 672-2298. Thanking you in advance for your co-operation in this endea- vour, l remain, Yours sincerely W.R. Wightman Promotional Chairperson A A