HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-03-10, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, March 10, 1993
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A system without rights
ast week's report on the avail-
ability of welfare to teenagers, and .the
effects that can ha on .their lifestyles
generated a strong response from the
public. Some said it was about time
someone told the story of what was go-
ing on, other seemed surprised'that the
system was_as open to abuse as viewed
by those interviewed.
Ourselves, we were :impressed -,byithe
simi.arity of whit was being told`rwus
by all we contacted, even from those
we would -expect to be defending the
system.
The :message cameitlsoi[gh loud and
clear. The welfaremstonsis a program
open to abuse.
While some have said it is often -easi-
er . to let a troubled teenager. leave the
home to find their own way, we have to
question whether financial .assistance
from the government is a true solution
to a social problem.
It doesn't happen :in.all .cases, but it is
obvious many fear that a "closed-loop"
lifestyle emerges from an early :depen-
dence on:govetnment handouts. A stu-
dent leaves home, .quits school, _has no
skills, can't -get a job,:mid*ends nip:on
welfare forw. Does :hit: =
there? We've spoken to -teachers -milk,
say they have students in their class-
rooms who represent a third -generation
of welfare. Their grandparents and par-
ents alike don't have jobs.
Who is at fault? We can't doubt that
welfare is needed today to provide a life-
style of some dignity for those who can't
find a place .in the "normal" economic
system. And with the current state of
this continent's manufacturing indus-
tries, the problem appears to be growing.
But the one fact remains, the system
should not be abttlt ed. Give the money
to those who needtiit;=not to those who
can find a use for it if it's available. Dis-
cerning the difference between those
two -_3s tithe hard part, .and even if it's
found -who has the rightrto say 'no'?
It becomes clear to us that xhe "lack of
rights" of the system, as witnessed byan
Exeter :mother, translates into a lack Sof
authority ;in governments :and agencies
lacinglheialmighty rights.oftttlte .individ-
ual, regardless if they'ret iHagal.age.
Is tthis what we ,had inrestindouthemave
putithis system together?
Some have said .that . allowing teenag-
ers to leave good homes and offering
them a life of :dependence on welfare
borders on the criminal.
Actually, aren't .there .laws against .con-
ibuting,to thea! ? .
tWhat's to stop govammant. icy, sit dggg
it all by itself?
A.D.H.
Embarrassed
The snowbank .:in-ltmy office
driveway was so high that snow
got inside my boots. My socks
were dripping wet.
In the office, 1 took my boots
off, draped my socks over a
chair, and wore bare feet inside
my warm, handmade sheepskin
slippers.
1 seldom have to worry about
visitors in my office. It's out of
the way. -Hardly anybody knov11s
where it is. And the kind of
work 1 do doesn't 'attract the
public. In fact, my office is .so
private that I often don't bother
to, shave in the morning. Unless
Elizabeth reminds mc.
Solast Wednesday, as I was
enjoying a quiet morning. with
my feet getting dry and warm
and niy socks gradually drying, 1
suddenly heard a knock at the
door.
Who could it be'? I had heard
no car in the yard. Of course, no
car could conic in, since the
township plough had dumped a
mountain of snow in front of it.
Somebody had climbed the
mountain, though. There was
definitely somebody at my door.
Two men.
My .visitors surprised me.
They looked important. Not like
the ordinary folk one expects
around here. These were men
from the city. Maybe lawyers or
politicians. Impeccably dressed,
wearing city overcoats, city hats,
and city toe rubbers. You know
the type. 1 was intimidated.
Obviously they wean: not im-
pressed with Me. Did they think
they had come .to. the wrong
place? They looked first at my
unshaven face and then at my
funny feet. What was 1 dging.
shuffling" around in these out-
landish sheepskin slippers?
What must they think, 1 won-
A
dered. Maybe they were afraid
that I wasn't me at all, but an im-
personator, a fugitive from jus -
Texas? But I was too embar-
rassed to ask, too ashamed of
my appearance to establish the
reason for their visit.
With one hand I covered my
.chin, trying to hide the worst of
Peter's the stubble. With the other hand
PQlrit I picked up a cluster fly that had
jmceremoniously dropped dead
401 'on top of some papers cluttering
t;my desk.
Peter Hassel "I'm having trouble with these
darn Ries," I said, "they're just
everywhere. Do you have clus-
lice, maybe' a hijacker or worse. ter flies where you come from?"
Was I a kidnapper, a terrorist, or I hated myself. What a stupid
simply a hobo hiding out from thing to say to such important
reality?,Thcy examined me with visitors! As if they, had nothing
suspicion. better to do than chat with Inc
I asked them to come in. I about dead flies. ,
pushed my boots out of the way Here they were visiting me
so the visitors wouldn't fall over from far away. They had
them. I quickly removed my climbed over a deep snowbank.
socks from the back of the chair They had encountered me aL Iny
and wiped the water from its absolute worst. And what do I
seat. I gathered up my parka do? I bore them with country
from another chair and hung it talk.
up on a hook. Then I asked -them
to sit down.
It seethed they preferred to
stand. They obviously didn't
trust me. I could tell that some-
thing serious was on their mind.
1 wondered who they were, and
what they wanted. But I was
busy trying to convince thein
that I wasn't an impostor, that I
was genuine. It never occurred
to me to ask why they had come
to see me. portant visitors were only trying
"Sorry .about the high snow- to soil me a vacuum cleaner. 1
bank," I said. "Norris is going to freely exposed my chin. Politely
come and plough Inc out soon". but firmly I showed them out. I
Bhutk stares. .watched through the, window as
Hood .114 of inc to thunk that ey struggled back over the
they might know who Norris Is.'_iritowbank and got into their car.
These men were not from
around here, they were from far
away. I could see that. I won-
dered where they came from.
Toronto'? Vancouver, Dallas,
Finally one of the visitors
carne to the point: "Congratula-
tions! You have won a week's
vacation for two in sunny Orlan-
do. Florida, absolutely free. with
no strings attached. All you have
to do is to answer a simple skill -
testing question and to allow us
to demonstrate the 'Truly Amaz-
ing Power Vac Sanitation Sys-'
tem..."
What? My sky fell in. My im
Then I put my boots back
.where they belonged and hung
my socks over time chair again.
Everything was back to no dte'
f
Letters to Edit°
"Itzmniiig away from home"
Dear Sir. ter.
Re: "All you're giving them is a On behalf of
license to party" article in your a "Parent Sup -
March 3, 1993 issue. port Group in
Thank you for publishing the Hensel: beanfronageearticle a�welfare assure you that the
being teriagerrs to- far -`-4 _ great majority 'of
ty". While the story is a criticism our group, shares
of our welfare system, the first these .concerns about the system
message that came through, loud and feels the frustration of the
and clear, was the very strong love mother, which are so well depicted
felt by this mother for her daugh-
in your article.
Most of us adults can recall some
conflict with our parents during ad-
olescence. It . its quite normal to
have considered "running away
from home" at least once in our
lives. Wouldn't it have sweetened
the pot, to know that the Govern-
„ ment would pay our way?!
Yours truly
Marty Dick
Notes from OId Fort Gibson
Dear Editor:
Now that Brian has done the
wise thing and "resigned", the po-
litical air has considerably cleared.
The electorate can see that the To-
ries have a group of highly quali-
fied people from whom to choose
a new leader.
Any one of five or six fine peo-
ple would make an excellent
Prime:Minister, including at least
two clever women. No other polit-
ical party can make such a claim.
So bid "dese, demand doze" Clue -
Lien .wilt fade into political limbo.
Can you imagine him speaking .to
the United Nations? The# world
would think we all come from the
backwoods. So the situation has
cleared for the better.
As for provincial politics, "Boy
Scout. Bob" and bisinept troop of
misfits seem determined to run On-
tario into the ground. Only an elec-
tion can rid us of that lot! You
could walk
down Main .St.,
Exeter, pick the
first dozen citi-
zens
`�
you encoun-
tered, ,and get a
more effective cabi-
net! Perhaps this wi l teach us not
to put somebody in power just to
get rid of an unpopular politician,
old "Mumbles" Peterson.
On a completely unrelated topic,
you may know I have been ill for
several weeks and survived two
unpleasant operations. Again, good
old Exeter and area came to my
help. A short stay in the local hos-
pital was made as comfortable as
possible by the great staff. Not
only are all the nurses beautiful,
but efficient as well. We are lucky
to have them!
And -although, I miss the ambi-
ance of Mexico, .this has been a
winter with beautiful snow scenes.
So all is not lost!
Yours,
Gibby
Jdvl. Gibson
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