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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-05-27, Page 4i 4, PAGE 4—G)DERICH PNESDAY,MAY 27,1981 dave. sykes %n It is a hurttbling experience when one submits to the realization that parents spoke a word or two of truth'in their day. As children and adolescents, no-one was willing to. admit • that parents ,,had any semblance of brains, sensitivity or even a general knowledge of the affairs' of the world. Parents simply didn't know what was happening. But now, with a three month-old youngster, I can fully appreciate the parent- child relationship. Admittedly, I am a relative neophyte in the father game, but three months of experience has taught this dutiful dada few valuable lessons. Firstly, the little lady and I are convinced that son Bradley maintains a cool in- difference toward us. It would be difficult to suggest his feelings border on an intrinsic dislike, but, the evidence is insurmountable. There are great adjustments in the first few months of life with a new person and I - - believe we have performed our duties of fiGla"nt'111y._s Pre p*ry lnitiblly th _litttle guy was content tor sleep, * eat and have diapers changed at regular intervals. But then comes that great moment in the development of a child when the eyes begin to open and focus, a few random gurgles -are issued and the first hint of a smile appears. If our reactions are typical of parents at this stage, I would submit that little 10 pound kids have the ability to render sane humans silly. The little lady and I have done everything short of removing our clothes to get Bradley to smile at us. Do' you have any idea the crazy things parents do in such a situation. We have resorted to tickling his chubby_ cheeks, trying to talk on his level by making goo goo and ga ga sounds, talking in high pitched voices, contorting our faces into funny shapes and other crazy things that would warrant a reservation in an in- ' stitution. Still no smile. The -little guy amply fern a solemn, sombre stare in return while in his mind saying,"These people are really weird." And the affair turns extremely competitive with each parent using trickery and deceit to prompt the first smile. Those adorable smiles appear regularly, but without the least provocation on our part. If the little one is laid on the change table with an unobstructed view of his large Vaseline jar, he breaks „into fits Ogles, smiles, laughter and assorted sounds. It breaks his mother's heart. The life partner is somewhat sensitive in this regard and believes babies should offer frequent smilesto mother simply out of respect. She is downcast at the prospect that Bradley prefers his Vaseline jar. Some kids just don't have taste. Bradley obviously has an affectionate link with the Vaseline, a fetish that can hopefully be cured before he attends school. But the °Ned Lhi. affeetioo and attention haven't been limited to the jar, he does offer smiles and sounds to the wooden bars of the change table. If only he would respond to his mother in the same manner it would lift her spirits considerably. We have fleetingly considered the possibility that the wee one has little to senile about and once he learns to walk will seek a change in venue. Parents have to be prepared for such action. On a recent walk with the family on a calm evening, Bradley delighted in the outdoors and giggled away to nothing in particular. It reinforced our fears, that as parents, we must be boring. Inanimate objects will solicit smiles and laughter while our frantic antics are passed off as boring drivel. Now maybe if I stuck a piece of celery in my nose or BLUE Rle.aon�_ AWARD 1979 Sitla 1848 THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT Pounded in Bees and published awry Wednesday et Ooderlch. Ontario. Member of the C OSA and OWNA. *dyer/ tlsing rates on request. Subscriptions payable In advance •17.51 In Canada, •35.SI to U.S.A., •SS.Se to all other coun- tries, single copies Sr. Display advertising rates ev*llable on request. please ash for Rata Card No. 10 effective Oc- tober 1, 111110.,Second clew me!! gegis,rnf!O, theette mt. A relal.O h o.-Ke:pecea. ea the ce !e!e e! of In'Ira event of typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item, together with reasonable ellowance:for signature. will not be charged fee but that balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the ap- plicable rete., In the *vent of a typographical error advertising' goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services. may nu.., rose. An•wwi.sing ii nweviysera age.' 14 vase, livers 'iwy Cow wiGoCtiwfi tai wily Gain., The Si jra C©r I: not responsible for tha low or .mage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materiels used for reproducing pur- poses. PUBLISHED BY:SIGNAL-STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBiCK-Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES-Editor Second class mail registration number -07l6 P.O. BOX 220. HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH-N7A 0®6 FOR BUSINESS40R EDITORf`AL OFFICES please phone (519) 524-8331 Budget was painful Ouch!; Ontario Treasurer Frank Miller fulfilled the . pessimistic speculation surrounding his budget and hit the provincial taxpayers right lithe wallets. The theme of the budget . was' increases and the treasurer rolled ou'big digits in a number of areas that computes into a $1 billion boost for -the treasury.` While ♦,........—.. '11 t:...,,, to ..ter.. $1 dile into s1. C?��[A9'•6r. D- vrars 'JIDrstle.. tar pomp 5 1 eaa.s ax qlL rsraravaa aaaw the government's pockets, it will not lead to a balanced budget this year. The government will still be spending\more than they demand of taxpayers and much of it is earmarked for healthcare. The budget. didn't tread lightly and will siphon in- creased revenues from a variety of sources. The sin tax has become an accepted burden for Ontarians and drinkers and smokers will pump millions of dollars into the purser , Increased taxes on liquor and beer „ will give the government an additional $38 million in revenues. Tobacco, cigarettes and gasoline were again easy targets for hefty percentage increases and with the national energy program proerarn phased price increases; motorists may be looking al; three hikes in gas' prices this year. Many people will be able to get around the sin taxes but Miller nailed everyone by plying an increase on provincial income tax, raising the rate to 48 per cent from 44. That will raise $235 million this year alone and mean that Ontarians will pay almost half as much in provincial taxes as they do federal, For an average family the fax will translate into an extra $90 a year and coupled with higher OHIP premiums, the government will take an extra $100.. OHIP rates were hit with a, 15 per cent hikeand in October the family monthly rate will jump by $6 to $46 and single persons will pay $23 monthly. Some of the revenue will be thrown back to the public in the. -form of home -heating credits, extended commitments t day care and shared -cost program to expand and renovate homes for the aged.- Over $150 million is set aside for the BILD program and $40 million will be used for chronic care at home and extended care beds. Those were the only encouraging measures of the budget that showed little in the way of economic leadership. Effectively, the tax increases in the budget • only served to limit the deficit to under $1 billion. The new revenues invoked by Miller will not stimulate the industrial base and job creation that was virtually ignored. The $150 million earmakred for the Board of Industrial Development Leadership is the same amount committed to such programs in the past. Some of the business sector was able to escape tete outstretched hand of Miller err that taxes paid by Ontario corporations are unchanged. . Governments, in, the past, have offered taxpayers concessions on income tax and sales tax to stimulate spending and in many cases it provided short term relief. Miller is taking away more of the disposable income and that could mean consumers will buy less; decreasing the demand for certain goods. Miler said the budget was painful. But ony the taxpayer knows for sure.D.S. ; Gradualism cure is expensive It is more difficult t� assess the multitudinous cures for runaway inflation proposed by economists than it is to comprehend the phenomenon itself. This week the Bank of Canada lending rate hit another record high reaching 19.06 per cent. The government is sticking to its plan of beating in- flation gradually but the opposition has been hammering at the Finance Minister to at least assist with mortgage rates. NDP leader Ed Broadbent claims Canadians require an average income of $47,000 to buy a typical home in Canada at current interest rates. If, what Broadbent suggests is true, then about 90 per cent of Canadians can't afford the luxury of a home. Conservative MP Flora MacDonald charged that some .people were resorting to eating dog food because of severe food prices. She backed up those claims in the House of Commons saying single, older women, too proud to go on r welfare, were eating dog food. If Canadians can't afford housing and food, as the op- position suggests, then inflation and interest rates must be a prime concern of legislators. The cures are complex and differ with economists. One has suggested a return to wage and price controls, a measure that Trudeau slapped on the public a few years ago. He insisted controls did the job and Canadians may be asked to face those unfriendly terms again. Bank officials are not discounting the theory that len- ding rates will reach 25 per cent. If the government maintains their `wait and see' attitude, many businesses and homeowners will go under. Many people simply can't afford the interest payments and there is much nail-biting and sweating at the prospect of renewal. The government is sticking to a policy of gradualism, a policy many Canadians just can't afford.D.S. Last winter, I moved into a marvelous new apartment. With tender loving care, I have transformed it into a retreat for myself which people don't often visit because of The Cat and the fact that two flights of stairs have to be climbed after two locked doors are overcome. That apartment has become my castle, inpenetrable by all the evil forces of the world. Or so I thought. There I was, lying on my mattress one evening. From that position, I can reach the TV, radio, telephone, alarm clock, light, and magazine rack. It is also directly below a window so that I can watch whatever is going outside. I was lying on my side, watching the final moments of a Johnny Carson re -run, tall glass of Jim Beam bourbon on ice balanced on the covers. The Cat was contentedly chewing on one of my toes. I was happy. Suddenly, without warning, a giant crawly creature with a zillion legs and antennae skittered across the bed right in front of my face! I let go with a gutteral scream as it scurried down the side of the mattress and onto the carpet. The Jim Beam exploded into Johnny Carson's face. The Cat leapt from the bed to the top of the kitchen cupboards in one terrified bound. The giant crawly creature with a zillion legs and antennae was making for the other side of the room. I searched a bout frantically for something to attack the creature with and grabbed a piece of three-ring binder paper sitting on the floor by the bed. On it was the beginnings of a poem which was to render me im- mortal. As fate would have i.t, the poem was lost forever as I used it squish the rotten bug to a slimy powder. I jammed the whole mess into the bottom of my garbage bag. In the space of 15 seconds, my entire peace of mind had disintegrated along with that millipede. Every corner of my home ichele DEAR BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER by Cath Wooden READERS Things are changing fast. And, often. Hardly anything is the same today as it was yesterday, and it's making a tot of people nervous. I'm the kind of a'person who likes change as a general rule. I'm not normally frightened when there's something new to try or to learn. I find changes exhilarating for the most part. But when you haven't accepted one change before the next change is occurring, it can make folks a bit edgy. In the newspaper business, we see it all the time. It's a computer game these days, and you come to expect that when you buy a new piece of computerized equipment, it will be outdated before you get it installed. There are even cases when you feel certain the equipment is obsolete when you sign your name on the'dotted line of the purchase order. In the news end, of course, we battle change all the time. Because our newspaper is of the weekly variety, you can bwsure that in our fast moving world the story will be old news by the time the paper hits the street. When the next publishing date .rolls round, there's been so much happen that the update on last week's story bears little relationship to the original story you published. And chances are people don't even care what the outcome of the story is. Already something new and exciting has captured their interest ... and your best efforts to be timely and in- formative are little more than confirmation of what your readers have known for a week. I guess that's why the immediacy of television and radio is so attractive to so many people. But watching television or listening to radio can highlight the ways in which things are changing. Not only that, the electronic media monitors the pace of change - and the results of change. Every day: Every hour. On occasion, every minute. The most vivid example of change monitored - and the ' results calculated to the point of frustration - is the current rise in the cost of borrowing money. . Every Thursday we get the word. Interest rates have climbed another halfpercentage point. Or more. The prime lending rate has risen appropriately. Within minutes, someone has figured what this means in terms of dollars and cents to the homeowner with a $30,000 mortgage. Back in Goderich, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Blow with a •$30,000 mortgage put a cursory check on \the family finances. On Friday, when Mrs. Blowgoes to the grocery store to do her shopping, she has a new lower food budget at which toaim. , Nothing has actually changed at her house since the previous week. The money coming into the home remains the same; the mortgage payment hasn't yet been altered. But in Mrs. Blow's mind, there's been a change in both the salary and the monthly cost of housing. And she feels the pressure. Alas, there's been a change at the grocery store since her last shopping trip. The price of milk, canned fish, coffee and lettuce has climbed just a little bit. Her grocery basket has less items in it and her hill remains constant. The pressure mounts for Mrs. Blow. At dinner that evening, Mrs. Blow explains to Joe that either her grocery money will need to be increased, or his appetite must be decreased. Now Joe is feeling the pressure. Monday morning when Joe goes to work, he doesn't turn a wheel until he's spoken to the other fellows on his shift. Everyone's feeling the same pinch and taking ft over only serves to reduce the collective morale of the group. Now the pressure is evidenced in reduced productivity and added dissatisfaction. Why? Because now Joe has not only his own troubles to think about, he's heard the plight of several other people ... some worse off than him. And the pressure mounts for poor Joe who can't do his job with his usual vim and vigor. And guess what? Joe probably goes home that evening to unload on frazzled Mrs. Blow who by this time has worked herself into a panic about a pay check she senses is • dwindling and a mor- tgage rate she fears will erode her savings. Now it's Thursday again ... and the new data on the cost of borrowing is released. Up another half percentage point. You get the picture. On and on the story goes. And that's just one story of one change and its effects. There's dozens more every week and it creates pressure on top of the pressure for Mr. and Mrs. Joe Blow right here in Goderich. The average news broadcast during the supper hour each night has enough disruptive discourse in it to eat a gaping hole out of the all but the cast iron turrimies of the nation. What's the answer? It may sound trite, but l recommend turning off the radio and television ... and burning the, daily newspaper. There's too much instant realism in them for healthy living. Stick to reading the weekly newspaper. It's better to be a little behind the times than to spend your days fussing over things which haven't yet happened -' and perhaps never will. Chances are you'll have a more positive outlook than those who either grow sick with worry and make things worse - or toss in the towel and move on to greener pastures somewhere else. After all, it is the positive outlook of people who are ready to stand and fight that will make Goderich goand grow. So come on Goderich. Enough is enough. As the song says, "ILsa not so bad. itsa nicea place and shutuppayour face." which had hitherto aroused only happiness and comfort in my soul suddenly became horrifying. Everyone knows, where there is one giant crawly creature there are more giant crawly creatures. As I lay sweating beneath the sheets, my imagination raced wildly. How did that millipede get in my won- derful apartment? How did it get by two locked doors, climb up two flights of stairs, and get in my bed? Perhaps it came in the window. I got up and shut them both. Perhaps it came up the drain. I got up and covered them all with bowls. Perhaps it came in under the door. I got up and jam- med the mat against it. I tried to sleep. It isn't easy sleeping when you can't breathe under the covers and when the room is hot and humid. It suddenly occurred to me that there might already be more millipedes in the apartment. For the rest of the night, every time I saw a hint of a shadow, I sat up, turned on the light, and grabbed my shoe. I did this approximately a dozen times through the night. The Cat spent the rest of the night up on the kitchen cupboards. Imagine the air up there. I do not blame her for not jumping on the bug. She has lousy aim anyway. No more millipedes showed their zillion legs and antennae that night. Nor have any appeared since then. But I will never feel the same way about my place again. It has been violated, tainted, made imperfect by one wandering insect. I wish I could trust it again, feel totally and wonderfully safe within its four walls up there three stories high on my bed which I can reach everything from. But no, it is not to be. Perhaps the message is the millipede. It's the littlest things that tear us apart and destroy us bit by bit because we never see them coming. cath wooden ere-