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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-01-22, Page 41 PAGE 4 --GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1986 There were times when, given the chance, I would have eaten an old sweatsock or a sneaker. Some days I literally bounced off the walls at work and began to sweat profusely for no good reason. - There were nights when I woke up with feelings of severe guilt after having dreamt of smoking ohe sweetest cigarette made. On certain days I contemplated lowering my face into a dirty ashtray and consuming the refrains. I gave serious consideration once, while under the influence of comfor- ting beverages, to eating a cigar. Just a small one, of course. Such is the life of the reformed smoker. It never leaves you, it is never willing to let go of your psyche. .". Should you scan these grey bits ,on Wednesday, it marks the Most dreaded of all days of the year for the smoker. Weedless Wednesday. DAVE SYKES As a smoker I rather detested the fact that society would wage a one -day self-righteous attack on the smoker. On Weedless Wednes- day, we (puffers everywhere) were sub- jected to a stimulating bombardment of visual aids detailing the most gruesome Opinion aspects and effects of smoking. We were urged to quit,. we werebadgered into cutting down we were berated and whipped senseless by the holier-than-thoucl b. smokers It was all rather demeaning. But tend to have thick skin and area andtwoof e r- ing, conditions resulting o day habit. Weedless Wednesday started as the tiny voice in the wilderness and has growninto a full-scale battle between the camps. e been on both sides of the skirmish and refuse to take sides today. It has been three years since 1 quit smok- ing and there are days, and moments (column writing sessions in particular) when I instinctively reach for a cigarette or at least give it some thought. I will not smoke again but the urge crops up at the most inoppurtune times. On Weedless Wednesday, the 'media will regale the public with stories about the ef- feets of smoking, stories on people who have died for their habit, how to stories on people who kicked the weed and stories on people who have never smoked and just relish the opportunity to inflict their narrow-minded ,prejudices on the world. While I smoked I rather detested those self-righteous individuals who rattled on about the harmful effects of the vice as if I'd never heard the story before. In retrospect, it's quite obvious that there's nothing glamorous about a man working away with a cigarette dangling precariously from his mouth. Whe 1 was a smoker, I didn't want to give up the habit. Cigarettes were my friends, they were there when things were good and during tense moments and they provided a certain amount of pleasure that I wan't prepared to give up. - 1 have rummaged through dirty ashtrays to find a decent sized butt to smoke out of desperation; I have lowered My face within millimetres of a red-hot stove 'element to light cigarettes; 1 have walked great distances through knee-high snow to buy cigarettes and I have made myself look foolish trying to disguise the fact I was smoking in a room of non-smikers„ Smokers, tend to do a lot of silly things like that. My habit gradually got worse and as my habit crept into pack -and -a -half -a -day ter- ritory, I quit. My wife, also a smoker, was great with child at the time and it offered . the most compelling reason to quit.. For days I was dizzy and walked into 5 walls at work. My only comfort was a three - pound bag of raw sunflower seeds "which were purchased to get me through the ordeal. I'm still eating the damn things to- day and so are the kids. Anybody know a quick cure for cutting down on sunflower seeds? 4,5 LstalieWeilteo THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 1645 the �� o eric S 1 N AL -STAR P.O. BOX 820 HUCKINS BT. . INDUSTRIAL PARK OODERICH, ONT. N7A 4B6 008Ta 7 OQI A.I. POUND CMMUNITY NNEWEPA'198PENCANADA PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED Founded In 1046 end published every Wednesday et Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CCNA end OCNA. Bubecrlptlons payable In advance 93e0.00, relenlor Citizens 819.00 privilege pard number required) In Canada. 1980.00 to U.B.A., 860.00 to e11 other lea, Bingle copies 80C. Olepley, Notion& end Classified edvertlaing rata," available on roqueet. Please eek for Rate Card No. 16 effective October 1. 4908. Advertleing Is accepted on the condition that In the event of a typographical error, the advertising epece occupied by the erroneous item, together with the bits allowance for ign In the will not be a !charged for but that balance of the advertisement will be paid 1org et the applicable re typographical advertising goods or services at a wrong pried,, abode or mervlose may not be sold. Advertleing 1s merely en offer to eel!. end may be withdrawn et eny time. The Signal -Star 1s not responsible • for the loss or damage of unsolicited 'm Ipts, photos or. other meteriaie used for reproducing purposes. General Manager - Editor Advertising Manager SHIRLEY J. KELLER DAVE SYKES ; DON HUBICK FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES...Please phone [6191624-2614 Second class mail registration Member: number 0716 eNA. CCNA Itdependswhoyou know It is a documented . fact that governments and its surrounding bureaucracies move in rather slow fashion. Sometimes, though, the old saying that "it depends who you know" shatters the myth that all people are treated fairly.•. Recently the Toronto Maple Leaf hockey team was succesful in bringing to Canada' a player who defected from a European Communist country within a week of his defection: That Canada's immigration department was able' to respond to the challenge so quickly is amazing. Immigration officials would surely break into fits of laughter if it was suggested such a feat was within the realm of possibility. That the immigration process could react to the demands of a hockey team with such ex- pediency and sense of urgency points to the irony of the immigration situation. Governments can perform varied and extraordinary feats when pressured. Granted, when Miroslav Ihnacak left Czechoslovakia for a nearby Austrian town, there was promise of work in Canada. He has a brother playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Harold Ballard was willing to pay the defector an ample salary for toiling with the hapless hockey club. • That obviously smooths the road to Canada in the eyes of immigration officials. Hockey players, who have the potential to earn astronomical salaries, and therefore take care of themselves are granted rather easy access to our country. But surely there .are other people in communist countries who could contribute to our country in a meaningful -way but who must follow the more conventional channels to im- migration and who quite often are denied that all-important access to a new life in a new country. It just somehow seems unfair that many people wait for months, perhaps even lifetimes, to gain entry to Canadai. Some never make it. Others have to give in to agonizing long delays before their case is given due consideration. Regardless of the fact that Ihnacak is a hockey player who 'will obviously earn enough money to live on his own, and irrespectiveof the fact that his brother is in Canada playing hockey as well, the manner in which he was brought to Canada smacks of help in high places. • A well placed phone call to Flora MacDonald by Harold Ballard initiated the whole pro- cess and in a great hurry. It seems unfair to the people who must play by the rules to gain entry to Canada. D.S. Lake ice is d Recently members of the Goderich Police Force cautioned a group of walkers who ven- tured out on the ice at the beach on a Sunday afternoon stroll. While the harbour and shoreline seem to be stable enough to walk on; it's a dangerous pro- ' postion. • With a good amount of snow hiding the ice, it's difficult to speculate on the thickness of the ice and almost impossible to discern gaps and open spots. A walk along the Lake Huron shoreline is adventurous enough in itself as the wind and water have combined to create large mounds of ice and snow; natural sculptures. With the recent mild ,temperatures, a walk on the ice would be even more treacherous. It would be wise for parentsto caution youngsters on the perils of walking on the ice and snow at the beach. And it would be wise for adults to heed the same warning. Last week Dr. Mario Cauchi wrote in the Signal Star on our health care System and extra billing. At the end of his letter he ask- ed us to write to our politicians. I have done so. 1 wrote to Ontario Health Minister Mur- ray Elston that I support the provincial government's proposal Health Care Ac- cessibility Act. That is not exactly the reaction Dr. £auchi hhd in mind, but no doubt he is aware of the diffefnt ways of looking at the situation. I am among those who do not believe that it is in public interest to have different classes of healthcare. I found Dr. Cauchi's extravagant language surprising and even a little embar- rassing. It ahnost makes one feel that the doctor does not think very highly of our in- telligence, if he believes that the public has been or can be simply and easily "hood - Winked" (his expression) either by the government or by other sources. To talk about the red flag over Ontario is more funny than scary and the reference to "blatant violent suppression in our pro- vince bears no resemblance to the reality . • we know. Itis very difficult to go along with the prediction that the government's health care objective, of equal access to health ser-'. Snow sculpture Su ar and Spice Looking back at 1985 is a particularly negative action. Don't do it, unless you,want to remind yourself that human life is pretty ;cheap in the eyes of the gods or whoever is running the joint. India took some heavy lumps. First, the " mess at Bhopal, where a carbide company took a leak (no pun intended), and 'thousands were killed or made gravely ill. Then the mysterious crash of Air India off the coast of Ireland. No survivors. Just or- dinary people, going home to visit relatives. Can you imagine the terror as they plunged towards the sea? Screaming, clutching babies. To no avail. The brutal cold of the' North Atlantic gave up almost nothing — a few bits of flotsam and jetsam, a few bodies. And other air crashes,.not so spectacular, but just as deadly for those who died. And the ghastly shoot-out at Malta, where . nobody seemed to know, or care, whether the rescuers were shooting terrorists or passengers. And the, hijacking of an entire cruise ship in the Mediterranean. But even these events paled when com- • pared to the grotesque tragedy of the earth- quakes in Mexico and' Columbia. Not only about 40,000 dead, but thousands of 'others with their lives over -turned, their crops destroyed, their homes lost. And we :worry because the price of Christmas trees has gone up again. Things haven't been much sweeter at home, even though Canadians live in the best country in' the world, and seem to be immune from great disasters, except for the danged winter. - Rancid tuna, tainted buffalo (w o eats buffalo anyway? ), s Crumbling and a government that can't seem to put one foot in front of the other, without putting the first one in its mouth. Mr. Mulroney's gang, without his personal public relations facade, makes you 'start thinking rather longingly for Pierre Trudeau, who at least despised the media and made no attempt to conceal it. Hoever, we mustn't be morbid. We must look up, not back. I saw a black squirrel yesterday looking up at his home in one of my oaks, and calculating whether he had time to sock away another five hundred acorns for the coming months, when all the squirrels do is have sex, sleep, and eat. And I saw a solid citizen, looking up at the sky and saying, "Jeez, more snow coming. These are the positive attitudes we, must adopt if we are to emerge. next spring, pallid, but survivors. Looking up. I've painted a rather dark picture of 1985. Forget it, and look up. And if you get some freezing rain in your eyes, don't blame me. Just go to the liquor store and buy some wine with the anti -freeze in it. That'll clear your eyes, though it may not do much for your liver. Personally, things have gone well with me.1"ve only been waiting for a hospital bed since Thanksgiving and will prollably be tucked in, waiting for some of those unspeakable "tests", by April. None of my old friends had died recently, and I hope they can say the same for me. I've lost only one hub -cap this winter try- ing to get into my garage. I've pretty well mastered the art — and it is an art — of conking for one. I sit down at By Dave Sykes By Bill smiley_ the crack of noon and figure out my menu for the day. Man does not live by bread alone. He needs peanut butter, as well. While I'm working on my menu, I have bread and peanut butter and a banana. Lots of protein. Then I write some notes to myself. It's unhealthy to think about food all the time. Memo: Get that tea-pot, the only one in the , house fit for guests, back from Hugh, who "borrowed" it last weekend; call Kim and see if she's still out of a job; stop smoking; stop drinking anything stronger than barley water; get windshield wiper fixed; pay 1983 income tax. And so on. They certainly take my mind off food., By that time, I'm pretty exhausted, so I have a little "Zizz," or, as the bourgeois call it, "snooze." This takes a lot of energy out of me, because I dream of not having paid the 2 utilities bill, the phone bill, and the gas bill. I wake up in a nervous sweat. And this moment, it's time to think about dinner. So 1 plod through snow -to the garage, go downtown, buy a paper, cigaret- tes and booze, and drop in at the delicatessen where I order a tall," -out of their delicious hot goulash. That takes care of dinner. - ' Sometimes I strike it rich. Turkey dinner, wonderful with all fixings, with some old friends. Talked the lady into half an apple pie. Unfortunately, my son came home that weekend. He likes pies. Mustn't go on like this, 1985 was great, if you're still alive. 1986 is going to be a fine, fine year. That is, if you keep looking up. But keep an eye for seagulls. vices will turn us into "objects of state" and will rob us of "personal freedbms and identi- ty". The predicted "substandard quality of care" is a desperate bogeyman without substance and power 'to frighten, as it will materialize only if the militant memberslof the Ontario Medical Association succeed in making it happen, and one trusts that reasonable and cool heads will prevail in- stead. It, is interesting to see how prominently the NDP stand on health care is singled out by a number of physicians vVho add to it references and hints to coma iunist prat-. tices. This comes across as pathetic nonSense. The fact is that in this case the NDP and Liberals stand coincides with popular opinion and need., It should also be rendembered that siiiilar legislation. has acre' dy been passed in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.' B sides, the demand to end extra billing conies from the Tory government in Ot- tawa: Brian Mulroney as a communist prac- titioner? The medical doctors in Ontario who complain that there' are inadequate pro- vincial funds for health care cannot comfor table Overlook the fact that their extra - billing 'colleagues' desire to increase their private bank accounts causes the public health care coffers in Ontario a direct an- nual loss of $50 million in federal money. What is wrong with wishing to obtain these funds for equal and unhindered access tb needed health care services? Our health is not comparable to the goods or services for which we are consumers with a great deal ,of choice. What good is it to speak of lawyer and architects, as if t with ere in the same category ser- vices? Plea-bargaining is not available for poor health. One cannot say "1 do not wish to have cancer, please, let me take pneumonia mstead". Some physicians say that the proposed legislation makes them "civil servants". Somehow it comes across as unnecessarily elitist in a rather unpleasant way. There are many well educated I"civil servants" with high professional standards and excellent qualifications. If the doctors' are referring to. the stereotype of Working 9 to 5 days, it ap- pears that, the Ontario Medical Association is the body who promotes such practices in its fight against the extra -billing ban. The militant (and extra -billing) president of the association is asking the pr I virnce's; ELSA HAYDON 15,000 indepegdent medical doctors to follow the leader add charge "a token amount" above the OHIP rate, if the law is passed, and to resign en masse from OHIP, in order to cause "the system to break down". Such a tantrittn is sad. It is quite remarkable that the 88 per cent of physicians working r withip the OHIP structure are expected to take it out on their. patients when the quarrel is with the government over the personal financial benefits of the 12 per cent of medical doctors who are practicing extra billing. Our health ' care system is funded by public money. It sounds very loyal and com- passlbnate when the extra -billing doctors point out that they omit the additional charge when a Patient cannot pay. Why such outdated lord -of -the- manor overtones of deciding who in, the village is deserving of what services? Surely this kind of humiliating dependenceis best eliminated by equal access to the necessary care, without charity. - In my opinion, it is irresponsible to at- tempt to create confusion and fear in the pa- tients' minds. The doctors simply cannot have it both ways, because the public will not fall for it. The doctors have to decide visibly where their patients enter the pic- ture and where purely money interests take -. over. ' • 1 When the dust of militant agitation for power settles, I am sure that our cool, reasonable and caring doctors will he seen going about the business of looking . after their patients' interests. I have great eon- fldeltce in the good sense of our medical doc- tors.