The Times Advocate, 2006-03-22, Page 66
Exeter Times -Advocate
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Opinion Forum News
Seniors' perspective
Continued from page 5
Unable to stand the suspense any longer, she finally
asked him, quite offhandedly about the pockets.
Straight-faced he replied, "Oh those are my dog ears",
and went on about his business. The teacher was
tempted to ask him what breed but thought better of it.
Then on St. Patrick's day they were discussing the
various symbols associated with it: shamrocks, canes
and of course leprechauns. Now little kids in primary
grades are always intrigued with the idea of being
small.
Give them a chance to set under teacher's desk or
some other enclosed area to read a supplementary
book and they'll jump at the opportunity. The idea of
being as small as an insect or a mouse really fascinates
them.
So this particular day Chris' teacher asked them to
shut there eyes and think of them, as leprechauns
doing something a leprechaun would do.
Well there was various enthusiastic replies ranging
from visiting a mouse to hiding in a teacup. Then the
teacher came to Chris, "And what are you doing,
Chris?" "I'm peeing in a thimble," came the prompt
reply, eyes shut tight, and speaking quite solemnly.
"Ahem," said the teacher trying to keep a straight
face, and what are you doing, Johnny?" Eventually it
came time to come back to Chris, "and what are you
doing now, Chris?" "Oh I'm just getting off the thim-
ble," with just enough of a grin on his face to make the
teacher and class crack up completely.
I guess some leprechaun's minds work overtime.
Contributed by Jean Hodgins, Lucan
Tips for HandlingTelemarketers
Three Little Words That Work!!
(1) The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."
Saying this, while putting down your phone and walk-
ing off (instead of hanging -up immediately) would
Education matters
By Randy Wagler
TRUSTEE, HURON AREA 4 - SOUTH
AVON MAITLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
EXETER —What makes a good citizen?
We probably have differing opinions about that,
but we all would certainly agree that being a good
citizen is very important since good citizenship is
foundational for a successful society. The Avon
Maitland District School Board agrees on the
importance of good citizenship to the point that one
of the key goals of the Board is: "To promote the
development of positive citizenship qualities in our
students."
In support of this goal, the board has begun a
community citizenship initiative and the first phase
of this initiative was an extensive community con-
sultation which was undertaken last fall. This con-
sultation involved 250 people
from across Huron and Perth
Counties who attended three spe-
cial citizenship forums. The
result of this consultation was the
identification of the following 10
character attributes that our
communities believe demonstrate
good citizenship: Respect,
Responsibility, Integrity,
Empathy, Honesty, Compassion,
Perseverance, Optimism,
Courage, and Fairness.
These character attributes
have been endorsed by the Board of Trustees, and
will now be promoted throughout our school dis-
trict. Schools will work with local communities in a
regional setting and will meet with their communi-
ties at least twice a year to identify citizenship ini-
tiatives that are appropriate for their local commu-
nities. In addition, each school will form a citizen-
ship team to take on the task of implementing cur-
riculum and activities that further the goal of build-
ing citizenship in students. Support materials such
as posters and publications are now being devel-
oped and a day of training is being planned for
April. There are also plans for a secondary school
forum as well as special school and community
activities to be held during Education Week in May.
Let's all begin to promote and demonstrate in our
own actions the character attributes that have been
identified. After all, good citizenship is good for all
of us!
If you have questions or comments, please feel
free to contact me at 235-4445, or E-mail me at
rwagler@fc. amdsb. ca.
RANDY
WAG LER
EDUCATION
MATTERS
make each telemarketing call so much more time-con-
suming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.
Then when you eventually hear the phone company's
"beep -beep -beep" tone, you know it's time to go back
and hang up your handset, which has efficiently com-
pleted its task. These three little words will help elimi-
nate telephone soliciting.
(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with
no one on the other end? This is a telemarketing tech-
nique where a machine makes phone calls and records
the time of day when a person answers the Phone.
This technique is used to determine the best time of
day for a "real" sales person to call back and get some-
one at home. What you can do after answering, if you
notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hit-
ting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quick-
ly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed
the call and it kicks your number out of their system.
Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their
system any longer! ! !
(3) Junk Mail Help:
When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or
utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let
the sending companies throw their own junk mail
away. When you get those "pre -approved" letters in
the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mort-
gages and similar type junk, do not throw away the
return envelope. Most of these come with postage -paid
return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the
regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when they receive
them back. It costs them nothing if you throw them
away! The postage was around 51 cents before the last
increase and it is according to the weight. In that case,
why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and
Put it in these cool little, postage -paid return
envelopes.
One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas:
If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure
your name isn't on anything you send them. You can
even send the envelope back empty if you want to just
to keep them guessing! It still costs them. The banks
and credit card companies are currently getting a lot
of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need
to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's
like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're pay-
ing for it...Twice! Let's help keep our postal service
busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into
their business profits, and that's why they need to
increase postage costs again. You get the idea!
If enough people follow these tips, it will work.
AreYou Feeling Bad for the Poor MP'S who
lost their Jobs?
Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan was crying in
her cappuccino after she lost her bid to be re-elected
as an MP. People are now getting on her case for the
$100,132 annual pension she will start receiving.
She's not alone of course. Sixty-seven MP's who
were defeated or retired are in line for $72 million in
pension payments. Ethel Blondin-Andrew, for exam-
ple, the outgoing Northern Development Minister and
defeated Western Arctic MP, will benefit from the
largest pension in this election $137,820 annually
starting in March. Other Liberal's, who will start rak-
ing in pretty decent pensions, include former minister
Don Boudria, who immediately begins collecting
$135,906 annually, and former environment minister
David Anderson, who will receive $114,600 starting
this year. Those MP's who didn't survive for six years
in Ottawa to qualify for a pension will benefit with a
not -so -shabby severance equivalent to half their annu-
al salary. A backbencher, for example, will get a mini-
mum severance of about $35,000, while a cabinet min-
ister will get as much as 4,106,750 will be cut for two
outgoing Liberal minister and longtime MP's Andy
Mitchell and Tony Valeri because they've yet to turn
55.
Farmer's Corner:
In Canada, 61 per cent of farms were run by single
operators which means that farmers routinely work
alone. Even with larger family partnership operations,
farmers often work in isolation - it's just the nature of
the business. Unfortunately over half of fatal farm -
related incidents happen when the victim is working
alone. Some of these deaths could have been prevent-
ed if the victim had been located earlier. It doesn't hurt
to check up on farmers and farm workers, but it could
hurt a great deal if you don't. Do you have a check-up
routine on your farm?
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture along with
Farm Credit Canada, the Canadian Agricultural Safety
Association and Agriculture and Agri -Food Canada
want to remind farmers that Farm Safety is MY BUSI-
NESS. News Canada
How to Stay Married:
A man and woman had been married for more than
60 years. They had shared everything. They had kept
no secrets from each other except that the little old
woman had a shoebox in the top of her closet that she
had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her
about it. For all these years, he had never thought
about the box, but one day the little old woman got
very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In
trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took
down the shoebox and took it to his wife's bedside.
She agreed it was time that he should know what
was in the box. When he opened it, he found 2 cro-
cheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $25,000.
He asked her about the contents. "When we were to
be married," she said, my grandmother told me the
secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She
told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just
keep quiet and crochet a doll.
The little old man was so moved; he had to fight
back the tears. Only two precious dolls were in the
box. She had been angry with him two times in all
those years of living and loving. He almost burst with
happiness. "Honey," he said, that explains the dolls,
but what about all of this money? Where did it come
from?" "Oh," she said, that's the money I made selling
dolls."
A Farmer had a sick cat and called the vet in town to
see what could be done for it. After being told about
the extent of the problem, the vet told the farmer to
give it a pint of castor oil.
The farmer asked, "A whole pint?" and the vet
replied, "Sure, that'll fix it right up.
The next day the vet saw the farmer in town and
asked him how the sick calf was getting along.
"You fool!" the farmer exclaimed, "I didn't say a calf,
I said a cat.
The vet replied, "Oh my goodness, did you give it the
whole pint of castor oil?"
"Sure did," the farmer replied. "What happened?"
Where's the cat now? Asked the vet.
The farmer pointing, said, "The last time I saw the
cat, he was going over yonder hill with five others. Two
were digging, two were covering up, and one was
scouting out new territory."
New councillors need to be prepared
With the fall municipal election soon to be here, I
believe it is time for any prospective candidates to start
sitting in on the Monday night council meetings.
Acquiring some background information now for
the decisions that you may be making later, I feel
would be truly beneficial. If candidates were to
discuss their views or concerns with existing or
past councillors, I am sure they would also find
this enlightening. Below are a few items that I
feel are of interest for those that may be mem-
bers of our newly elected council:
• Now a four-year term;
• Average 36 council meetings plus 78 committee
meetings per year; this in 209 days (Monday to
Thursday);
• Availability to go to day time meetings a plus;
• Numerous other events the public wish you to attend.
(You pay with no reimbursement by the Municipality of
South Huron.)
• Thousands of pages of information so you are fully
informed before meeting night (read Saturday and
Sunday).
• Provide policy and support for managers (No mem-
ber of council tells any staff to deviate from their manag-
er's orders);
• You are the responsible body to oversee a
$6.7 million dollar operating budget
and an ongoing $18.3 million dollar
user pay budget;
• As one great mayor once said
many years ago, "You will never win
fighting in the press." That is not to
say that correcting misinformation
will not be done publicly;
• At each weekly meeting you bring your
views to the discussion table and support
the united best conclusion;
• You have 10,000 other bosses, each deserving
respect;
And after all this dedication, slander and abuse, you
have those two or three people who come right out and
say "We put you there to make the best informed deci-
sion on our behalf — so do it."
This is what makes it all worthwhile.
Letters
to the
Editor
PETE ARMSTRONG
Councillor Ward 2