The Lucknow Sentinel, 1963-05-15, Page 12•
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PAGE TWELVE.
u cxiiOw .SICNTIN EIt, LUCKNOW, ONTARIO
WFDNESD IY, .MAY lath, 1063:
I 'visited a mental hospital re-
'cently. A couple of nights after
that I watched television coma=
median, Lenny Bruce.' Both ex-
periences produced the : • sane
. reactions: fascinatibn,' repulsion,
and sadness, They also made me
'ponder the causes, of the ;grow -
ng •neuroticism of today.
w
Surely a can't - blame it all
• on The.,
Bomb. That's too easy.
think='there are a couple 'Of-,
,Ingredients a. little closer to
. home, .on which we can focus.
If 'we eliminate. "them•; • we might
even eliminate' The Bomb. •
The two 'elements in modern'
Hiring which are Increasing our
population of nuts at •a • .frightener
ing' pace . are speed and greed .
Speed. is ,the deity of the 20th
/ 'century ;as surely as money.. was
that of .the '10th,; reason that of
the•, 18th. We worship it . cyni-
:tally, 'but unashamedly,
* * * .
Greed Is the fat, slabbering lit-
• tle -beast inside us • thatmakes
pis 'repulsive if we feed it, •frust-.
• r' ated if we don't, and., happy
only , if : we : strangle it ab .:birth.
Everythingis speeding •.up.
When 1. was a kid,.people ; used
• to • sit around on: their ' porches
on 'a . May evening, "shooting,. the
breeze, then , go off., to bed soon
after dark, They slept all night.
No, pills.
".If you• sit. •around • on your
front porch nowadays, all : it.
means . is that you're ' a bum,
because if you were . ,any.'good.
'You'd have enough money so
that you could either {be' chasing
:• around the: lawn behind a power.
knower,'; or sitting' inside watch
ing television, like • a'' :decent
.ci•tizen.„,
Speed .has• ceased to be ; a
means to •an: .end, . and 'his .be-
come an endin itself, •though,We.
refuse to admit it: We speed,
'11P Production so . that We can.
"turn out ,'the article more.
cheaply,” :As soon ' as. • :the '' new
method is -in •operation;; •the • price
goes: •up "Higher overhead." We
speed on • the highways • to save
time, and spend six months in
the hospital, when' we ; fail to
make that curve.: We speed
• housework' with new gadgets,: so
the ;good wife ' ,*ill have. More
leisure • time'. ' — to• . sit around
with a • ibottle,, or -:.go oust' and
play • bingo
.High on the list of those latter -
clay Satan who cater .tO, tempt,
and urge on the poor ,ordinary
slob in his worship -of speed and
greed 'are'the advertising men.
If that seems a little harsh, don't
;fake my .; word . for it. 'Just pay
'a 'visit to a' supermarket
Shopping used . to •be a lei-
surely,: pleasant - part , of daily
life for . ,women: It 'was;, a ' hang-
over from the , open market of
less • frazzled times, At the
grocery store, they met , their
neighbours, exchanged. ' repartee
with the • grocer, pinched the
meat, tasted the cheese, squeez-
ed the bread,' thumped. ,the m.61 -
ons, 'prodded• the chickens, and
sniffed 'the fish. And 'above all;
theY chewed' the fat. •
Today, shopping is • a ';fright
ening, soul-destroyingordeal.
The Only thinks; the. ladies can
get - their hands ,on 'are the ire=•.
getables,: and there isn't much
joy/ •in pinching, ; thumping, or.
taking ; a:,• bite out of a ,turnip.
Where their grandmothers .dip-
ped,' a' hand, into a .box. or barrel.
'to 'taste or feel, they worriedly
read ' labels.. or ` anxiously peer
into those vast, gleaming• mortu
aries which . have ' replaced . the
*old meat. counter.; •
From every ..shelf, 'in every.
color, they. are shouted at, to
"hurry, • be . quick, • hasten,. grab
Me, buy more," `and •harassed by
"family, size, special deal; 'Wilt-
ed time only, 10c off." No won=
der they scuttle. about .furtively,:
snatching up .packages. like ••hot.
potatoes and throwing, . them
wildly into their 'carts.
every�t�h�in�g spells out speed•
and • greed,rninu•te rice, : instant
coffee, • pre-cooked sham, oven
ready chicken, ready -mix cakes,
quick-frozen fish. As a result,'
they 'buy. twice as much as they
need • in half: the timei,they
should:. '
' Then,• instead . of *a 'mutually
suspicious • 'but friendly tallying•
of- the 'bill with the grocer, they
dive ifor '.a spot in,the lineup; , the
grub is : whisked tato .sags, the
cash. register. chatters its stac-
cato song,: and they find them-:
selves spewed into the." street, 4
vast bag in ` each' arm, and . only
the, vaguest- idea of how much
they spent.
• • . * • ,*
I'd like to. spend more -time.
on -this :;'theme,-;but.you'-11 have
to excuse 'Me now. 'I've got' ,to
hurry and • finish: this column,.
so '1 can rush down to the kit-
chen My !wife want to know
whether I want instant : coffee
'or jiffy' cpcoa •w, ith ,the, apiece of
pie (instant fill, ready -mix
crust) for my midnight snack.
Got to , save time if I want . to
read. 'my- :book digest :before I`
go ` to bed, Think I'll have • a ; ,big
slice. ofgorgonzola cheese With
the pies Instan . ,dreams', ' you
know.
NEWS BRIEFS
FROM NEARBY
Blyth Council:' .is requesting'
Provincial' Police to take neces-
sary .measures to , halt the ex-
cessive speed of . motor. vehicles
through ' the village, ;. .
A 'machinist who recently in
Stalled a press at 'the Chesley
Enterprise is a native of Latvia.
As• 'well as ''his. native . tongue,,
he sPeaks German and ,Russian,:
and since coming to Canada has:
'learned to • speak ' English well.
The fact that, . this machinist
speaks four' languages, causes
the Enterprise editor to suggest,
in effect, that,,•we give this, some.
serious thought, before •.. boasting
about • our educational system.:
* * * •
Central'. Hotel at . Exeter, the
last of seven which . once operat-
ed in .that town h!as been sold.
to British Mortgage . and: • Trust
Co... as the site of a new, branch
Genius has its limits:• Stupidity,
hoviever,: is ;