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The Brussels Post, 1972-03-08, Page 2ESTAUUSHED 1172 Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $4.00 a year, Others $5.00 a year,, Single Copies 10 cents each, Second class mail Registration No. 0562. Telephone 887-6641. 413russels Post VI BRUSSELS ONTAf IO Wednesday, March 8, 1.972 Serving Brussels and the Surr(Nndin,4‘ community published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario by McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited, Evelyn. Kennedy - Editor Torn, Haley Advertising Member Canadian Community Newspapsesroc Aiastsioonci.ation and Ontario. Weelay Newspaper A Early Area Stone Crusher Sugar and Spice by Bill Smiley It's only a matter of time. In the past generaticni, Joe Nobody. you and I, have suffered from every conceivable type of strike that the warped little human mind can .(.1nceive. You name it; from duck-wallopers to doctors, from technicial.s to teachers, everybody seems to have had a whack at trying to strangle a fto,y more bucks or privileges out of the innocent by-stander. That's you and I. I'm getting pretty sour about the whole nonsense. Somehow, I can't fathom either the economics of the ethics of a man who is worth 51.25 an hour, and is getting 5'2.75, demanding that he be paid 54.00 and another 52,00 in fringe benefits. Strikes are annoying. frustrating and usually pointless, in these lays. The worker gets a raise and it takes him .two years to get back to \vhere he was, finan- cially. The employer merely raises his prices, or taxes. The rest of us get it in two painful places; the neck and the pocket-book. But that's all common knowledge, and beside the point. One of these fine days. the most potent work force in the country is going to realize what a power- ful weapon is the strike. and hit the picket line. . When it does, we'll look back with nostalgia and longing to the good old days when a strike merely meant you couldn't take that trip, or there was a shortage of sanitary napkins, or some similar calamity was thrust upon us. That will be the day the housewives of the country. inflamed by Women's Lib, rlttll husbands . and rotten .kic18, walk out the doors demanding more money, better working conditions. and vast fringe benefits. That will be' a day that will make the present vast tie-ups due to strikes look like tiddley-winks. That will be a day that might signal the end of civilization as we know it.. I'm not kidding, and I'm definitely not exaggerating. If the housewives of this nation withdrew such elementary items as cooking and cleaning, sex and sewing from our lives, the whole foundation of our society would collapse. Not immediately, of course. For perhaps two days, husbands would chortle. ;,She'll soon come around, She know ..v her, she has a good thing.'' And kids would roar with laughter, —Is your old lady on this strike kick too',' It's a riot. But she won't last, She needs us.'' After a week, the comments would change tone. Ilusbands; .'What the hell is wrong with that crazy woman? given her the best years of my life.'' And kids; 'Look, if she doesn't come back, she's in for trouble. I haven't had a. de,ient meal or a clean pair of socks for lays. And Dad is getting nasty. Wants me to do the dishes anI garbage like that." In two weeks the innocent bystanders" would be on their knees. And the garbage would be up to their knees. Husbands: "Listen, kid. You go out and tell your mother that I'll give 1.e: eiOt. no. ten dollars a month to blow on herself. Sky's the limit." Kids; ',Lis- ten Dad , this is all your fault. we need that woman, even if she is only our mother. All our buttons are off, anti the sink's full of dishes. and the dishes are full of crud." In a month, the hospitals and the mental institutions would be overflowing. The take-home chicken joints and the delicatessens would be booming, but the supermarkets would be heading for bank- ruptcy. Family axe-murders would be so common they wouldn't even rate two inches on Page 38. There's only one thing that will prevent this catastrophe. As we all know, house- wives are extreme individualists They can't even agree on the texture of toilet paper. How could they agree on such delicate matters as fringe benefits2.Some would want forty cents to sew on a button; others Would settle for a quarter. And if they did form a union, it would take them twelve years to draw up the con- stitution, and everyone would want to be preSident. So relax, you neglectful husbands and demanding kids. We're probably safe. But give the whole idea a long, deep thought. Generation Gap The "generation gap" becomes more comprehensible when we con- sider information gathered by Richard Carrington: "If the earth's. history could be compressed into a single year, the first eight months would be completely without life, the next two would see only the most primitive creatures, mammals wouldn't appear until the second week in December, and no Homo Sap- iens until 11:45 on December 31.The entire period of man's written his- tory would occupy the final 60 sec- onds before midnight." A middle-aged person today can remember his father starting out at a job from six a.m. to six p.m.six days a week and putting aside a little each week for a possible time of unemployment or sickness and for his old age. Yet he looks at his son who confidently looks for a four day work week with a full week's pay, full pay' for un- employment and payment of all hOs- pital and doctor's bills. Add to that the fact that the middle-aged person today spans the era that saw the greatest changes in scientific and technical ad- vancement. ,His memory goes back to the time when there were no radios, while his son cannot picture a world without satelites and T.V. instant news. Rather than wonder at the mis- understanding between the generat- ions we should perhaps wonder that they understand each other at all. The necessity for understanding falls hardest on the old since they are set in their ways and resent change, yet they are the ones who must go more than half-way since it is almost impossible for the young to find understanding for those who resent progress, or who cannot understand and use the new invent- ions of the age. If we could join our experience and understanding and their en- thusiasm and knowledge we could overcome the problems of the present and leave to them a heritage of which we could be proud and of which they would have no fear. (Exeter Times Advocate) To the Editor Saving Pictures Sir; 1 enjoy the new format of the post and am making a scrap book of the pictures of Brussels: I did not get a copy of Feb. 9. Would you please send it to me. I hate to miss any. Thanks and good success with your paper. ... Mrs, A.H.Sauder, 21 st.David's St. Thorokl, Ontario. ‘4 4, .4. . .4 .4 .44,4,4 4...4.4.44. -.4 .4-4.4 . . .