The Citizen, 2001-08-29, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2001. PAGE 5.
Other Views
Whatever happened to the paperboy?
Okay, so I'm a geezer. But there are
certain privileges that come with
Geezerhood.
' I have, for instance, seen things that today's
kiddies can scarcely imagine. Things like: I2-
inch, black and white television sets.
Ice cream cones for six cents.
Horse-drawn milk wagons clanking slowly
down the ,streets.
And kids with paper routes.
Remember them'? The kids who delivered
the afternoon newspaper to your porch six days
a week?
The routes themselves are still around, but
they're serviced by adults. The kids, for the
most part, are long gone —, as are the
afternoon newspapers, for that matter. Dailies
mostly come out in the early morning now.
Pretty hard for a kid these days to juggle school
classes AND a paper route.
Pity.
' A paper route was a great way for kids to get
introduced into the workaday world. You
found out right quick about things like...
Reliability: "It's seven o'clock! You're two
hours late with my paper!"
High finance: "Yes, ma'am you owe $3:16
for the first two weeks of the month, plus $1:10
for last week because there was no paper on
Friday which comes to...."
Human frailty: "I'm sorry, Sonny, I only
When I was working in the .Czech
Republic, I frequently came across
gypsies in the part of the country
where I was located. I heard any number of
stories, few of them positive, from Czechs
about the problems these gypsies created and
was frequently warned to be careful of having
my pocket picked or being swarmed by them.
Hardly had I arrived when the news media
was filled with details about gypsies who had
watched a very laudatory TV program about
Canada, suggesting that this would be an
excellent country to which they could
immigrate. Any gypsy immigrant, claimed the
program, could count on being treated far more
humanely than was the case in the Czech
Republic.
In no time at all, hundreds of them were
winging their way to Canada; there were no
visa requirements and the Canadian authorities
had to figure out what to do with them.
To make a long story short, most of them
were eventually returned to the Czech Republic
and, during my second stay in that country,
there were stories told by the gypsies of how
they had been treated badly in Canada.
Our streets, it seems, were not paved with
gold and all gypsies were not at any time
offered jobs in middle management.
While the Canadian end of the story has
disappeared from the news, the gypsies have
not. The reason is very simple. They are
located not only in the Czech Republic, but
everywhere else in central and eastern Europe,
and many of the same countries are now being
considered for membership in the European
Union.
In short, those promoting the entry of eastern
European countries into the Union now realize
that the gypsy problem is soon going to
become a European problem.
The first problem is defining a gypsy. One
dictionary describes them as dark-skinned
nomads of Hindu origin who speak a language
called Romany.
have a $20 bill. Could you come back, ummm,
say...Thursday?"
You learned all that, plus how to balance
112 copies of The Star Weekend Edition in
the flimsy carrier on your CCM one-speed
without doing a one-and-a-half gainer into the
asphalt.
Having a paper route meant un-kidlike
responsibility. You couldn't always go off with
the guys for a spontaneous game of pick-up
hockey because your papers were waiting. You
couldn't take that Friday night trip to the
cottage, until you found a trustworthy pal to
deliver your Saturday papers.
You often had to deal with snarly dogs or
surly customers. (I preferred the dogs).
But there was a definite plus side. For one
thing, you had yourself some actual pocket
money.
And, if your timing on the route was right,
your manners passable and your eyes suitably
beseeching, you just might score an ice-cold
glass of lemonade from a charitable granny.
Raymond
Canon
The
international
Scene
But not all are dark and not all speak
Romany.
The first record of their existence was in
1054 in what is now Turkey, but they are not
united nor have they ever been. In fact their
nomadic existence prevents them from even
thinking that way.
Frankly there is not one country in Europe
that can be said to treat gypsies the same as any
other citizen. Prejudice against them is rampant
at times and they frequently suffer the short end
of the stick when it comes to being provided
with welfare and the like.
To a degree it must be said that gypsies
contribute to their own misfortune. They tend
to have large families and fail to stay in one
place long enough for their children to get the
schooling that, would help them avoid the
welfare trap.
There is also no doubt that they resort to
crime far too often, thus providing excuses for
the ingrained prejudices.
Given that countries like the Czech Republic
and Hungary expect to be part of the European
Union some time this decade, how and where
do you start to resolve this problem? The two
governments have tried to take a more
enlightened approach to the handling of the
Final Thought
Never tell people how to do things. Tell
them what to do and they will surprise you
with their ingenuity.
— George Smith Patton
Even - glory! - a wedge of piping hot apple
pie, fresh from the oven.
Now I'm really dating myself. Today that
pie would be 'fresh' from the microwave,
by way of Safeway, the lemonade would be
Evian water and anyway there'd be nobody to
serve it because Granny's in the old folks home
and Mom and Pop are both out working to pay
off the mortgageheatnhydro plus the maxed-
out credit cards, not to mention the GST and
the PST on everything from nachos to
newspapers.
As for our kids these days. Well, I hope
they've figured out other ways to develop the
innate guile you needed to be a prosperous
paperboy.
I was okay at it, but my pal, Johnny Charlton
- he was the master. I still remember him
standing at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and
Roxaline Street, hawking his surplus
newspapers to passers-by, yelling, "EXTRA!
EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
SEVENTEEN PEOPLE SWINDLED!"
And a neighbour - Mister Rutherford - buys
a paper, checks the front page and says "Hey!
There's nothing here about 17 people being
swindled!"
But Johnny doesn't respond. He's too busy
yelling "EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL
ABOUT IT! EIGHTEEN PEOPLE
SWINDLED!"
gypsies but any good examples have not
always been mirrored by the people.
The gypsy factor is one of the biggest fears
of western European countries. The
governments of such countries as, say, France,
Germany or Holland, shudder at the thought of
large numbers of gypsies wandering around the
countryside resorting to crime or making large
scale claims for welfare since the welfare is
considerably more generous in the western
than in the eastern part of the continent.
Some gypsies have managed to escape the
trap and are making positive contributions to
the countries in which they live. But this
number is depressingly small and not about to
change to any great degree.
The vast majority of gypsies will go on living
as they have for centuries and it is highly likely
that, a deCade from now, the problem will be
just as serious as it is now.
My dictionary describes the word
intractable" as meaning unmanageable or not
easily controlled. That just about sums it up.
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Enjoy what's ahead
Well, it may seem like it's happened
before the ink has even had time to
dry on exams, but that time of year
is here again. Kids will be heading back to
school next week,:while some post--gecondary
students are already back in class.
For this latter group, coming from small
town Ontario, college can be a bit of a culture
shock. I remember the overwhelming feeling I
:experienced during just a visit to a university
as a teenager. The concept of this community
within a community was both frightening and
alarming. A new world, new people and each
student alone, at least initially, among
strangers and strangeness.
But I at least had come from a town with a
population of over 5,000. When my daughter
decided to attend college in Toronto, we were
prepared for the many differences she would
be facing. However, one of the first was put
into perspective literally before she even began
when, during the parents' information session
at the orientation day we were told that the
school population numbered 10,000. This was,
the dean noted, bigger than many of the towns
in which the students had grown up.
No kidding. "That would be 10 times
bigger," I said to the woman next to me, who
in turn, seemed rather stunned, first I assume
by the notion of a town of only 1,000 people,
then secondly, that we actually send them off
to school in Toronto. This was, she
commented, going to be an unbelievable
change for my daughter. I did assure her,
however, that my girl had not been os
cloistered from the big world as she might
think, and had in reality spent a good deal of
time in TO.
All this notwithstanding; though, it is still
brand new when you're off on your own for
the first time and she learned that —
sometimes the hard way. I recall a particular
telephone conversation which began with her
stressing she was tine, it was over. Needless to
say I was rather keen to hear the rest of the
story. It. turned out that she had gotten on a
wrong bus which she essentially rode to the
end of the line. There was panic, there were
tears, and there was a mom who was happy to
be hearing this after the fact.
Going off to college or university is an
adventure. And when I listen to these young
people discussing where they are headed, their
plans, their hopes, it is not difficult to get
caught up in their excitement. Furnishing their
new apartments, picking up schedules, touring
the campuses can be exhilarating certainly, but
not just a little bit scary. ,
In the beginning at least, it's a bit like being
a small child again, exploring a world that is so
new, so fresh.
And yet, it is also about being a grown-up.
where responsibility is truly your own.
Budgets'must be &glanced, cooking, cleaning,
organization may for some be interesting new
challenges. .
But good or bad in the early going certainly,
and for some time later, each day should bring
something new — friends, opportunities,
learning, life lessons. It is truly a growth
experience to be savoured.
Ultimately it's like this at every level of
education when you think about it. From our
first steps into kindergarten, to the terror of
entering Grade 9 it's another move toward
personal growth. May all students enjoy these
years ahead. Take what you can from them and
give them all your best.
Gypsies the unwanted people