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The Citizen, 2000-10-11, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2000. PAGE 5. Other Views So tell me - When you run into a stranger at a party you can usually count on having to answer one drearily predictable question before you can chow down that cocktail wienie. Sooner rather than later, your newfound friend wearing the lapel tag that says HI! MY NAME IS IZZY! — is going to ask you the 24-karat conversational gambit: “So, what do you do for a living?” I don’t mind really. It’s a question I’ve answered many times in many different ways, having been employed over the years as everything from dishwasher to door-to-door encyclopedia flogger and not forgetting plumber’s apprentice, TV host, farmhand, comic book editor, advertising salesman, B- movie actor, tar and gravel roofer, inventory clerk, and cowpuncher at the Ontario Public Stock Yards. I don’t mind that first question about what I do for a living; it’s the second question that drives me nuts. Take this job, for instance. When I confess that I write a newspaper column sooner or later somebody’s bound to say: “So, does that mean that you get your newspapers for free?” That’s right, buddy. All I have to do is hang around down at the newspaper office for 40 hours a week and I can save myself a quarter. It’s not just my job. I have a friend who spends a lot of times surfing those chat groups on the internet. That’s where anonymous nerds all over the web log on to type their thoughts on some topic of the day. Last week the topic Jerusalem: The sacred city of Jerusalem has been much in the news during the latter half of 2000 mainly because of its highly religious significance to both Jews and Muslims. It seems that each of these groups is extremely reluctant to share any more of the city with the other than is humanly possible and, because of this reluctance, it has been, at least for the time being, the highest barrier between an agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis which would ultimately bring peace to that part of the Middle East. I did my own little informal survey and could find absolutely nobody who could explain with any degree of clarity what the controversy was really about. For this reason I decided to provide such an explanation so you can understand it and outline it to your friends and neighbours who are still totally in the dark. First the Jews. Jerusalem is highly important because it is the location of the Ark of the Covenant. This is nothing less than holy ground and not to be shared with anybody, least of all the Muslims, even though the last time I looked, the two religions, being monotheistic, shared the same God. For Muslims, the city is where their prophet Mohammed left his footprint on earthly soil when he ascended into Heaven. So far we have not mentioned Christians but they, too, have a stake in the city in that this is where Jesus, by dying on the cross, redeemed mankind. The fact that He was born in Bethlehem, in reality a suburb of Jerusalem, does not really enter the picture, since Christians are not being obstinate about who does what where. Even if we did, I doubt that Jews or Muslims would really pay much attention to us. Their what’s your line? was ‘What’s the most common question you get about your job?’ As a columnist, I get off lightly. A Canada Post employee logged on to say that he’s constantly asked if he gets free stamps as one of the perks of the job. (Only if he steams them off the envelopes, like the rest of us.) A guy who delivers packages for FedEx says he’ll go Postal if he hears one more recipient say: “That package is for me? Eeeewwww, what’s in it?” (Well, Madame, my X-ray vision tells me...) Teachers regularly get asked how they can put up with a room full of restless teenage hormones day after day. A funeral home director said he was sick to death of telling curious people that no, he’s never seen a corpse come back to life. Anyone whose job encompasses even a hint of hanky panky is bound to attract lecherous queries. A massage therapist says she is frequently asked if any customers ‘get aroused’ when she’s working on them. She invariably replies deadpan “Occasionally ... but there’s a really painful pressure point for that.” - a city of three religions Raymond Canon The International Scene sight is focused on each other to make sure that neither gets what might be considered an unfair advantage. But all three faiths have places of worship within t he Old Walled city. This potentially is the easiest part of the puzzle to solve in that control over specific parts can be doled out. It is when you get outside the walled portion that the infighting begins. To understand this you have to go back to the War of Independence in 1948, the end of which saw Israel become a sovereign state. For the next 20 years Jerusalem was divided and the division was not a pleasant one. Palestinians who owned property in West Jerusalem were driven from their homes while Jews were unable to worship at holy sites in the eastern part which came under Jordanian control. After the 1967 war (six days in length and resulting in a great Israeli victory) the city was united, with Israel firmly in control and it was Final Thought We are most likely to get angry and excited in our opposition to some idea when we ourselves are not quite certain of our own positions, and are inwardly tempted to take the other side. - Thomas Mann And a woman who works in one of those one-hour photo-processing booths is always being asked if she gets nude photos to develop. Her answer? Oh, yeah. “I have seen ‘way more of my customers than I care to.” But it’s the attempts at comedy that really do employees in. There’s an attendant at the Metro Toronto Zoo who’s responsible for cleaning^out the elephant enclosures. He says that at least once a month some rubbemecker will come by, see him pushing a broom across the cage floor and call out “Say, what kind of elephant are you?” Har har. Reminds me of a story about another pachyderm apprentice who stopped off at a bar for a brew after work one night. The guy on the next stool took a sniff, looked at him and said “No offense, pal — but you really stink!” “I know,” said the zoo worker sadly. “It’s because of my job. I’m with the elephant act in the circus. Before each show I have to give the elephant an enema so that we don’t have any accidents on stage. It’s tricky business. I have to administer it quickly and them jump back. And sometimes I don’t move fast enough.” “Wow,” said the guy on the next stool. “How much do they pay you to do a lousy job like that?” “Eighty-five bucks a week” said the man cheerfully. “You gotta be kidding. Why don’t you quit?” “What?” retorted the man, “and get out of show business? announced that Jerusalem would be the eternal and undivided capital of the nation. At the same time as the city was united, the Israelis extended the boundaries of the city to about three times its original size. They were not very subtle about it; they got the maximum amount of land while minimizing the number of Palestinians who lived within the new boundaries. Since then the policy of successive Israeli governments has been to increase th population of Jews in East Jerusalem until they outnumbered the Palestinians. Right now the count is about 200,000 for each group. As it stands now, the best chance for peace seems to be a redrawing of the city’s boundaries so that there will be a joint council to look after affairs of common interest while the Israelis and Palestinians would have control of the specific parts of most importance to each of them. So far negotiators have not yet shown any insight to get to this point which means that an agreement is still in the future. Meanwhile there is no lack of verbal broadsides from each camp. Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the ...editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Lotte, s ft at are not signed will not be printed Submissions may be edited for length,' clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to ,e use any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as Space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise. Bonnie Gropp The short of it Be grateful for it all There was a story shared by our family’s minister in the church newsletter recently which got me thinking thoughts that fit in nicely with this past weekend. The story in a nutshell is about a little girl who climbs a tree but loses her footing. Plummeting down she desperately tries to clutch the branches. Failing, however, she prays for help. No sooner had she finished, then her pants catch on a branch, at which point she sends another message heavenward, that God’s help was no longer needed. This, our minister said, was typical of so many of us. Counting our blessings isn’t the problem; it’s actually recognizing that we’ve been given them. Life has become so complicated and busy it seems we often overlook some of the good things that happen to us. Or at the very least take them for granted. And yet, such attention and detail we give to our troubles, some of which sad to say if we’re honest, are sorely overblown. So, it was with this thought that I began my Thanksgiving weekend, not just, of course, the perfect time to reflect on the many gifts we’ve been given, but an occasion meant for us to do so. Pondering this, my first realization was simply that yes, I do have so many good things for which to be grateful. And thus, though the response brought little satisfaction, I felt ready to move on. After all, with a day-to-day routine jammed full of personal and professional commitments, there just isn’t time to spend on introspection or soothing one’s soul, right? But then I decided to not do so was making short shrift of a very important aspect of life. Between faxes and e-mails, launder'ng and groceries, cranky customers and hairiea' clerics, why, oh, why wouldn’t you want to spend some moments fakir g a full accounting of all the gooa stuff? And once I began the list went o< Predominantly there is my family, particularly a supportive husband and four wonderful, beautifully unique children. But, then I realize family extends to so many more Ours has been blessed by expansion, most notably, our perfect little grandson, who has brought back the optimism that only new life can. Effortlessly, he makes our bad days good. As well, our children have brought into our home their ‘significant’ friends, people whom I respect and like, but more importantly have made my children happy and for that I can only be thankful. I am blessed with parents still in good health and enjoying their golden years. I have siblings who I love and get along with. The people they chose to marry I count among my cherished friends. Through marriage I have become part of a large, boisterous family, whose generosity and spirit are second to none. My home, my health are things for which my gratitude continues. Also, I have been fortunate to have a profession that I enjoy (gene.uiiy), v hich challenges me (often), and continues to put food on my table (so far). My blessings aren’t special. They are much the same as most other people’s. But, perhaps by listing them here now, they will serve as a reminder for those blessed like me to lake some time to be grateful for all of them.