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Times-Advocate, 1988-11-30, Page 61 Page 6 Times -Advocate, November 30. 1988 Times Established IR"I Ads o(ale Established MS Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Elieter, Ontario, NOM ISO Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235=1331 • ROSS HAliGH Hsi Bit Ali I tdilur HARM DIVRIES Publisher h. Adsrrlising Manager DO's SMITH ( (imposition Manager Bowie.. %hoaxer SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 You get value for your money While law-abiding citizens are going about their legitimate pursuits, or sleeping the sleep of the just, their police force is on duty. This protection is also economical.." . The Exeter force of -one chief, five con- stables and five auxiliary officers. cost. Exeter citizens $98.02 per capita in• 1987. This was about the lowest among area municipalities. Last year compara- ble .costs in Godcrich, Mitchell, Wing - ham and Seaforth ranged from $101.70 to -$123.50. Only St. Marys was lower, at $87.20. The workload hasbeen increasing steadily, from 2,079 occurrences in 1985 to 3,563 at the end of October for this year. The October report lists a total of 388 occurrences. Behind those bare statistics were eight vehicle collisions, 26 charges - laid under the Highway Traffic. Act, 12 liquour licence act violations, two im- paired drivers, two assaults, eight frauds, six thefts, three cases involving narcot- ics, nine cases of wilful damage, six ani- mal conplaintsand one call to a domestic dispute. And every occuireI1cc; rmac 1.ns mountains of paperwork. During October. the Exeter force also assisted the OPP six times, other agencies -on eight- occasions, served 10. summons and subpoenas, executed five conimittal warrants for unpaid fii}es,•and provided .15 escorts for such duties as transporting prisoners; safeguarding local businesses transferring large amounts of cash, and controlling traffic for funerals. - The two cruisers logged 6,195 km in that period. All officers are trained in CPR, and can be on someone's doorstep with a resusci- tator within two -and -one-half minutes of receiving an emergency call from an and bulance service. Policing during the day is relatively routine - traffic offences, accident •inves tigations, complaints and crossing guar( duty if nO one else is available. .Wrong -doers prefer the cover of dark ness. An officer on 'bight patrol neve knows when the next call from the dis patcher will announce a -minor distur- bance, or the beginning of a life- threateriing situation. (As one said re- cently, the adrenalin does not flow the same way on a rifle range as it does in a dark alley:) - Police officers deal primarily. with the dark underside of society - _the misfits and those 'vho deliberately break the law. The) e on ti_ • scene at the worst of times, to arrest -.an obstreperous drunk, or break the news of an accidental death. All upright citizef}s want to see the law applied without fear or favour - until they get a parking ticket, or their child is picked up for shoplifting. Police officers can not let friendship in- ter -fere with duty. They are even forbid- den by their oath of secrecy frim un- winding after a bad day - or night - by sharing some cif their work-related bur- dens with their wives: • We tend to treat our police as a breed apart, keeping then - and sometimes their spouses •and children at arm's length; as acquaintances rather than friends. Police officers are human beings with the same hopes and dreams and needs as the rest of us: We pay to keep them in those uniforms. Their badges should he bridges, not harriers. 1 r lly }'Entine Reynolds Let's give thanks A week ago we wrote an edito- rial on attitudes and the lack of respect shown by all ages of our civilization. This leads us to think about an- other behaviour that is not being used as much as it should be or like it was back some 50 years ago. We arc talking about saying Grace before meals. Too often now, prayer is relegated to a re- ligious organized setting. We can remember When our grandfather said prayers of Thank giving tot only before a meal, but afterwards as well as following with a devotion which usually included -a short scripture reading.-r-�-�- it's a very poor excuse, but changing lifestyles have had a se- rious.effcct on saying prayers tic - fore or after meals. Many factors seem to be taking a toil on the traditional sit-down family meal as in many instances members are not home at the same time to cat due to busy - schedules. Consequently, it's the time to be thankful that is elimi- nated in thc hustle and hustle of life. it's importan t to remember that a prayer of Thanksgiving can be given at at any place or any time, but the family dinner table is the most appropriate place. ' Let s all of us try to take time later, live vehicles were shot at to give thanks on a daily basis by a sniper. for the many things we have to * * enjoy in this great country of ours and food is one which is While the town of Exeter is get - very plentiful. . ting an additional .police officer •early in the new year, one small town in the United States is not From the so fortunate. -irrigon with a population of ;editor's disk 8.50 in the state of Oregon is los- t ing their two-man police force for by Inthc entirc,month of December be - Ross Haugh cause of a lack of finances; The action is hong taken he- *• * * * ' cause ratepayers have repeatedly, orcd'against any lax levies for Due to the overwhelming rc- 'this purpose. Also getting - sults of thc recent federalclec- dropped from the payroll is the tion, Free Trade with the United town's recorder and a week ago States will become a reality. the community's 60 street lights We hope some of thc- bizarre were turned off. happenings across the bordet arc On -the same subject of polic- not part Of any agreement and ing, Exeter chief Larry Hardy don't get any closer to us. and -the town police committee When highway shootings and are to be commended for the fine murders happened in California a way the auxiliary force has been few years ago, we said, " That's established and maintained. a long way away and it can't Councillor Dorothy Chapman re - happen here". ported recently that the auxiliary But it is getting closer with officer training program in Exeter similar events in the state of will be used as a model in other Michigan and probably less than Ontario communities. 125 miles from here. On No- Chapman has become very in- vemher 19 a man from a Detrtoit volved in police matters at the suburb was killed- by gunshot provincial level and is on a corn - 'while sleeping in a car being mince to review policing in small driven by his wife and three days communities. /Y/t 114E NEWS Ib/U Ale Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by f.W. fedy Publications Limited Kids say the darndest things Now that my two-year-old grand -daughter has discovered the power -of the spoken word, I have been thinking back to the time when the things my children said astounded or amused or fas- cinated or embarrassed me. Our youngest, about four at the time, precipitated the first two re- actions the evening• a very preg- nant friend was invited for din- ner. Colin silently eyed the guest throughout the meal. When stir had gone, the following conver- sation took place. "Is Mrs. Smith going to have a baby?" "Where is the baby now?" "The baby is growing and de- veloping in Mrs. Smith' tummy until it is able to live separately from its mother." Long pause, while this infor- mation •was digested. Then carte the logical final zinger. "Why did site cat it?" * * * .* Colin added another chapter to the -family's history the night 1 .walked down the street at bed- time to bring hini home. I found -him and his young friend on the Reynold's Rap by tonne Res n/tids neighbour's hack steps. Mark -vas :sitting blissfully chcw;ia�.r.,a. large wail 'sit* gum, and *Colin - was playing with a toy truck. "Give Mark back his truck', 1 instructed. Colin got to his feet, held out the truck and said, -"Okay, Mark. Give -mc back my gun'." • *. * * * • Our. oldies( son proved earl in life that be had a sense of hu- mour. To encourage scholastic endeavour. we applied a scale of rates to final report .cards when the children were in public school In those pre -inflationary days, the boys received 25 cents for each mirk that had gone up. and 15 cents for at least holding their own. At report card time one gear, Don Jr. carte hone from school, poked his head around the kitch- en door. proferred a white enve- lope. and said "Mom,, this year,' think 1'owe you money.- * * * * Sorry folks. i'm. not revealing the embarrassing moments. Those are only confessed in whispers at family reunions. However. if tradition holds true and the next generation has inher- ited some dominant chromo- somes, we should be in for some interesting times. How are you? I suffer from sympathetic pain. When you tell me about your "real" pain, I feel "imaginary" pain in the same region. The trouble is that. my pain becomes so real that it's not clear who is in greater 'discomfort, the original patient or mc. if you're not satisfied with my plain English explanation, here is a quote from Daniel Webster: "Sympathetic 'pain activates a part of the nervous 'system that contains chiefly adrenergic fibres and tends to depress secretion, decrease the tone and contractility of smooth muscly, and cause the. contraction of blood vessels, and that consists csscntially.of pre- ganglionic fibres arising in the thoracic and upper lumbar cord and passing through delicate white rami commnicantes to ganglia ulocated in a,pair of gan- glionated cords situated on each 'side of the vertebral column or to more peripheral ganglia or ga glionated plexuses..." Do you sec .what 1 mean? Now do you know. what I'm against? Far from being merely psychotic. I am the victim of my own fibres ganging up on me: My plexuses and rami seem to be passing in the wrong direction.- Or something like that. i try not to read medical books because they, make me hurt all over. In fact, i don't even go into Elizabeth's office wher she has a whole bookcase full of` very ex- plicit nursing manuals. Just thinking about them causes me great disfort. t try to comavoid the front. page of the newspaper with its detailed, bloody accounts of murders;sui- cides, murder -suicides, fatal and near -fatal -accidents. When 1 watch the National, 1 turn the sound off and close my eyes through half the reports. 1 don't -need to know how pcoplc fall out of airplanes or get impaled PETER'S POINT . • by Peter Hesscl by 4 -inch pipes. And i stay way from action movies: TV dramas and cartoons. i avoid violence and stories of physical suffering. But. pcoplc won't co-operate. 1 go down- town own town with the peaceful intention to do some early .shopping,. Of course, 1 Always run into lots of nr teJ know. Nothing wrong with that,and t do what comes naturally, I say "How arc you?" What i cxpcctto hear in return is, "Pine, andl125t;ti+ ale ynt;-*� The trouble is, the older i get, thc more pcoplc want to confide in me. They think i really want to know how they arc. Don't get mc wrong, I'm interested in pco- plc. And if it weren't for that af- fliction of mine, this sympathetic pain business, I'd be delighted to listen to their health problems. But while they get to feefrbetter and halter as they unload their • troubles, i aimost•pass out with pain. • The other day 1 met Mike whom 1 hadn't seen in a few months. "flow are you, Mike?" i thought I'd -exchange a few voids ith him and then get on with my shopping. Twenty min- utes later I had learned a great deal about gall stones in general, the size of Mike's in particular; and the excruciating pain he had experienced before, during and after whatever they did w ith him. He never noticed how i doubled up with pain. My lower abdomen (where i think my gall bladder is situated ) was pulsating. I waS breaking out in a cold sweat. But he rambled on about his illness. 1 couldn't stand it any longer and lost my cool. "Stop!" 1 shouted. "i only Wanted -to say hello to you, Mike. You're killing me with these graphic clinical descriptions." Ile didn't. understand, and I may. have lost a friend. Should I avoid people in fu- ture? Wear dark glasses and a wide -brimmed hat'' A coat with the collar upturned:' Or 'should I pretend to he in a hurry when I'm not? 1 want tip" be friendly, but i don't want to hear their gruesome medical his p ' • Mayhc'T' why "'T:::. your any more. I could try "Itcllo" or "Hi or "Gidday" That just might do it. I'll great people with ""Gidday! isn't it a wonderful day? You're looking absolutely marvelous." Surely no One would dare to send mc into contortions of pain after such an enthusiastic greeting. if you'i'e really in trouble, if you need a shoulder to cry on, give me a .call. I'll set aside a block of time for you, swallow a couple of pain killers, and listen _ to your story. But don't ambush me in hload daylight when I'm unmedicated.