Loading...
Times-Advocate, 1986-09-10, Page 41 Times -Advocate, S.ptsmtbor 10, 1986 imes -. dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by I.W. Eedy Publications Limited • Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. 1=1� Phone 519-23S-1331 C n eNA LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Must be rectified There's a theory in business that if an item is priced too low in comparison with comparable items, many people won't buy it because they suspect it must be flawed. Strange as it may sound, some merchants have generated success by moving prices up to remove those suspicions. That almost appears to be the cur- rent situation with ice time at the South Huron rec centre. Despite the complaints about the new rates, there is an un- precedented demand for ice. Unfortunately, that demand is for prime hours only and the centre sits idle for many hours of each day while groups such as the men's rec league consider folding because they can't get the hours desired. Despite suggestions that the groups involved would have to take some of the good along with the bad, the board has not moved convincingly in that regard and loss of revenue from the open Satur- day ice time and that which will be available if the rec league disbands will amount to between $600 and $700 per week or about $15,000 over the winter season. That's totally unreasonable and the board should move quickly to take cor- rective action as must the groups involv- ed or they will face ice time costs in the future much greater than those now be- ing charged. Groups which have to hire instruc- News not Judging from reports at the re- cent crops update program at Centralia College, a large number of area farmers have lit- tle going for them except their enternal optimism. There may be signs that even it is starting to wear a little thin. There was very little good news for the cash croppers as com- modity spokesmen took turns in outlining the dismal marketing outlook for the current crop. White beans appeared to be the lone exception and with little op- timism for many commodities again next year, white beans will probably join the ranks as more attempt to benefit from the bright spot. There have always been gambles associated with farm- ing, of course, but there has generally been an opportunity for people to hedge their bets through some diversification. Now that diversification offers little hope that what one loses on corn or grain can be recouped with gains from the crops on other fields. There are new crops being in- troduced, such as red wheat and canola, to ease some of the pro- blems, but those crops are not guaranteed money-makers either. Canola was described by some of the Centralia lecturers as a "high risk crop" while there is still a considerable amount of research needed to reap profits from red wheat. Ironically, if the latter crops can be grown successfully in On- tario and produce a profit, it is still a matter of robbing Peter to pay Paul because western pro- ducers will feel the crunch from the Ontario production increases. That's not a new situation. Farmers have for some time realized that their ability to generate a profit is directly tied to the misfortune of 'others. Agriculture today is based more and more on the situation where 4 tors probably have to be locked into a set schedule for the entire season, but there is no reason why the others can't take some of the non -prime with the prime. If the groups took periodic turns at using the Saturday evening hours it would be no great imposition for anyone and would resolve many of the current difficulties. It may be convenient to have the same ice schedule week in and week out, but it is not a necessity and most of the local teams are required to play out- of-town on a Saturday night occasional- ly and can obviously play at home occa- sionally as well. When schedules are drafted for the coming season there will be local teams who will have to travel out of town at times they would normally be using the rec cente and that time can be used to meet others' needs as well to help alleviate the current problem. It's obvious that enough good hours exist tosatisfyall groups if they are will- ing to cooperate. If the board and the groups can't work it out themselves voluntarily they should be forced intoit by the contributing municipalities withholding any direct or indirect assistance until they do it. The taxpayers should not be ex- pected to subsidize groups unwilling to utilize the center to its fullest through a small measure of cooperation and scheduling, particularly when a lack of the latter will add to the centre's deficit. • encouraging one man's loss is another'sgain and it doesn't sit well with many of them knowing that they almost have to hope for crop problems in some other section of this pro- vince, country or world so they can carve out a living. That's a rather depressing scenario in itself but it is a Batt'n Around ...with The Editor realistic assessment of the cur- rent outlook for agriculture. • • • * • It may appear strange to some, but most area farmers probably realized last spring that the corn crop they were planting was go- ing to be a losing proposition. So why bother? Well, Ron Christie of the Corn Producers Association had a plausible explanation, after ad- mitting ttmt he, along with many others, is guilty of "blind op- timism" that has kept hiry retur- ning to his fields to plant corn despite knowing it won't be profitable. As Ron explained it, farmers are "trapped" into growing corn (or other crops where the outlook is dim) because of their need to cover fixed costs and it is better to lose $20 to $30 per acre than not cropping it and losing even more. That may sound contradictory at first glance. Wouldn't it be bet- ter to leave the field vacant than plant something that you expect will lose money, or plant another crop that has a better potential? The first choice would be prac- tical if the field could be left devoid on any growth. But that's not the case and weeds would soon take over and infest the en- tire farm. In addition, some chemical use dictates that corn be followed by corn so the alter- natives are limited. * • • * • • Not all corn producers lose money on their crop. Some manage to sell when the market is at a level that gives them a return in the black but as Christie colorfully explained, marketing strategies are difficult and he suggested that tossing darts at a calendar while blindfolded was one avenue he would be exploring. • Be admitted that corn growers are good producers, but poor at marketing and cited the fact that two-thirds of producers sell in the bottom one-third of the market. So, why have any concern for growers who don't hit the top market prices? Well, what he failed to mention is that the law of supply and demand will always dictate that the proportion of those selling in the bottom one- third of the market will never change. Some farmers may move from• one group to the other, but the number in each will .virtually remain constant. If you've come this far, you're probably wondering why some farmers don't just sell out and consider some other form of employment. In retrospect, there are pro- bably several of them wishing they had sold out when the price boom hit land a few years ago. Right now, however, many of them would come out of clearing sale in a losing proposition so again they're trapped. The foregoing is no$ to suggest that the picture out on the area concession roads is totally bleak. The majority will somehow mud- dle through on their optimism and efficiency but they're in a struggle too few comprehend. Did it have When I was a kid, adults were in full control. Being a kid in those days was like being a slave. I was told how to behave, and if I didn't follow the expected pat- tern, I was made to conform by stern looks, physical punishment and/or solitary confinement. The funny thing is that I didn't have to be punished very often. The mere threat of an adult's anger was was enough to keep me in line. I knew how far I could go, and there was little ,conflict. Curtain. Intermission. Act Two. The 1980s. The roles. are reversed. I'm a parent, and I should be in control. Wake up, man, this is not the way things work any more. Control is out. Shared decision-making is in. Our kids have to be taught democracy at the age of three weeks. "Would you like to have your diapers changed now, darling? Which do you think we should put on this time, cloth or disposables?" At three months the darlings have to be exposed to cutlery. "How else are they ever going to learn table manners?" Never mind that the carpet gets spatter - red with medium pablum. I was spoon-fed till I was five. Then one day my mother put a fork in front of me and said: "You'll use this from now on - and don't you dare make a mess!" And after two or three meals I learned to stick most of my food where it belonged. My mother had no trouble at all teaching me how to use cutlery, and I don't remember ever seeing carpet cleaners in our house. In the 1980s, feeding children is definitely a no -no. The dear little ones must learn to explore. Our kitchen table top looks like a navigator's chart of the Nor- thw.pst Passage. Boy, do our kids have a good time!. They've learn- ed to explore alright, but they still have trouble handling knife and fork. "What are you going to wear today, Alexander? It's a hot, sun- ny day, so I suggest you put on shorts and a T-shirt," That was mother talking. I still haven't Not I read in the paper last week about the housing boom in Lon- don, Ontario. Apparently people who are having new houses built may have to wait as long as eight months for them. The real estate brokers and the developers are happy at the extra sales and the city fathers are rubbing their hands in glee at the extra assessment. Materials are running short since local lumber companies have learned to keep their stockpiles fairly small in the days of high interest and are not too keen about being stung with huge inventories. Probably if they talk- ed to a few dealers out in Calgary right now they might find a few boards extra lying around in the lumber lots out there. I unders- tand that the price of houses in that city has dropped cqn- siderably and that many people to happen? learned to be persuasively deter- mined. I'd be inclined to tell him : "Here are your clothes. Please, put them on." Alexander's answer, of course, - either way - will invariably be: "No." He'll insist on wearing his new track suit, whether we democratically suggest or dic- tatorially tell him to do other- wise. Choices, give the boy choices. That's what the books say. "Okay, Alexander," I'd say, PETER'S POINT • "either you put on the shorts and T-shirt and get to see Return of the Jedi tonight or you'll put on that heavy track suit and go to bed right after supper. It's your choice." At that point, Elizabeth - who is always a chapter and a half ahead of me in the book - signals to have a private talk (you must never disagree on matters of discipline in front of the children). "That was not a logical conse- quence," she'd whisper. "Seeing or not seeing a VCR movie has nothing to do with the clothes they wear." Back to the drawing board. Parenting is a very complicated business these days. Take bedtime for instance. (Frankly, you can have bedtime, it is one of the greatest stressors I know.) I dont think I was any different than our children. I never wanted to go to bed, and I'd find any excuse to stay up late. But it would have never occurred to me to defy a stern order direct-. ly. The consequences would have been painful. Our kids have to be put in bed democratically. First we set the time to "remind them that the in- evitable is approaching. While I clap my hands to say as cheerful- ly as I can "O.K. you guys, break it up, clean up the mess on the floor, get yourselves upstairs and into the bathtub!", Elizabeth remembers Lesson 5, Part II: Bedtime. She'll come up with choices like "you decide whether you want a story or not", "you decide whether you can have toys in the bathtub', etc. Regardless of the strategy, whether we use the sophisticated approach or crisis management, we usually end up draggng the kids upstairs one by one, while ' they scream blue murder. What went wrong over the past couple of decades? Has the world suddenly turned a somersault? It used to be the parents who were in firm control. A kid misbehav- ed - andbang! Instant retribution was followed by tranquility. Now there is rebellion and counter - rebellion, disharmony and stress, rivers of adrenalin and agony. Over that? Something as simple as going to bed. Now don't get me wrong. I'm as democratic as the next fellow. It's just that all this democratic childrearing is wearing me out. And it's so unfair that I should be getting it at both ends. For thousands of years, bringing up kids was no problem at all. You simply clobbered them into sub- mission. That's how it was till I gre* up. At precisely that mo- ment in history, the rules were changed, and wham! Now my kids are telling me what to do. I'm sure that's the way things will remain for a couple of thou- sand years. Then maybe some lucky devil will be born who will grow up as a pampered darling child, hav- ing all the choices in the world, going to bed when he pleases, scratching the table top with his fork until he's 20 - and then, wham! Another twist will come, and autocatric parenthood will be fashionable again. He'll have no trouble getting his kids to clean up the toys because they" know their place. Their father will have it easy at both ends. Do you see what I mean? always profit are just walking away from their homes rather than continuing with huge mortgage payments that seemed quite realistic when By the Way by Syd Fletcher jobs were plentiful and oil was a ot more expensive. Too, it seem- ed appropriate to buy a house at an outrageous price because peo- ple figured that they could turn around and sell tomorrow at an even higher price. A friend of mine who works in the mortgage department of a well-known national trust com- pany started out in London about fifteen years ago. Sales were hot. After a few years things slowed down and he ,was sent to Kit chener, then about five years ago on to Calgary where sales were unbelievably good. This spring he moved back to London where all the action is apparently happening. It seems that the buyinfl of houses, like other commodities, goes in cycles. If you are lucky you end up buying one at the beginning of the cycle when prices are quite low and can make a profit by selling at the other end. Unfortunately, for every sale there is a buyer and a seller and not always is there a profit to be . made for both. •