Times Advocate, 1999-11-17, Page 66
Exeter Times—Advocate
Wednesday,November 17, 1999
Editorial&Opinion
TIMES -ADVOCATE
PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511
Jim Beckett
Publisher and Editor
Don Smith
Deb Lord
General Manager Production Manager
Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited
424 Maio Street South, P.O. Box 850
Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331
EDITORIAL
Remem • er t eir
legacy of
courage and
freedom
e must never forget! The final
Remembrance Day of the 20th Century was
celebrated with a two -minute wave of
silence which gave us the opportunity to reflect upon
the reasons for remembering. There are so many. •
We must remember those who died, wearing
this country's uniform. Their .former comrades,
the ones who fought and survived World War Two
and Korea, are fewer in number each year; a
decade from now only a handful will remain. They
took up the torch so those untold thousands who
died will never be forgotten, and in turn they pass
the torch to us. We must not let it fall. We owe
them too much.
Although they died before they could make their
individual mark on the world, they left us a price-
less legacy in the form of courage, patriotism and
freedom. It is this legacy we must remember as
much as the individuals themselves.
At the same time, we must remember the brutal-
ity and violence of war, for if we forget these,
there is danger of repeating them. Although those
who died in war left us a glorious legacy, war
itself can never be seen as glorious. Rather, it is
something to be avoided, prevented, stopped - but
not at all costs.
We must never forget that sometimes the price
of peace is too high. If the cost of avoiding war
means allowing murderers and thieves to prey
upon the innocent, permitting tyrants to ravage
the countryside unchecked, or turning our backs
upon unspeakable evil, then we must be prepared
to fight.
Peace without hope, freedom, goodness and
decency is only an illusion - it is not peace, but
capitulation.
We are blessed to live in a country where there
is prosperity, and more. In Canada, individual
rights and freedoms have real meaning; people
may worship (or not) as they see fit; every individ-
ual has the right to protection from crime; voting
is not for the privileged few, but for everyone. We
may speak aloud our dissatisfaction with govern-
ment decisions, without fear of retaliation. • We
may express our ideas in words, art, or music
freely, but never at the expense of others.
Few of the young men and women who died for
their country -set out to be heroes. Most of them
were ordinary people, farmers, factory workers,
business people, students, who answered their
country's call. None left home and loved ones with
the intention of dying. Yet each faced unimagin-
able danger and hardship for an ideal, with
courage. . •
Surely we owe them tliore than two minutes of
silence, on a'single day each year.
• We can remember them by speaking out with
courage when we see injustice. We can swallow
our own fear and stand up for those unable to
stand up for themselves - the very young, the very
old, the poor, the sick, the terrified. We can take
a stand against something which is clearly wrong,
even when such a stand is unpopular.
We can remember them by speaking such words
as patriotism, freedom, and courage, not with a
smirk or embarassment, but with reverence and
pride. They deserve no less.
What's behind me is not important
Somedays I feel like Leslie Nei... on in thn movie
Naked Gun, completely unaware of things going on
around me.
As frightening as this -is, it often happens when I'm in
my vehicle.
The phenomenon started on a windy, rainy night sev-
eral years ago, when I was driving to Hensall and
noticed it was very noisy in my car.
I checked the front windows -- both were closed. I
stretched back to check the windows in the back seat.
They were closed too.
Had the floor fallen out of my car? Had the roof flown
off? �.
No, the hatchback was open. As luck would
have it, I was on my way to the laundromat
and had a stack of clothes in the back. I don't
think my clothes needed a pre -rinse but it
could explain some missing articles.
On to the next vehicle. I forgot I had my bike
on the back of the car when I was backing up.
Lo and behold, rims bend when you back into
an embankment.
Next, the sport utility vehicle. You're probably ATE
shuddering about all that can go wrong witli MONK
something that big. Oddly enough, I haven't TKA
bac'Cod into anything. It's the rear window that Tam
gives me trouble.
Here's my advice for people who have rear windows
that can be operated with an easy touch of 'a button
from inside the vehicle. Ensure your rear window is
completely closed before you go through a car wash.
Otherwise, it will be quite noisy and increasingly
humid, not unlike when you're driving along the high-
way with the hatchback open. Water is under high
pressurefn a car wash and a pond can be created very
Eckl
ven if you realize what's happening, there's no
quick way to get the window closed.
You'll need to borrow a shop vac unless you'd like to
protect rare species of amphibians in your backseat.
In the winter, extremely cold temperatures do;;not
necessarily mean your heater is malfunctioning. First,
check that your windows are -closed. If your hair is
being blown forwards rather than backwards, your
back window is probably open. The full brunt of this
manoeuvre is best felt on a stormy January morning at
Elgfnfield.
My cla$sic escapade extended over a week. I decided
to take the scenic back roads one day. The gravel road
was freshly graded and a little on the dusty side. Not
wanting to blanket the vehicle's interior with a
generous layer of Usborne Twp.'s finest dust, I
shut off the inflow of air.
Much to my chagrin, the truck filled up with
dust. A few days later, I couldn't get the rear
defroster or the rear windshield wiper to
work. I was on the verge of taking the truck in
for repairs when I happened to put some gro-
ceries in the back and realized the rear win-
dow had been open an inch for several days.
The dust had mixed with rain to create a nice
little mud pie. Time for the shop vac and
shampoo!
Touch wood, things have been going pretty
well for .the past few years and I believe my luck is
changing.
Last winter, I was backing into my garage (the door
was open) and at the last second, looked into the din-
ingroom window and noticed Doug frantically waving
his arms. I glanced in the rearview mirrow and discov-
ered his car was already in the garage. I came so
frightenly close to ejecting his much smaller vehicle
through the back wall of the garage and into the back-
yard.
j
Avoiding that collision has got to be a good omen. But
ust to be safe, keep your distance.
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