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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1982-08-04, Page 44 • I PAGE 4 —GODERIcusnew,srigt, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 1982 DAVE SYKES n The following column was written by Joanne Buchanan for the vacationing Dave Sykes. Dave will return emit week. DIET is a four-letter word in my vocabulary. My life is a ..constant round of diet -binge, diet -binge, diet -binge. I guess there are a lot of dieters outthere because diet clubs flourish andthrOeople who write diet books are laughing all, the way to their banks. I'm too cheap to join a diet club and I don't believe in the fad diets , you find in books. I know what I have to do. It's really very simple—just eat less, exercise more and watch those calories. But I have this problem. I love food and I'm allergic to exercise. So, I just go around telling people that I'm short for my weight. Believe it or not, there are some people who can eat anything they want and not gain an ounce (I just have to,.smell something fattening and I gain two pounds. I dui& its called osmosis.) Anyway, these 'eat -anything -they -want' people are always sabotaging my efforts. Take the skinny little guy who usually writes this column for instance. He brings his lunch to work every day in a huge paper bag. And sometimes he doesn't get around to eating it all. He leaves home- made muffins, cake and cookies sitting on his desk after lunch. I know they are there, just begging to be eaten and it really bothers me. Sometimes I hint around. "Hey, aren't you going to eat those?" and he'll torture me by saying, "Maybe later." And then they just sit there. U it's an apple or orange, it doesn't bother me. Heck, I can eat those any old time. But perfectly good baked goods going to waste. ft's a sin. I had a friend in college who wasn't interested in food. Sometimes she'd even forget to eat. Can you imagine! I told her she should go and- have her taste buds operated on. Anyway, she used to sabotage me too. We'd go to the school cafeteria on a break. I'd get a black coffee and she'd get French fries: Then she'd sit and poke away at the greasy little morsels with her fork. "Want one," She'd ask. "Okay, but just one. I'm on a diet," I'd reply. Soon she'd push her plate away with only half the French fries eaten. I'd sit there staring at them as they got colder and colder. Next thing I knew, I'd be diving into them and finishing them off. Drinking black coffee and eating Frenchfries made, about as much sense as drinking diet pop and eating potato chips. My brothers used to sabotage me too. , "Hey Joanne," they'd say: "Want to lose 20 pounds of ugly fat? Cut off your head. Ha, ha, ha." The more they'd tease, the more I'd eat. I vividly remember one Easter. My brothers got huge chocolate eggs, candies, etc. I got Melba toast and a pair of panty hose. Such is life. For. all the abuse and torture I go through over food, I should get my reward in heaven—if I'm not too wide to get through the pearly gates! • BLUE RIBBON ,40.4ARD Second class number -0716 • r SINCE 1848 THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT founded In 11141 andpullibised every Moissilay et Dederick Oaterio. Member of the COM coal OWMA. Miser - flare Woo on rolloort. Sohlifilillons Payable hi advance °MAO in Canada. .111.110 to U.S.A.. 'MAO to ell other mum Oleo single copies W. Display advertising rates mailable cm ragwort. Pleases& for Date Cord No. 11 effective Oc- tober .1. 1111. Second class mail ilegistratioa Number MIL Advertising is accepted on the monition that Iii tim event of typographical error. the adveriiisho specs occupied by the erroneous item. together with reasonable allowance for signature. will rot be charged far but that lenience ef the edvertissseent will be paid for et the ap- pUceble rate. in the event ole typographical error advarthing speedier senskse et a wrong price. goods or services may not be sold., Advertising Is merely an offer to sell, .IMI may be withdrawn et any thee. The Signal -Star Is not responsible for the loss or clansege of unsolkited weenumrlpts. photos mother meteriats used for reproduchw pur- poses. PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBICK-Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES-Editor • P.O, BOX STS.:-. ttie 01W, HILICKITAS ST. Go, . GODERICH NTA 416 S FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL °FIRM, Please phone (519) 524-8331 me.r" • 9iMa. , • l•-••••:2144:k:,..--Itn-,-77::•-i'171-1:--;7":.' *nra.a "v6644. • - They haven't gotten the message • It haggles :one'n" mind boiv many people still haven't gotten the message about just how 'tough a financial Situation thisnation is in. ..Lto be sure, the unorghnized worker.:has gotten the Message and has been living with it for not weeks or ' ,,.months but Teats- WilaRPikt:Oled../.04Fai the would- be movers and shakerklinotile on about this, or that "in "%nifty" having decreasellateeitirbeibri they are in reality talking nonsense as far as the , • unorganized Worker is concerned. The wages and salaries • of the unorganized haven't matched the inflation rate for the past decade. For maniple, hydro rates which have been a couple of percentage points below hiflation for the past number of years have still been four or five per cent above the average pay hicreases of unorganized workers. O However the giants like Ontario Hydro and big 'oil companies and big steel companies and big pulp and ' paper companies have gotten the message. They've frozen the salaries Of top management and in some cases have letgo a number of executives. They have laid off • Workers hy thethousands. And yet the spending goes on at government levels. Recently in' the House of Commons, Canadians were treated to examples of thousands of civil servants tripping off to who -knows -what foreign land for who -knows -what reasons. Jim Fulton, the. NDP member for Skeena, god O bless him, would like to find out. And the president of the Treasury Board, the Hon. Donald J. Johnston (Saint- Henri-Westmount — Lib.), had better come up with some answers because this is an issue that has Canadians seething. • Mr. Fulton has already supplied us with some un- believable figures. For example, between May 3 and June ._. 18 of thia year 1,589.-ticketasvereiasued for trips for public servants going outside Canada — not counting trips taken by the glObentrotthig departmenti of External Affairs and National Defence. The Hon. Donald J. Johnston has agreed, 'The numbers do look high," and has promised to • "look into the matter". The other morning on • CBC Radio we listened to an unbelievable interview with a director of education who was bemoaning the fact that his level of people were not maintaining the traditional difference in pay that ought to exist between teachers, principals and directors and O superintendents. He stated his salary is presently $59,600. • Last Friday we received a lovely press release from the • Ontario .Ministry .of Industry and Tourism — complete with a glossy eight by. ten photograph of the Hon. Gord Walker, Ontario Minister.of Industry and Trade. Now the Hon. Gord Walker is a handsome enough looking gen- tleman and we're sure a fine gentleman to boot — but we don't think our tax monies ought to be spent by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in this manner. It is good of the Ministry to update our files for us with a two-page biography of the Hon. Gerd Walker, but a little one - column photo of the minister would have been sufficiept. In fact the whole release was unnecessary .and uncalled for. If the Hon. Gord Wallter is ever in our area, we're sure' • our news reporters will get the story and • the' pic- ture.—Listowel Banner Pornography is harmful The • Hon. Jean Chretien. Minister of \Justice and Minister of State for Social Development, hag a new cause these days. It is a cause that has struck a chord in a ma- jority of people, especially women, across Canada. Mr. Chretien's camels the stamping out of pornography as it is now sold. and advertised in , virtually every town and city in this nation. • • " For years it has been out of fashion to criticize not only pornography but the blatant kind of sexist attitudes as 5 portrayed in magazines such as "Playboy" and "Pen- thouse". People haven't spoken out for fear of being labelled as narrow-minded prudes. Besides there have been all those sociological studies- telling us this kind of trash is not only harmless but actually serves a need in some people: The thinking is changing. People throughout the western world are now question- ing the pronouncements of psychologists and sociologists. Common sense is making us question them. If our lower- * of moral standards is so harmless, how come in- stances of crimes against women and children in par- ticular have escalated? At the very least obr laws should prohibit the public display of sexist material. We believe most Canadians would prefer to see it banned completely.—The Listowel Banner. 44 Historicname change bad thtught to what July 1, 1867 ought to be called. They finally settled on Dominion Day, keeping in mind the quotation from the Bible: His dominion shall be also from the one sea to the other. The reference has nothing whatsoever to do with colonial status as some politicians would have us believe. Now we have a national holiday that rolls off the tongue with the likes of Air oCanada, Canada Post -,-Canada Agriculture, Canada Statistics and Metric Canada. Not only is it ludicrous, but it reveals a singular lack of im- sneginatten. Can anyoneitnagine the. French renaming Bastille Day, France Day, or the Americans, calling Independence Day, United States of America Day? Of course not - Friday, July 9, is yet another black day in this year of darkness for our House on the Hill. With a handfull of MPs (reports state there were 12) in the Commons, a private member's bill was given three readings and whistled through the House in about five minutes flat. That bill, sponsored by Liberal back -bencher Hal Herbert of Naudreuil, changed,the historic name of our Dominion Day. to Canada Day. Three Censer -Vali -tie members in the House supported the bill. To become law the bill now has only to be passed by the Senate, and with -a Liberal majority in that chamber it is likely the bill will be- - approved before the summer recess. -Norinally 'private member's bills get nowhere in Parliament. Allotted only an -hour of debate each, they are usually talked out. At least one Tory MP is angry about the Canada Day bill. Gordon Taylor of Bow River tried to have the vote overturned because he said the 12 MPs present at the time did not form a quorum. Speaker Jeanne Sauve however said his Objection came three days late and the vote stands. So there we have it. Our most historic, our national holiday given a name change on the strength of 12 members out of 282 voting on our behalf. It is a disgrace. The Fathers of Confederation gave considerable If the little minds that think excessive flag-waving and Canada calling at the e*pense of traditionwill turn us into better citizens really needed a Canada Day, why didn't they wait and tag that name to the February flag day we're bound to get one of these years? That kind of mentality belongs in the dead of winter on a useless holiday that accomplishes nothing except a further reduction in our already deplorable production record. It has nothing to do with our great and historic past.—Listowel Banner - • • • ••,•': j "!t ••0 • . . "0--71•': • , a Fishing • by Kris Svela DEAR READERS SHIRLEY KELLER I've been spending a good deal of time the last few 'days in hospitals - both here and in London. Of course there's a world of difference between the local ' hospital and London's • University Hospital. It's not too surprising really. There must be a world of difference in the cost of the building and equipment ... and a world of difference in the availability of absolutely excellent resident and consulting staff. London is one of the foremost medical centres in Canada, maybe even in North America. But there are many similarities too; and Goderich. and area residents need to be proud of • Alexandra Marine and General Hospital. It's a haven of comfort to many sick and dying hi- dividuals as well as those who are only requiring minor medical attention. ' What I have observed most about hospitals though, is the patients. There are all kinds of patients with all kinds of needs,. And 'what one patient finds acceptable and necessary, another 'patient will view as the -opposite. • . But I've determined there are many similarities too,*about patients .... and I've been amused at how staff deals with those similarities. Perhaps the most common denominator is the patient's concern for his or her own welfare. It shows up in various ways as far as can tell - maybe quiet acceptance of the situation, could be total disinterest in what's going on - or belligerent behaviour or even open worry. But it is there, understandably, in every patient confined to hospital - and not only patientshut the families and friends of patients. I've been studying the methods staff use to handle these differences and alleviate as much of the stress for the patient as possible. last professional health care workers seem to automatically tune in to the signals sent by the patients - and the patients, even the difficult ones, never seem to catch on they are being "handled" or "helped". Something as innocent as handing a patient a glass of water and a toothbrush can be significant I've noticed. No medical professional would suggest brushing one's teeth unless it was safe to do so - yet it can become a questionable activity when a patient adopts a negative at- titude about the routine. So the nurse in this case, must recognize the signs when handing a patient a toothbrush read them accurately and proceed. accordingly. The goal will be simply to get the patient to brush his teeth happily and healthily. I watched as one nurse skillfully maneuvered an elderly gentleman into putting in his own nose drops. The fellow had just had surgery on his nose - and he was likely concerned about. doing Something wrong when administering the nose • drops himself. So he proinised to get to the project after he'd been to the bathroom - and then, as soon as the, nurse was out -of -sight, set the nose drops aside Muttering, "I'd have to stand on my head to get them in rny nose." In a few minutes the nurse was back and asked how his nose felt. "Fine" reported the patient. "Those drops really helped." The nurse looked at him andat the bottle. Then she 'said very ctietly, "Are you having trouble getting the nose drops in?" All the time she was lowering the head of the bed and handing him the nose drops. She watched while he awkwardly used the nose ..drops.,. offering suggestions avid encouragement. Such a con job on the poor old fellow. "Boy, that really burns," he said. "It will, burn for a while but that's okay." (That's how she knew he hadn't used the nose drops. He'd said the drops made his nose feel better. Smart lady.) When the nurse left the room, the patient called his wife on the telephone to tell her about his ordeal - and to complain about the lousy hospital service and the over -paid staff and the rotten care. As he hung up the phone he turned to me and said, "I can breathe much better. Those nose drops did a job." And quite satisfied with him- self, he settled down to read his book. Another common denominator is the ongoing assessment of the dietary staff. Very rarely will a patient express satisfaction with hospital meals. Patients seem conditioned to find fault and to expect tasteless, colourless grub. There are other things - like judging the skills of nurses who administer injections or draw blood. And there are patients who count the number of times the doctor visits as compared to the patient in the next bed.' Or who judge the extent of their illness by the frequency with which the blood pressure is taken. Fortunately for all of us, hospital staff here and in London are aware of all the patient's little games. They've seen them hundreds of times - and learn how to deal with them all. They manage to give good care in spite of all that. I take m3i, hat off to them - and when it is my turn to be hospitalized, I know I won't be much different from anyone else. We humans are just too much alike in that department. ember of Metric Commission Capada writes Dear Editor, 0. Your newsmer sepently carried a Tetter earl Mr • Steve Yeldon, preeidint of Measure Canadian, urging your readers to pressure their provincial govern- ments to undo the federal metric conversion progrini. Canadians are free, thank goodness, to form whatever opinions they wish about metric, and to do whatever they wish to try to forestall it. However, as a member of Metric Commission Canada, I would suggest to those in- clined to follow Mr. Yeldon's advice that their credibility is in jeopardy if they try to dispute these facts: 1. The principle of metric Conversion was supported -by all parties in the House of Commons in 1970 and 1975. 2. In 1974 each of the ten provincial premiers said the federal plans were accep- table and conformed with the provincial metric con- version plans. 3. In 1976 and 1977 the House of Commons debated for eight days and a House committee for another eight days and Parliament even- tually passed a bill Mitch authorized the federal cabinet to issue an order -in - council making only metric legal under the Weights and Measures Act. This order -in - council, authorized by the Parliament of Canada, was eventually issued. 4. The only penalties for non-compliance are in the Weights and Measures Act, and have not been changed, and apply only to retail mer- chants. __ Otherwise Canada's. metric conversion program has been fully voluntary, organized and implemented by those directly concerned through 102 sector commit- tees staffed by some 2,000 molunteers ken) the respec- tive sectors. 6. All of the major nations, of the world except Britain, Canada and the U.S. are ful- ly metric. Australia and New Zealand started after Canada and are finished. Britain is stalled, but must eventually move ahead because the children learn . only metric in the schools and because EEC member- ship requires conversion to •metric. The ILS. is moving steadily ahead, on a fully voluntary basis. Although the 11.S. Metric Board is be- ing phased out, the Depart- ment of Commerce is taking up its work, and that depart- ment expects the metric system to be the "customary" system in the U.S. 7. For many years, Cana- dian school children have been taught only metric, on the authority of the provin- cial governments. , — Cleo Mowers, abridge, Alberta. 6