The Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-12-16, Page 23The ice proved nearly too much for the Agawa Canyon when
she put into Goderich harbor earlier in the week. After
taking on her load of salt at the Domtar Sifto Salt mine
Bill Smiley
Most Canadians are
pretty long-suffering. ` We
seldom take to' the
. barricades, set fire to the flat,'
or hurl bricks at the police.
Canadian men put up with
nagging wives for years, and
accept it, on the .whole with
meekness. Nowadays wiyes
not onlynag, but they are,
many 'of them,the crudest of
materialists and the most
militant of women's libbers.
The husbands still go along
_ without much more than an
occasional snarled, "All
right, then. You can put the
bloody garbage out.'!
Canadian womenput up
with • undemonstrative, in-
sensitive loutsof -husbands
for years, chap who•.: were
knowledgeable about beer
and hockey and poker, but
-wary-ofemotion and callous
about the finer things in life.
Nowadays, most husbands
are still louts, but quite a few
have escaped into the esoteric
world' of macrame,
needlepoint, going .to the
ballet, and having their hair
"'done" •every two weeks. And
the wives haven't complained
much, except for the oc-
casional venomous', "I
remember when you- were
always trying to drag me into
. the bedroom."
In fact, we are such non -
complainers thateverybody
walks all over us. We shudder
and whimper under a
punitive tax system, • but
there'snary a bomb for the '•
tax collector.-
We get royally and
regularly screwed by
everybody from mechanics to
merchants; from •super-
markets to .surgeons, from
restaurants to repairmen,
<I .r and we grumble a bit, but
almost enjoy it, as Confucius
. advised about rape, when it
seems inevitable.
• We put up with dumb in-
solence from .postal, :clerks,
and stupidity from sales
clerks, and bad mariners
from beer slingers and lip
from hotel flunkies. And we
pay up, mutter a bit, and fade
into the woodwork.
We accept shoddy work-
manship from Canadian
manufacturers, and go back
for more. We eat fifth -rate .
meals in, highway
,restaurants, vow we'll never
go back, and stop at the same
place next time, hoping for a
miracle, only to be served the
greasy, - badly -cooked food
and watery coffee' we got last
time.
kEst40
uktattl
mom
71'
PREVENT FOREST FIRES]
packed ice prevented her reversing out through the channel
to the open lake. She finally cleared. about 10: 00 Wednesday
morning withthe help of the tug Atomic. (staff photo). '
It is time
We are humble and•contrite
when some jumped-up pip-
squeak of a civil servant, or
some ulcerous creature in an
employment office, tells us
we haven't filled out the form
properly.
Maybe we deserve i.t.
Maybe it's time we reared up
on our hind legs and started
bitching about all the second-
rate goods and third-rate
service that are shoved at us.
Maybe it's time we started
yelling, and' causing public
scenes,. and •demanding
proper service, and shouting
for the general manager or
the head waiter, and• com-
plaining bitterly and heatedly
when we encounter stupidity
and insolence and- slip-
shoddiness.
We -weren't -always- like -
this, you know. A couple of
generations ago, Canadians
weren't such patsies for the
greedy. My mother was on
good terms with 'the local
merchants. But they had to
produce, and theyhad to
compete, and if they didn't,
they were in. trouble.
She trusted people about as
far as she could throw them
up in. the air; and she was five
feet two. She had a set of
scales in the house, and she
weighed every sack of flour
or sugar •that came in. If it
was underweight, she'd skin
the supplier alive; with her
tongue
we spoke up
And I wasn't always such a
dumb; complaisant member
of . the flock myself.., I
remember one incident::It
was about two years after the
war. I had•spent ayear in a
sanatorium, - . and was on
pension, 'but I was going to
school, and working at hard
labor . during vacations, to
support a wife and kid.
I had quite a lot of visits to
the Department of Veterans' •
Affairs. There I was treated,
by one guy, a civil servant,
like ,• something that had
crawled out. from under :a
stone. This guy ''would s'`ay,
"Take a seat," and ignore
you. for one, two, three hours.
He had lost an arm in the war,
and flaunted it, with his
' sleeve neatly".pinned up. To
-h t glxess, secure with his
pension, and his foreverjob
doing nothing, we were scum,
-whose onlypurpose was to
irritate him, and force him to
do a little paperwork.
One day, my flashpoint
ternoon off work, lost half a
day's preciouspay, to see a
senior official at DVA con
'cerning grants for advanced
studies. One -Arm waved me
to'.aseat, and stood around
shooting the breeze and
drinking coffee for an hour -.
an hour and ahalf. I blew.
"Listen, you one-armed
bastard! I've got one lung,
and I think I've seen as•much
service as you have. If I don't
get to see Mr. X in five
minutes, I'm coming over
the counter!".
He could have cleaned me,
even with his one arm, but he,
turned' pale, bustled abouts
and in three minutes 1 .was `
talking to the boss. It was that
old civil servant's panic about
getting a bad report.
It was cruel, but I've never
regretted -it. That jerk needed
Straightening out.
Isn't . it time we started
straightening out all the
jerks?. If anybody treats me. "
civilly, .I':Il .respond• in kind.
But from now on, if he doesn't
GQDERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1971
PAIGE 11
7COLGATES
TOOTHPASTE
100MLSIZE. REG. $1:19
2'$l FOR.44
NICE -N -EASY
SHAMPOO.
HAIR COLOURING
REG. 51.99
'1.44
. 10 .PAGES•
INSTAS.TICK
PHOTO ALBUMS
REG. 52:49
occurred. I'd 'taken an af- _I'll holler. Who's with me? .
CIVIC • MEETINGS
Goderich Recreation Board meets tonight at 7:30 in the
recreation office on Waterloo Street:
Huron County Council meets in regular session on '
Friday, December 17 in the: county council charnbers in
the Goderich Court House beginning at 10 a.m.
Goderich Police Commission meets Monday March 20 at
noon in the council chanib"er- •-` "- - town hall.
146 COURT HOUSE
SQUARE
GODERICH•
CASH YOUR BABY .BONUS CHEQUE
AT PEOPLES STORE. pNp RECEIVE A
FREE GIFT
LINEN & COTTON
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STRIPED PATTERN
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WITH COMB AND PICKS
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$
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9 0Z. SIZE
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2 PAIRS F � 1.44
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2 PKGS FOR1.44
BOYS
ASSORTED
L.S.: OR 5.5.
:„T-SHIRTS AND
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VAL"DIESTO $144
$2.49 M i ' •
•
SUN DIAL. SHAPE
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$1.44
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CHOCOLATE: COVERED
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AGES4TO6-6T08
AND8TO10
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51.44
LADIES
SHEER STRETCH
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WRAPPING PAPER
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5 ROLLS 26" x 250
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ASSORTED
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CARDS REG, 51.99
$1.44
ELECTRIC
LIGHT BULBS
PACK.OF2
�2EG'69c' PKG.
3 PKGS. FOR 1.44
.1
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MOUTHWASH
1.44
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FOR $1.44
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REGULAR ORSUPER
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JOHNSONS ,.. _.-..
BABY POWDER
14OZSIZE
.
$1.44
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DRIP DRY
HANGERS
REG. 51.99
$1.44.
SHREDDED
FOAM FILLED
PILLOWS
REG. 51.99 'EA.
$1 s44' EAGH.
BOX 4
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ASSORTEDriCINDS
REG $1.99
$1.44
ASSORTED 't
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6 FOR a 1.44
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10 OZ. SIZE
BOXED
TUMBLERS
4 PER BOX $ 1.•44
REG. 52.19
BOX 100
SAYERS
ASPIRIN TABLETS
REG. 93c BOX
BOORS11.44
PEOPLES STORES LTD.
146 COURTHOUSE SQUARE GODERICH