6 ‘Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 13, 1988 BS

Brake my day

Commentary

by Stephanie Wiebe

Hey Mister! Yes, I mean YOU, buddy, the guy with the

_ rusty blue Ford truck, You ruin- ed my Tuesday, you know, Last

Tuesday, remember? I was driv- ing out of the Co-op parking lot when you zoomed by, cutting

. me off so suddenly I had to slam on the brakes. My groceries slid

all over the station wagon, my

- daughter screamed, and I almost _

swallowed my gum, But you

_ didn’t concern yourself with all

that. You were too buy driving and singing along with Waylon Jennings at top volume.

You paused at the four-way stop, then geared up toward the overpass. I caught up with you

. there at the red light, and did my

best to glare you into submis- sion, but you were singing and picking you nose, oblivious to my psychic hostility. The light changed, and you were off,

shooting gravel behind you. I

never saw you again, but that was only the beginning.

I angrily drove home, where I gathered up my groceries. The yogurt had been squished and was oozing out through the cracked foil lid. The apples were bruised, and the Pepsi was shaken, Fou! language was building up in my throat, but I held back.

~My three-year-old asked, ‘Mommy, why our yogurt messy?’’ With my arms full of grocery bags, keys in my mouth, and the cat under foot, I manag- ed to answer. ‘Because Mommy had to stop the car so suddenly.”’ , .

‘Cause of that bad man?” _

The cat parked its fifteen- pound body on my foot, and I tripped. Now the Pepsi was real- ly shaken.

1 forced my ‘‘Mommy voice”’ through gritted teeth. ‘Yes,

because of that bad man’s driv-—

ing.’’ Well, Mister, I couldn’t get

~ you off my mind that whole

afternoon, When the kids refus- ed to eat squished yogurt, I

thought of you. When the Pepsi

sprayed the kitchen ceiling, I thought of you. When | climbed onto the counter to clean the Pepsi off the ceiling, and ac- cidentally stepped into the sink, flatting a soapy S.O.S. pad, then stepped back onto the counter and slipped, scraping my elbow and bruising my pride, I thought of you. And said a few words about you, too.

Meanwhile, the three-year-old had fingerpainted the yogurt on- to the fridge door. I cleaned that up, discovered I had acquired a

eae

headache, and then realized I was out of Tylenol, This meant packing up the kids, traipsing off to another store, where I noticed Pepsi was on sale for 47 cents less than I had paid for the stuff on the ceiling. I decided that it was your fault, Mister.

When we returned home, I stepped in a puddle and my new | sneakers got a good muddy soaking. The headache worsen- ed, and the kids began to bicker among themselves. When my cheerful husband arrived, he in- nocently asked, ‘“How was your day?” I’m sure he didn’t expect the answer that he got.

I hope you had a nice Tues- day, Mister.

Terrace Public Library staff are doin Becky Sundberg, Ruth Shannon and p.m. to 4 p.m. Any published authors from the Terrace area are

the Hbrary at 638-8177.

Gillian Campbell are planni

g thelr part for National Authors Week, coming up at the end of this month. ng an “Authors Tea” April 23 at the library from 2: invited to attend. For further Information contact

Best to use those NATO dollars at home

Letter

To the Editor;

On Monday, March 28, 1988 the former chief of the Canadian defence staff wert public with what can only be described as a scathing attack on Canada’s pre- sent role in NATO.

Retired General

Gerard

Theriault summed up Canada’s

extravagant expenditures in Europe this way: ‘1 must say it — our forces in Central Europe mean next to nothing in military terms.”’

‘General Theriault, now 55, was made chief of defence staff

for Canada in 1983. He told the

International Affairs Con- ference in Ottawa that Canada’s

presence in Europe is mean- -

ingless and more should be done to defend Canadian territory.

I must say it is satisfying for me as a Member of Parliament from the northwest of Canada to hear the most senior military personnel in the country agree with the position I have long fought for publicly.

General Theriault was also highly critical of other Conser-

-vative military policies. On the

purchase of nuclear submarines for Canada he states: ‘‘It could turn out to be an unaffordable extravagance in a defence budget that is very modest.” Mr. Mulroney estimates the cost at $7.5 billion — the cost will ac- tually be substantially higher, perhaps as high as $16 billion. He was also critical of the Mulroney decision to abandon Canada’s long-standing commit- ment to send a brigade to Nor-

- Usefulness over

| for flow-throughs

Letter

aes

_ To the Editor;

» ‘The March 16 issue of the Ter- race Review had a front page ar-

- ticle that was very informative

(flow :through mining shares).

This: five-year-old government

scheme may have had good ‘short term benefits for the in-

- dustry, but it is well that such a tax break now be abolished. It.

seems like welfare for the rich. The article appropriately cited ‘Don McLeod of Vancouver as

one of the tax break’s most. ~~ astute and vocal advocates. This

is the same fellow who closed

down Stewart’s Scotty Gold |

Mine a few years back, putting hundreds of people out of work. My feeling is that Scotty Gold’s ore had not petered out, but rather McLeod and his company weren't raking in enough profit at that time to comfort themselves, So the working man got the shaft.

Capitalism’s Golden Rule: “Those who have the gold, rule.”

Tom Taggart

: Mey Por rr ee Stewart i

way in times of heightened East- West tension.

All talk to the contrary, the Conservatives went on record in March in Parliament to oppose a motion of support for NATO.

Surely the time has come for a serious public debate about the

role for our defence forces in .

Canada and abroad. Surely it is time for a serious debate about what kind of ‘technical equip- ment best suits Canadian defence requirements and our role as a global peacekeeper. There are 45 wars being fought in the world today. Hun- dreds of thousands: of soldiers and civilians are dying in these

conflicts. Almost all the.

weaponry, including chemical

The STORK

REPORT

Is the Stork about to visit you? Let everyone know about the happy event

oz. baby girl Deanna

LAMBERT — Dennis, Ja the birth of their brother, Ibs. 3 oz. Proud parents are John and Cathy.

- FLOWERS A LA CARTES

Membor ol AFS Wire Service.

weaponry, is produced by developed nations who take no action to bring these wars to a peaceful resolution. —

Here at home, the U.S. disputes our claim to control over the northwest passage and the high Arctic. Yet the Mulroney government has agreed to construct the new north warning system along the 60th parallel where the U.S. wants it rather farther north where it would provide better

surveillance for Canada and.

establish..our sovereignty over the region.

It is time for Canada’s defences to be reorganized. It is

time for us to exert. sovereignty

and security in our North. Since

VOGL — Willy and Susie are happy to announce the birth of thelr 8 Ib. 5 Elizabeth on April 1, 1988. A sister for Alexandra. .

by having it printed in the

| Terrace Review. Forms are available at the hospital. | :

mes and Jonathan are pleased to announce Brian David, born April 6 and weighing in at 10

24-hour Phone fy (604)635-4080 1 ' Skeena Mall

retired General Theriault agrees with me on the value of our troops in Central Europe — isn’t it time we placed them where our security is most threatened?

We spend hundreds of millions each year in Europe — defending highly industrialized, wealthy countries — and almost nothing for ourselves. Perhaps a few coast guard helicopters, frigates, and rescue vessels on the B.C. coast would be a good investment in sovereignty and saving lives.

Jim Fulton, MP Skeena