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p20 weekender december 19 1987 short story contest yuppie yuletide thaws out hobo by kevin amery the hypocrisy of it astounded george the complete hypocrisy the spirit of christmas was not healthy not here in suburbia true there were lights and plastic lawn models tinsel and music and evergreen trees brightly decorated all the trap pings were there shouting out their existance but true christmas spirit didnt quite make it this year not last year either nor the year pre vious to that george couldnt clearly remember one way or the other before that welcome to the yuppie yule- tide george was walking west on ramona avenue towards main street watching the sensible sedans full of wellgroomed par- tyers oh yes the trappings were there but when you came down to it the trappings werent all that 43 main street phone 4717826 thunder the salon market well spoil you beautiful we at thunder are delighted to have joined the markham community thunder salon offers the finest in hair styling and hair care we dont give 8 hair cuts we repair them in a uniquely relaxed and friendly atmosphere the market will feature not only a wide range of hair care products but also a variety of beauty accessories and gift items please come in and meet lynn our top hair stylist and salon manager who will always be on hand to spoil you beautiful thunder gift certificates will be available you can use them for those special people on special occasions such as christmas birthdays valentines and many many others tear off the coupon below and use it when you visit thunder were all looking forward to meeting each and every one of you sxm m 2 1tp 988 this 1000 coupon can be redeemed on all services at the thunder salon 43 main street markham ontario 4717826 seasons greetings from maureen brenda lynn jennifer cheery the lawn models were polyurethane monstrosities de signed more as status symbols than good will ambassadors each house seemed to be in com petition to outlight its neighbour and looking at all the tinsel was blinding the overall effect was more tacky than cheery george reached the place that markhamites laughingly called downtown ahead he saw some thing which summed up all of modernday societys seasonal ills a group of kids were taunting and abusing an old shabbily dres sed man the man was clutching a heavy paper bag to his chest cowering in front of the local piz za pizza while the punks pummel led him with snowballs various trendy adults walked by giving the scene distasteful looks but no more george just stopped and watched horrified wishing he had the courage to in tervene or the callousness to walk away finally the proprietor scared the punks off with threats of call ing the police he turned to the old man you need any help no then go somewhere else alright george was just short of im pressed for a moment he had thought the proprietor had actual ly cared about this piece of human detritus now he realised that profit had been the only motive well if nobody elseu help him i will george walked over to the old man the fact that a person like this was a statistical impossibility in affluent mar kham didnt even enter his head as he squatted in the snow inhal ing the stink of the old mans sweat and rancid aftershave hey mister want me to take you somewhere no leave me alone the old man croaked you cant stay here youll freeze leave me alone i dont need none of yuhs yuh dont care ab out me anyway george realised that he and the old man were not very different they both saw through the fancy veneer of modern society to its un savory underbelly both of them could not stand all of the hypoc risy any longer the difference between them was that the old man was giving up not if george could help it he wasnt look i know theyre all un feeling nominds i know every things fake and commercial no things real anymore but you cant give up you cant cause if you do then theyve won the old man stared into space as if assimilating this informa tion then church what i want to go to church george thought for a moment there was a church opposite the high school he remembered the christmas service would be over but the place should still be open the trip was incredible the old man had to be sup ported most of the way and he mumbled incessantly but george still managed to get him to the church a few minutes be fore the reverend left im sorry were closing george was outraged what kind of a church is this i thought you were supposed to help people the old man chimed in with help people the reverend hesitated a mo ment alright come in george and the reverend cleaned the old man up bundled him in a large blanket and sat him down in front of a large hea ter then the reverend took george aside what happened i was walking down main street some punks were beating on him and he wanted to come here you know im going to have to call the police yeah mind if i call my folks first theyll be pretty freaked out by now as george made his phone call the reverend thought it was en couraging to see that some of to days young people had christ mas spirit and so did the spirit thawing out by the heater editors note weekender staff selected three winners from christmas stories submitted by markham district high school above is the story by second prize winner kevin amery 50 first place story by daisy ip winning 100 was published last weeken der the third place story by julie a brooks will be published in an upcoming issue the weekender is pleased to sponsor this contest promoting the writing craft as well as the christmas spirit ssm in the nest last minute suggestions willy hand painted stone pins 895 1095 1295 iter jewellery wi matching pewter box 1295 copper enamel pendants each unique 1595 to 2995 ladies moccasins from 2895 to 4295 mens moccasins hand fashioned c baybenyandc jke snowbird of stouf fville plenty of free parking 2 doors cast on park dr s christmas hours mon sat 10 am 9 pm or by appointment 6407209 mmambbmmmaismewse