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6 -The Canadian Champion, Friday, October 16, 1998 01OPINION Bo ,2418, 191)minM st. E., The Canadian Champion, pubisleov TseatI)II la Milton, Ont. L9T 4N9 at 191 Main St. E., Mlon, Ont, L9T 4N9 (Box 248), is intof Ih Metroland Printing. Publishing & Dstributlng Ld. uroupof ui) fl~fl~~-g ,,ban companies which includes: Aan 1 Pckering News (905) 878-2341 Advertiser; Alliston Herad/Courler; Barrie Advance; Brampton Goardian; Brlngton Post; City Parent; Colllngwood / Wantege Editorial Fax: 878-4943 Connection; East York Mirror; Etobicoke Goardian; Georgetown Independent! Acton Free Press; Kngston This Week; Lindsay This Advertising Fax: 876-2364 Week; Markham Economist & Son; Mldland / Penetangoishene Classified: 875-3300 Mirror; Mississooga News; Newmarket / Arora Era Banner, Northumberland News; North Yonrk Mirror; Oattvlle Beaver; Orillia Ian Oliver Publisher Today; Oshawa I Whtby / Claington I Port Perry This Week; Peterborough This Week; Richimond Hill I ThornItili I Vaughan Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Liberal; Scarboroogh Mirror; Ubrldge I StoottilIle Tribone; Bill Begin Genera!l Manager Today's Seniors. Advertising is acceptod on the condition that, ln thteent of a Rob Kelly Edir<r typographical error, that portion oI the advertislng space occo- Karen Cross Circulation Manager pied by tht erronenas item, together with a reasoniable allowance Teri Casasa Office Manager for signature, will ont be charged for, bot tho balance of the adnertisement will ho paid for at tho applicable rate. Tht poblisher Tlm Coles Prodaction Manger reserves tht night to categorize advrtisements or declne. Oakville, where are you? Now that Milton and Oakville hospitais are amalgamated, working togeth- er to resolve issues is of the upmost importance. As in any other merger, both parties must face obstacles jointly, looking out for eacb otber's interests to maintain a harmonious relationship. Such a philosophy could be applied to resolve the ongoing controversy with regard to having an obstetrician on cali at Milton District Hospital if a woman giving birth runs into trouble. As Milton's current obstetrician leaves the post at the end of the month, hospital officiais say they're trying to find a replacement who is affordable. Apparently, recent candidates' pay expectations were higber than what the board considers cost-effective for an obstetrics department the size of Milton's, s0 the search continues. We don't know how much money was being demanded by the doctors because hospital corporation officiais have refused to say publicly. But it must have been a substantial arnount. Now time's running out. Milton hospital's obstetrics department may close indefinitely in November if an obstetrician isn't found, and who knows when it might re-open? That's not fair to the many women who wanl 10 have their babies here. There's also the possibility that a woman giving birth could arrive at Milton hospital in an emergency. The time involved rushing bier to Oakville for care could put the baby's tife in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Oakville hospital bas several obstetricians on staff. While bos- pital officiais say these obstetricians are too busy for more commitments, surely there must be some way of sharing them with Milton. How about having Oakville obstetricians take turnis being on cail for Milton hospital until it's more feasible for Milton to warrant its own special- Tist? A fananciai deal could be worked out and the time requirement would be minimal, especiaily if they share the duties. Karen Smith OUR READERS WRITE Thanks, we won'-t be back Dear Editor: I'm not exactly sure who to complain to since the establishment I went to recently didn't seem ta care. We so often wonder why the amall business person goes bankrupt. Well, F'il teli you why. When a waitress asks if everything is okay, does she really want to know if everything is okay? If not, wil she do something about it, or why bother asking? Our experience at a local establishment was any- thing but okay. Our meals were unsatisfactory, to say the leant. Portions of a dinner were not cooked, and when ail was said and done and thie waitress came to clear our table, we informed ber that a potato was not cooked and that we had other complaints regarding the meal. She juot looked at us dully and asked if we would like another potato. Well, duh! At this point, she could have offered complimentary coffee or dessert or even a small gift certificate with a little note saying please give us another try. Maybe she should have gotten the manager or at Ieast informed hlm of what was going on. Then again, maybe she did. We paid our bill and made a beecfine for the exit. However, two things are for sure. One, they won't be in business much longer and two, we won't be going back there again. Brigitte Smith Milton It's shoo-in, not shoe-in Dear Editor: Try as 1 might, I can find nothîng about footwear anywhere in the text to justify what I hoped was a pun in the headline 'Milton looks like shoe-in as national titie site' (Sports, September 22). Am I missing something, or is this simply another example of an editorially inexcusable tendency to mis- spell shoo-in? David Townson Milton Good riddan ce, I mean goodbye andfarewell, oldfriend I said goodbye 10 an old friend recently. He had is moments, but mot of the time he was cranky, injury-prone, unreliable, and made funny noises. When he decided be would only go in reverse I slapped im around a little and then took him to the doctor. Brian, at Brian's Auto Repairs, shook his bead slowly. Il could be fixed, of course, but consider- ing the long unis of other ailments, it just wasn't worth il. He bad performed successful surgery on that car more tban once, but had to draw the line aI miracles. I wondered immediately if I could go kick it one last time, but sudclenly bad a flood of emo- lion over tbe piece of junk. After aIl, it was mine, and tbe two of us bad spent a lot of time together. Tbe car, a Premier Eagle, was born in ill- bealtb, but I could bave nursed it along mucb better. Tbe only ime I ever did anytbing witb il was after il was stopped by the side of the road. Then I would lake it to gel fixed and, like a kid, I just wanîed them la make the boo-boos go away, especially 50 il wouldn't but my wallet. My philosopby was pretly much not to fix any- lhing ahead of ime because it just meant il was that mucb sooner before it had 10 be repaired again. I tnied fixing something on it myself once. The speedometer didn't work unless I banged on il, 50 I spent baîf a day taling apart tbe dasb- board. After tbat, of course, il didn'î work at ail. My idea of a good car is one tbat bas a good sound system, so you con tum il up bigb enougb t0 block out tbe other noises. I don't particularly care wbat il looks like because I don't consider a car a status symbol, like some do. Mind you, tbat's just wbal people say wben lbey don't bave a good enough car 10 qualify for sucb status. Put me in a Mercedes and I guarantee I'd sit up a lit- dIe igber in ie seat. More thon a few imes I've been embarrassed by my mode of transportation. Once, tbe side o vvithMURRY Te view mirror of my Toyota fell offc way wbile I was looking in it, leavinj ed-out bole. Tha's odd, I tbought, a the rear-view mirror and watche( along behind me. The only brand new car I ever ol Probe, which was actually my wife': explained carefully wben it was put took it witb ber wben she became1 Smart move. Ub ... the taking the carjr The first car.I ever drove. wasi black 1967 Rambler American when I was 16 years old. It was also the beot car I ever drove. That thing could motor. Il was what we used to eaul a sleeper. Didn't look like much, but il could n he take most challengers off the line, always to their 1 My parents would let me take the car, but cor- OooSe rectly didn't trust me, so they would check the odomeler to make sure I was only going as far as Ia said. A fiend showed me how 10 unhook it, s0 on the high- I wenî for long drives even wben I didn't want ig a big most- to, only because I could get away with it. ts I tumned to My parents eventually gave mie the car, but by ci it bounce tbat time il was almost dead anyway. Too mucb mileage, 1 guess. )wned was a So now 'm wondering what my next ride will 's car, as sbe be. ldeally I'd like to be one of those people wbo rchased. Sbe get paid to test drive new cars and then report my ex-wife. back after a year. If there is such a job. part. Other than that il bas 10 have a good radio, be my fatber' s self-cleaning and require no maintenance. -J