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p 4 weekender october 26 1996 stux uiion days of action leaves a hallmark of distaste by the time you read this the days of action protest against the harris tories will be almost over prom all accounts at press time the unions and the coali tion of interest groups that put on this display have had the whole grand scheme fizzle in their faces apathy and distaste is going to be the hallmark of the days of action in the gta one scene of cars being smashed and rowdy picketers will be recalled the rallying cry was answered with hooliganism and frustration sid ryan and the other lead ers of this farce should have taken a page from the book of the faltering dole presidential campaign people do not want viewpoint vitriolic rhetoric and smear tactics ontarians are too busy mak ing a living and providing for their families without having to push their way between pro testors as well ryans refusal to obey injunctions and court orders took his actions from the realm of orderly social protest to criminality and injustice the people this movement was supposed to help the working class were the only ones affected look at the results of the days of action shopkeepers were harangued lost sales and were forced to endure the reduction of traffic on the two busiest days of the week commuters trying to get to their jobs were held up inconvenienced and made late long lines pushing and shov ing resulted as prime targets like the liquor stores were picketed a man was run over at a postal sorting station cars and buildings were van dalized people were harassed and intimidated it seems likely that there were veiy few friends made on the picketline this weekend the message of the days of action was lost as a result of the headbutting and postur ing that went on in the days leading up to the weekend it could have been a peaceful sig nal to the government that the voters were watching but the majority of ontarians agree with what the tories are doing the courts the jabor board and business organizations warned that such an event would backfire and have far- reaching implications for the union movement but the days of action organizers blatantly ignored them the organizers felt we were not getting their message so they were bound and determined to ram it down our throats bad news for them were not biting the tribune weekender edition a metroland community newspaper patricia pappas publisher jo ann stevenson editorinchief andrew mair general managereditor debraweller director of advertising barry goodyear director of distribution vivian owed business manager pamela nichols operations manager stouffvill all enquiries 905 6402100 fax 905 6405477 6244 main st stouffville ont tobripge all enquiries 905 8529741 fax 905 8524355 88 brock st w uxbridge ont the tribune published every wednesday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing group of community newspapers which includes ajax pick ering news advertiser barrie advance brampton guardian burlington post cityparent collingwoodavasaga connection east york mirror etobicoke guardian george town independentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week midlandpenetanguishene mirror milton canadian champion mississauga news newmarketaurora erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver orillia today oshawawhitbyclarington this week peterborough this week richmond hillthorn- hillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror todays seniors contents not to be reproduced without written permission from the publisher permit 1247 the weekender is a member of the ontario press council esai cheetah a poor role model i was in a lineup at my supermarket the other day when my eye fell on the front page of one of those trash tabloids they keep near the checkout counters there was a big color photograph of some decrepit old guy who looked spaced out and forlorn i squinted a little closer it was bob hope the famous comedian is in his eighties now and he looks old and feeble with rheumy eyes and crepelike skin he looks like a cruel parody of the bob hope i carry around in my mind my bob hope has glis tening slickedback hair and a ski jump nose his blackbutton eyes are alert and piercing his lips are curled in a wisecrack grin thats the bob hope who imprinted himself on my brain back when he was middleaged and i was a kid well now im middleaged and bob hope is a geezer if s difficult to get used to just like its hard to get used to the idea of roy basic black arthur black editors mail hospital volunteer says farewell to patient to the editor the sad side of volunteering i lost a patient and it hurts no i am not a doctor but a volunteer at our local hospital and have been volunteering for about four years once a week assisting long term care patients at supper time recently i went to the hospital to assume my usual duty to find out that the lady that i have been assist ing for about a year or so had passed away she was in her 70s couldnt speak or hear and had been bed ridden for about 18 years due to the dreadful alzheimer disease my initial reaction was very mixed she was not family but after a year or so perhaps you feel like one we developed a different kind of friendship even though we couldnt communicate perhaps we were able to read each others mind losing a patient could sometimes be the only dis advantage of volunteering at a hospital the many advantages include the fact that it gives you a differ ent perspective or outlook on life from the minute you walk into the hospital until the minute you leave it feels like you are in a sanc tuary where mutual respect is a must you take time out of your busy and hectic daily schedule when you enter the hospital or shall i say the serenity zone i wish this zone could be extended to cover the uni verse arent all human beings equal dont we all die irre spective of our color gender background wealth and power unfortunately this equality sometimes arrives a bit late simply because it always occurs at the end ofpeoples natural life instead ofat the begin ning goodbye lady and my deepest condolences to your family name withheld markham we welcome your opinion please make this opinion page your own this is your community newspaper your views belong on this page write fax or drop your letters off to us our address and fax numbers are on the masthead on this page rogers with arthritis or eliz abeth taylor as a pudgy grand mother of course a lot of my childhood heroes are even further down lifes road than that remember curlyhaired dean martin a guy who never seemed to have his photo taken unless he had a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other dead and everybodys favorite redhead married to that crazy cuban everybody loved lucy she was immortal right wrong lucille ball is gone so for that matter is the crazy cuban makes a guy feel old and thaf s just the humans how about the animals that were supposed to live forever where are the lassies and rin tin tins of my youth gone long gone to the big doghouse in the sky thank heavens for cheetah you dont remember cheetah my youre young cheetah was tarzans side kick a goofy chimpanzee who followed him through the jungle cheetah didnt have a lot of lines to memorize usual ly he just had to jump up and down and scream eek eek eek but he did it well and endeared himself in the hearts of moviegoers everywhere i never did figure out why they gave a cats name to a chimp but they did and the whole world learned to accept it and unlike lassie and rin tin tin there was only one cheetah his career outlasted that of several tarzans including john ny weissmuller lex barker and ron ely cheetah was in the movies even before i was a kid way back in the early 1940s he had an incredible career for any hollywood actor never mind a chim panzee but do you know whafs even more incredible cheetahs still around hes 64 years old retired and living a life of ease in palm springs california cheetah is owned by a fellow named dan westfall if owned is the correct word westfalls main function seems to be to keep cheetah amused and the best way hes found to do that is to make sure cheetah never runs out of beer or cigars cheetah it would seem is a bit of a souse he cracks a dozen budweisers every day and manages to puff his way through about 10 stogies as well if he behaves himself says westfall i give him a bottle of schnapps once a month too of course being retired cheetah does his smoking and boozing in westfalls backyard out of the public eye just as well hed make a helluva role model for the worlds young impressionable chimps