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p4 the tribune tuesday june 10 1997 the tribune tuesday june 10 1997 vol 109 no 29 com merit i st send your letters to the editor to the address below summer means rise in accidents the terrible accidents that sent five people to hospital this weekend in whitchurchstouffville is a sad reminder that as the temperature rises so too do the number of motor vehicle accidents there are any number of causes more traffic on the roads timepressed holiday drivers rushing to beat heavy congestion trailers and boats being mishandled on the tow the heat and frustration of travelling during the summer and speeding are all reasons we associate accidents with holiday weekends but of course they can happen at any time and anywhere most in fact occur within a kilometre of home the five people in hospital from the two separate crashes attended by local firefighters and rescue crews are the latest tragic statistic the loss of life limb or productivity from an injury sustained in a car crash hurt all of us not only do insur ance rates rise with the number of accidents so too does our cost to society billions are lost in personhours every year to car accidents many of which are avoid able with children out of school soon and the number of cars on the road on the rise we owe it to ourselves to use extra vigilance and precaution when driving summer is a great time of year but not if youre see ing it through a hospital ward window please drive carefully moms dads have their day why not us as you charge about the shopping mall this week trying to buy father a gift he surely wont tuck away in his closet to save for good pause awhile and give some thought to this we have a day for mothers a day for fathers inconveniently close together too and a day for grandpar ents these are all days set asidefor the glorification of childbirth in one way or another as a society we are saying to the fathers of the world for example good for you you went forth and multiplied and now for all your effort were going to give you a tie rack is this worthy of a special day dont dads also have birthdays where we celebrate their being put on the planet two days they get i ask this from the selfcentred point of view of the childless we in this society revel in the norm think of the lefthanded for example what have we done for them lately every thing in this world is geared to right- minute with mair andrew mair handers same goes for couples with kids its the norm vacation spots except the most exclusive all offer features to attract people with chil dren kids eat free or kids stay free are common enticements par- regression shakes chateau gilderdale last week shocking revelations of recovered memories shook the foun dations of chateau gilderdale before my very eyes my usually calm collected and mature daughter regressed to the age of eight as she celebrated her 17th birthday in the company of 20 of her closest friends she indulged in the 90s version of pri mal scream therapy by turning back the clock and revisiting the horrible reality that was her childhood with unflinching courage she came out of the 80s closet to the sound of tiffany and joey lawrence she and her pals played party games watched mary poppins and enthused over loot bags filled with glowinthedark dinosaurs revolting gum balls stick- on earrings and sundry other unsubtle delights of the dollar store still unwilling to face up to the awful truth about my part in clares painful early years i dealt a fatal blow to the environment by decorating the front porch and door of our home with ecologically incorrect balloons my therapist if i had one might have explained it away by saying i was sim ply struggling to come to terms with my inner monster while maintaining an air of authenticity by indulging in a kates corner kate gilderdale unhealthy dose of the selfish hedo nism for which the 80s were justly notorious meanwhile clare strove to make this a genuine nightmare of nostalgia she organized games of statues during which the contestants complained bit terly whenever they were declared out her guests in keeping with the era they were celebrating were dedicated to winning that package of happy face stickers two for a dollar at all costs they fought to gain final custody of the packages lessthanexclusive con tents in pass the parcel frequently accusing each other of cheating and sorely tested our already dubious standing in the neighborhood by cranking up the soundtrack of dirty dancing to megawatt levels cries of its not fair shes already won two prizes rent the air as the young ladies shed their decorum and went for the jugular since i was all out of ritalin i had to use cake to calm thetroubled waters here how ever slavish devotion to the good old days gave way to sophistication betty crocker and neon pink icing were swept aside by a sinful chocolate truffle concoction from java junction a gourmet treat which would be wast ed on 8yearolds but which went down a treat even among those of us who had attained the advanced age of l the historic nature of clares party was reflected in some of the gifts she received among them winnie the pooh band aids sesame street soap disney bubble bath wildberry fra grance and hershey chocolate kiss es it was the best party i had ever almost been to and now a few words from your party sponsor to my neighbors my apologies to clares friends thanks for entering into the spirit of the party with such genuine enthusiasm and for being unnaturally appreciative for eight- yearolds to clare just because youve just turned eight dont think you can wait until your 1 8th birthday to clean your room ents are treated with reverence and given special treatment dont believe me a further example is that more than 50 per cent of the population owns a pet but how many hotels offer dogs stay and eat free pro grams i am not chastising the par ents here they have their hands fulland deserve every break they can get i just want to level the playing field a little for people like me those who have chosen to not have kids i am hereby proposing the double income no kids day dink day we the dinks of the world should have one day a year to celebrate our dinkness i suggest the day fall sometime after fathers day say near the end of july to give the cheque book time to rebound from the lawn umbrella martini glasses and kiss the cook barbecue apron purchases we made for dear ol dad dinks every where could go out and buy each other presents like lawn umbrellas and aprons you would never normal ly buy yourself both partners would get something and no one would feel left out this by the way was a corollary reason for creating fathers day dads felt left out after mothers day came along and they whined a lot until they got their own day the main reason for it though was because hallmark needed another moment after opening our presents we dinks could then go out for a nice dinner and toast the benefits of not having to pay for a babysitter we couldnt toast too much though on the offchance it might turn out to be our last dink day we would then go home sit back under our new lawn umbrella sip martinis and listen con tentedly as the nondink neighbors struggle to put their kids to bed happy dink day 1v rxf stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief julie caspersen editor debra weller director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager about us news 905 6402100 retail sales 905 6402100 classifieds 905 6402874 distribution 9056402100 fax 905 6405477 email thetribistarca 6244 main st stouffville ont l4a1e2 the btouftvnie tribune pub lished every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distribution group of commu- i nity newspapers which includes alaxpiekering news advertiser atlislon heraldcourier barrio 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