Page 4, Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, November 12, 1986 Editorial Survey worry The Terrace Bay-Schreiber News is published every Wednesday by: Laurentian Publishing Co. Ltd., Box 579, Terrace Bay, Ontario, POT 2W0. Telephone: (807) 825-3747. Second Class Mailing Permit Number 0867 _ pas Sa... eee Veer ABVERTIOING: 3 SS Betty St. Amand OFFICE... 3... Paige tte aa ois one eS eee sos eee es : Gayle Fournier Single copies 35 cents Subscription rates per year in-town out-of-town -- $18.00 Member of Ontario Community Newspapers Association and The Canadian Community Newspapers Asscciation. -- $14.00 Terrace Bay and Schreiber have been given a second chance for assisted housing. Another public meeting on the housing proposal will be held, probably on Dec. 10 in Terrace Bay. That will be the last opportunity for anybody even slightly interested in RGI (Rent Geared to Income) or Market Value housing to voice their opinion. Of course, by now such people should have also pick- ed up and filled out a Ministry of Housing survey. The response rate the first time around was so low that addi- tional questionnaires had to be distributed. These are now available at the Terrace Bay Municipal Office. A high response rate of at least 40 per cent is required for the township to proceed with its plans to get a housing unit constructed in the area. It was noted at a recent Council meeting that the surveys are not just for senior citizens alone, though seniors are the target group. Families are also welcome to fill out a questionnaire. Time is of the essence, however, as there is now less than a month until the second meeting is held. Why not visit the Terrace Bay Municipal Office today? By Conrad Felber Ignorance is the night of the mind, a night without moon or stars. Confucius A letter to the editor which appear- ed in this week's issue of Starweek magazine encapsulated, in just two brief paragraphs, what I think is the main problem facing society today. That problem is not inflation, or unemployment, or the deficit, or the arms race, or terrorism, or any of the other traditional issues you see pop- - ping up in daily news headlines. The real problem is ignorance of all these other problems. By pretending these problems don't exist, we don't have to worry about them (or worry about finding solutions). As they say, "out of sight, out of mind." The letter I alluded to above. was a good case in point. Allow me to Black N' reprint part of it, and I think you'll see what I mean: ' "On Friday (Oct. 3) I watched 10 minutes of the popular Miami Vice series and was terrified by an actor displaying what was supposed to be human ears taken from Sandinistas. Guns, drugs, and violence abound on this ridiculous show and I'll never watch it again!"' Constance M. Truaisch, Belleville ~ Miami Vice is certainly fiction, but the reports of Sandinista casualties having their ears cut off by rebels are true, as are some of the other horrible things that have been done by the American-supported Contras. I think it was very courageous of the Miami Vice producers to avoid glossing over that aspect of the war in Nicaragua. But if you want to avoid such un- pleasantness, why stup there? Maybe we should also cease concerning our- selves with other unimportant issues, like famine, corrupt government, drug abuse, our 'dwindling civil rights, AIDS, apartheid, etc. Golly, ignorance really is bliss! Of course, I'm kidding, but I am also frightened that so many people out there, like Constance Truaisch, are not kidding. They seem to prefer to turn a blind eye to the things they should be looking at. Changing TV channels is one thing --but this is something else. If we all choose the path of ignorance, then things can and will get worse. Some- body once said that "ignorance is the primary source of all misery and vice," and they were right. Moving on now (quite literally, as you will see in a moment), here's a quote from Alexander Pope: "Dear, Lets talk about... shoes! Let's talk about...shoes. The shoe is a device invented by the restles, questing mind of man for the containment and protection of his tootsies. For many hundreds of thousands of years, mankind got along perfectly well without shoes padding up hill and down dale in total contentment on two feet that were naked as jaybirds. Then one day some now-forgotten Neanderthal stepped on a beer can and that was it-- the foot's age of innocence was over. First they were bound up in strips of leather. Next came mocassins, sandles and mukluks. In no time the world was up to its ankles in mules and Oxfords and penny loafers and brogues and Earth shoes. : Actually, I'm skipping over a lot. Humans didn't even get around to in- venting shoelaces until 1790. Before that we used buckles -- as in the old nursery rhyme "one, two, buckle my shoe..*' Not that the shoelace revolu- tion made shoes any treat for the feet - up until 1850, shoemakers:didn't even bother to differentiate between left and right. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein: "'a shoe was a shoe was a shoe"'. We can thank King George IV for being picky enough to insist on having his shoes cobbled for each foot. Nothing much happened in the footwear department for the ensuing century and a bit. It wasn't until the 1970°s and 80's that the Renaissance of the Human Hoof really blossomed. I refer, of course, to The Running Shoe. Truth to tell, even calling it '*runn- ing shoe" dates me -- there is no longer any such critter as the simple running shoe, but there was once. When I was a tad, the running shoe was nothing special -- just a rubber-soled, black- canvas-topped bit of footwear that retailed for about $5.95. Every kid got a pair after the spring mud dried up, and with a little bit of luck and a few bawling-outs, they'd last right through the summer and into the first snowfall of the following autumn. Running shoes weren't chic back then -- just cheap 'and practical. And amazingly multi-faceted too. You wore the same pair for baseball, football, games of tag, playing wiht the dog, climbing ap- ple trees, riding your bike and goof- ing around at the corner store. You also left them out on the front porch before you came in for supper. Well, as I say, that's all changed. Nowadays, the /aces will set you back $$% \$ tale es. RENAGS about $5.95 and you need a Master's degree in podiatry just to decide which pair of "athletic" shoes are right for you. You can choose from tennis, golf, gym, basketball, and raquetball shoes. In addition there are soccer shoes, cycl- ing shoes, curling shoes and "'aerobics" shoes. What's that you say, sir? You want a pair of shoes just to...run in? How _ very droll. But be specific, sir -- is this for 100 yard dashes or 26 mile marathons? Are you a veteran or a tenderfoot? Is your right foot bigger than your left? Your left arch higher than your right? Beg pardon, sir? You've decided to take up Bingo in- stead? We understand. It would all be hilarious if it wasn't for the money involved. Do you know there is a pair of Puma sneakers on the market that contain a microprocessor to help you keep track of your laps? You can lace them on for a trifling $200 U.S. It's big business. Last eyar Americans forked. over nearly $3 billion buying: %24.4 million pairs of tennis shoes % 14 million pairs of jogging shoes % 21.6 million pairs of gym/basketball shoes and %7.5 million pairs of aerobics shoes. reve ee 2 Te eee Be as Rw a P y damned, distracting town, farewell! Thy fools no more I'll tease."' In case you didn't catch my drift, what I'm trying to tell you is this: I'm leaving. That's right. In fact, by the time you read these words, I will be gone, off to be the new editor of Lakehead Living, Thunder Bay's twice-a-week community newspaper, and Ken Lusk will be the new man in charge here at the News (good luck, Ken!). Don't get me wrong...it is indeed difficult to leave Terrace Bay and area. You might recall that I was only supposed to be at the News for two months, but I liked it here so much that I decided to stick around, and so I did, for almost an entire year (and thanks to Norm Tollinsky for giving me that opportunity). Twelve months may not seem like a long time to you, but in that period Do you detect anything a tad ominous about the foregoing statistics? You might if you were in the footwear business. Fact is, if you add up all those millions of coddled bunions it will - dawn on you that -- by George -- there can't be too many unshod feet flapp- ing around out there: And that's the point. The running shoe market is just about saturated. North America has a sufficiency of running shoes. What's a poor multi-trillionaire running shoe manufacturer going to do to keep the world from the jacuzzi now? Diversify, of course, Which is why, any day now your _ favourite newspapers and magazines are gong to start trying to convince you that what's missing from your life is a decent pair of.. Walking shoes. You heard right. Walking shoes are the next big fad. Already Nike, Reebok, Bally and Converse have hit the market with their own brand name walking shoes. = What't so special about them? Aside from the hype, not a heck of a lot. Oh, they look a little less exotic than runn- ing shoes -- wanlking shoes are more "'suburban"' looking. And some of i. I think I have done all I could to im- prove (for better or worse) this paper. Now the time has come to take my talents, such as they are, to another newspaper and another city. To quote Shakespeare, "if we do meet again, why, we shall smile; if not, why then, this parting was well made." And to quote me, "I'm outta here. History. Fries on the side."' Good bye, all (especially Gayle and Betty and Gigi, etc.). Be happy. See ya in the funny papers! them feature a kind of lump in the in- sole that the manufacturers are pleas- ed to call a "rocker". For me the on- ly rocker in the walking shoe phenomenon is the price tag -- $90 to $130 a pair -- but what do I know? I'm so reactionary I still think that if you want to go for a walk, anything from carpet slippers to gum boots will do the job. I do know, however, what I'm go- ing' to do when 'that first pair of Madison-Avenue-goosed, *'bio- mechanically improved" walking shoes appear in the window of my local shoe store any day now. I plan to keep right on walking.