4 - Wednesday, October 25, 1989 - North Shore News Bos HUNTER © strictly personal ¢ I WAS watching a debate on television about whether dwarf-throwing contests should be allowed when that weird, familiar feeling began to take hold. It hadn’t happened for a while, so I thought, naturally, that I was cured. But I wasn’t. You see, there was a black-skin- ned dwarf with an Iroquois cut defending his right to be thrown around by six-foot louts using him as the human equivalent of a horseshoe or soccer ball or hockey puck. And as | listened, lo and behold, much of what the dwarf had to say made sense. He pointed out that in a free country, a fella should be able to take advantage of his phys- ical or mental abilities in any way he wants, short of hurting anyone else. If abnormally tall guys can make fortunes throwing basketballs through hoops, why can’t an ab- normally short guy make a few bucks by being thrown? He wears padding. It’s no more dangerous than footbali, he claimed. And, of course, he had a point, didn’t he? He’s small. Jobs for cashiers who can't look at a customer over the counter are scarce. Why shouldn’t he be able to turn his disadvantage to an advantage? It’s the essence of laissez faire capital- ism, is it not? The short chap went so far as to accuse a female dwarf, who was on the television panel along with him, and who was passionately opposed to dwarf-tossing, of being a Commie. In Russia, they don’t allow dwarf-tossing! The poor dwarf lady was caught off guard for a moment. Then, nearly in tears, she went on to argue that she had been trying all her life to improve the image of small people, so that they wouldn't be treated as freaks — and along comes dwarf-throwing as a na- tional sport in America. and horrible than, say, boxing, wrestling, football, parliamentary debate, you name it. Further to the point, depending on the mood, § have to admit that strip shows give me a Jot of trouble psychologically. Normally, being a lecherous male {note the redun- dancy), I enjoy displays of cur- vaceous female flesh. But then again, I know there's an element of exploitation involved that demeans everybody involved, audience as well as stripper. Just because sexual exploitation has been going on since the dawn of time doesn’t make it morally cor- rect. But at least there are human be- ings involved in all these activities, presumably with their marbles in- tact and their pocketbooks happy, no matter how much abuse their badies and brains may take, or deliver, in the process. The so-called athletes among them may wind up as vegetables, like so many boxers do, but they’ll pay their mortgages off along the way so that their children might a A well-hurled dwarf, I presume, has his instant of egotistical satisfaction as he lands further along than other dwarfs, just as a javelin, had it attained consciousness, would have felt had it pranged the earth beyond the range of any other javelin.’’ race Perera And down the tubes goes her years of effort to upgrade dwarf self-pride and dignity. Someone asked me: What do you think of dwarf-tossing? That’s when the weird, familiar feeling started happening. Dwarf-tossing is repugnant, disgusting, shocking and horrible, I had to admit. But then, since it involves con- senting adults, I also had to admit that it is only marginally more repugnant, disgusting, shocking NORTH VANCOUVER PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE FEDERAL RIDING ASSOCIATION The North Vancouver Progressive Conservative Association will hold its Annual General Meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 15th, at Cheers Restaurant, Top Fioor, 125 East 2nd Street, North Vancouver, at 7:30 p.m. All present and past members of the Progressive Conservative Party are welcome. SYLVAN WILL. Sylvan Learning Centres are a group of private neighbourhood educational centres designed to help your child do better in school. We test in order to pinpoint the specific areas in which g your child needs help. And we attack the prob- SYLVAN LEARNING CENTRE PROGRAMMES Reading Math | fem with an individually designed programme. Writing Positive motivation, friendly encouragement, an experience of success right from the start, and individualized attention make all the difference. Sylvan Learning awe Centres Helping kids do better.” Study Skills Algebra 19H) Syban Leann Comoran North Shore 985-6811 Richmond 273-3266 Coquitlam 941-9166 Yonik tse hav: a chance to be fashion de- sig +-rs or stockbrokers — and this is the way of the world. In the meantime, there are fleeting moments of glory. The flesh may be battered, but the ego glows contentedly. A well-hurled dwarf, I presume, You're looking at one of the most dangerous places in B.C. Last year, about 18,000 injuries and 170 fatalities were caused by motor vehicle crashes that happened at intersections. From October 23 to November 3, 1989, the police will increase traffic has his instant of egotistical satisfaction as he lands further along than the other dwarfs, just as a javelin, had it attained con- sciousness, would have felt had it pranged the earth beyond the range of any other javelin. Yet in my heart | know this is crap. The reality is that a poor guy whose genes screwed him up and whose society failed to provide him with a dignified means of attaining a degree of wealth resorts to mak- ing a fool of himself precisely because there are enough oafs around who think the whole thing is funny, and therefore he can make some money by submitting himself to what would otherwise be viewed as a horrendous outrage. That weird yet familar feeling 1 mentioned? l used to think that the ‘‘civili- zation’’ we had built was nearly totally insane, and that anybody who considered it normal — just about everybody — was totally in- sane too. Of course, if everybody’s insane, then insanity is normalcy, isn’t it? In the fand of the blind, the one-eyed man is actually consid- ered a nut-case. Ah, well, those were rebellious youthful thoughts. As I ‘«matured’’ — or, at least, as the years went by -— I guess I ad- justed. For a decade or so modern civi- lization has not seemed as totally insane as it used to seem to me. And then, there I was, watching a debate about the ethics of dwarf-tossing, and the old familiar feeling of life being essentially in- sane came back. I think I had it right the first time. As a species, we're loony. And I think our madness is that we can rationalize anything® your area. aa BCR Ministry of Solicitor General Trattn, Satety Directorate NV men receive volunteer honors WILLIAM CAMERON and Dr. Sydney Segal of North Vancouver have received the Canada Volun- teer Award from federal Health and Welfare Minister Perrin Beatty for their work with the Neil Squire Foundation for the severely disabled. Foundation founder and execu- tive director Cameron, 4a mechanical engineer, designed a mouth-controlled Morse code device that allows the severely physically disabled to communi- cate with the help of a computer. Dr. Segal, a pediatrician, was nominated by the Canadian Coun- cil on Children and Youth for pio- neering the care of infants born to drug addicts. Cameron started the foundation when Squire, his nephew, was left quadriplegic after a 1980 car acci- dent. Cameron’s mouth control design has since been used by more than 3,000 Canadians. The Canada Volunteer Award, which was given to 28 recipients this year, was established by Health and Welfare Canada to recognize and encourage citizens who help improve the health and social well-being of Canadians at the locai level. law enforcement at intersections in ICBC and the police remind you to use caution at intersections. REET ARTF onCBC YOUR LOCAL POLICE