INSIGHTS

Friday, May 1, 1992 - North Shore News - 7

‘iumph of the techno-peasant

27 HAS long been my view
that the person or persons
responsidfe for instigating
‘ne rent.o-cart system in our
supermark.is should be tied
up and feft in the frezex
food section to meet a siow
and frigid demise.

Bly Peggy Trendell-Whittaker
Guest Columnist

I managed to figure out bank
machines. I’m pretty adept with
my computerized scan-in card at
the local rec centre. However, un-
til recently, the banks of
chained-together shopping carts
awaiting my 25-cent piece had me
stumped.

Let me emphasize, it wasn’t for
lack of trying on my part.

I'm not one of those sorts who
resist any kind of technological
advancement simply because the
status quo feels cosy.

Two years ago, equipped only
with a quarter and a spirit of
adventure, I approached one of
those lines of buggies and attemp-
ted to wrest a cart from its steely
grasp. Well. Excuse me, but are
we expected to be genetically pro-
grammed to understand the
mechanics of such contraptions?

I mean, I had heard through the
grapevine that you put a quarter
in this box, it releases the cart tc
you, then it gives you your
quarter back when you, the
Responsible Citizen, return the
cart instead of pushing it down
the nearest embankment.

But this particular cart staring
me in the face (with a mocking
air, if l recall correctly) was bear-
ing no obvious spot to put said
quarter. [ tried shoving it in a
number of unlikely places, with
growing desperation, while the
cart silently chuckled to itself.

Admitting defeat and shuffling
away, Failure Incarnate, | vowed
never to humiliate myself in front
of an inanimate object again.

And so it was for the next two
years that all my shopping was
done with the dubious aid of the
plastic baskets that the stores are

still, in their abundant generosity
of spirit, providing for free. 1 de-
veloped permanent indentations in
my arms where the metal handles
on the basket would cut into my
flesh as I lugged 60 Ibs. of grocer-
jes up and down the aisles.
Cccasionally, an old lady with a
real cart would take pity on me
and sell me her cart for a quarter,
allowing me to circumvent the
devious little rental box from hell.
Once I was finished with it, I
could then turn around and sell it

to some other techno-peasant.

This system worked well (other
than the open wounds on my
arms) while I lived on my own.
But the first shopping trip with
my new living partner served to
bring the painful issue to light
once again.

Having been asked to return the
cart, a quick scan of the parking
lot showed no other shoppers I
could foist the buggy off on.

“Return it, as in return it and
get the quarter back and

MAILBOX

Teachers could take pay cut

Dear Editor:

The teachers of School District
44 are blaming the provincial gov-
ernment for $10 million in cuts to
programs and jobs.

According to the April 12 edi-
tion of Venture on CBC televi-
sion, an Edmonton schoo! district
recently faced similar job and
program cuts. The teachers there
took the initiative and suggested a
5% rollback in salaries with the

Prov. budget revealed

Dear Editor:

Your news viewpoint, ‘‘Political
priorities’? (April 19), concluded
by asking what are my real
prioritics.

The answer is revealed in my
government’s budget — health,
education and social services. Our
1992-93 provincial budget in-
creased funding for education by
almost $300 million, for health by

result that no teachers lost their
jobs and all programs were re-
tained.

Perhaps the teachers of School
District 44 should be pointing the
finger at themselves instead of at
the provincial government. The
money used to pay the recent 7%
+' 7% increases in what most
working people would consider to
be already very generous pay
scales may have been better used
to save teaching jobs and school

$409 million and for social ser-
vices by $231 million. These in-
creases total more than the
amount by which all government
spending has gone up. In other
words, other ministries have taken
cuts in order to pay for the top

three.
The school board has been

elected to make decisions that are
often extremely difficult. They

programs.

Recent issues of the North
Shore News have the average
District 44 teacher earning over
$50,000 with almost three months
of holiday time. Despite this, | am
sure there will be a surge of
outrage from teachers who find
my suggestion repulsive and claim
to be underpaid.

E.A. White
North Vancouver

‘J iti
have a long list of controllable
items. While each of us might ap-
proach these choices differently,
they chose band, elementary
French, outdoor school and
community school coordinators.

In due course, we will each
stand accountable to the voters
for the decisions we have made.
David D. Schreck, MLA
North Vancouver-Lonsdale

everything?” I squeaked.

It soon became obvious to my
partner that he had assigned me a
task that far overreached my abil-
ity to perform it. So we both
trundled the cart back to the
link-up, where he took me
through a step-by-step
demonstration of the procedure,
the memory of which still leaves
me humbled.

I’ve now mastered the technique
myself. 1 know where the secret
door is where you put the quarter

Need NDP

not destroy,

Open letter to Daniel Jarvis,
MLA, North Vancouver-
Lonsdale:

Presently I am employed by
the North Vancouver School
Board as a teacher in the fields
of Physical Education and
Social Studies. Obviously, the
reason for this letter is to ex-
press my concerns for the
layoff of teachers and the elim-
ination of various programs
our district offers in order to
help the shortfall of our
budget.

The budget cuts will affect
me in a number of ways. First,
as a first-year teacher, my job
will undoubtedly be cut. This
means that | will be: out of
work as of June 31 of this
year.

Secondly, the kinds of pro-
grams offered for students out-
side of school hours will be
severely affected. I coach four

ard I know that you have to push
the little knobby thing to get your
quarter back.

Giver my newfound power, I’ve
decided to quit my job and
become a Shopping Cart
Crusader, devoting my life to
cruising parking lots in search of
other unfortunate, wistful souls
unable to figure out the con-
voluted cart contraption.

Vit recognize them by the
wounds on their arms.

to stabilize,
education

sports a year and I know due
to time constraints already im-
posed on teachers that taking
away extracurricular activities
by means of eliminating
athletic directors and  coor-
dinators will not only affect the
students but the school spirit as
well,

North Vancouver needs
young, energetic people to stay
involved to make our district
stand out amongst others.

We need a strong govern-
ment to support education.

I understand that our
economy needs some revamp-
ing and our past government
put us into this situation.
Nevertheless your government
is a fresh change and we need
the NDP to help stabilize the
education system in B.C., not
destroy it.

Sian Patricia Inglis
North Vancouver