the

HEE vintage years

MONEY. I don’t think any-
_thing in our lives has

- changed so much as the pro-
file of money.

: Well, it would be fun to debate
that, I guess, but gosh, to have'a
nickel when you were a kid in my -
“day was to have a glimpse of joy: .
‘and splendor. You could spend it
“lingeringly in Candy Allen’s store,
., hovering over the array of penny.

_ candies, salivating. Or you could. “

“go right off the bat for a pink ice-
“cream cone. I paid a dollar. for one -
of those the’ other day. 2
You got any nickels in your .
: pocket Tight now?.One used to buy:
a stamp, with pennies left over; you
-could make a phone call with five -.
‘cents: you could get five cigarettes
if you were old enough. :
‘Tecan remember going to my
first movie, at ‘maybe age 10.
(which featured ‘Mary Pickford, of |
-course,. was there anybody else?) ©.
.and handing over a whole'dime. It

must have been a birthday treat or >.

ome such, as we children certainly
. didn’t generate any money. on our
“own. When I ‘was in my teens my
" “mother would offer. my babysitine
talents to her friends — “Oh - ~: -

‘Eleanor, will stay, with the: children” |

— and sometimes the father dri-
: ‘ing me homie at two in the mom-
ing would slip me a quarter, The.
‘olden days. :
.We were astonished when new
‘neighbors, Americans, moved into
; the big house across the street and
“it was revealed that their children”
‘were given a weekly allowance. ;

into a real spin. Fancy giving:
‘money: te children for nothing -
how: would they ever learn the real-
ities of life? -..:

He held that work was th
answer to happiness and content-
ment, that you had to eam ‘wha 2
you got. Funny,’ coming from a=’

Z ‘man 1 who pinched packages’

Pharmacist: :
“ CAPSULE COMMENTS .
., Did: you” “know that, babies

“eyes don't’: Start to focus close.
“UP : ‘until about -3- 6. months:

"Fresh corn on ‘the cob isa
“great treat.'A cob of corn con-,
tains about 85 calories (before :
“the: butter) and is’ a- ‘good
source, of fibre. The sugar’
“content of corn starts cofivert-
ing to starch soon after pick-
‘ing. Keeping the.“corn sold ©
will slow this process.

“DAVIES PHARMACY
4401 St. Georges 985-8771."

fol: i

let paper front his work place. He’d
have been better to ponder the
value of teaching a child what
money was about and how to use it.
He made a deceiver out of me with

: his unwavering parsimony. My

Sunday School dime was always
shared. not that he ever knew it,
between Candy Allen and the offer-
tory. When I began to eam my

_ teacher's wages they were rock bot-

tom — $74.10 a month — for 10
months only, and for beginners.
two summers out of the next three ~
must be spent in Victoria at sum- |
mer school in order to cinch one’s

. certificate. When September came

around we were all dead broke and
had to borrow to get back to our
schools. .

Debt was shameful and |
deplorable in those days...

Now, in the age of the credit
card, it’s encouraged. It was years
ago now that we began to see ©

‘advertisements for the Diners Card,

“which was our own first experience

“with the idea, For years I carried as

many as three such pieces of plas-
tic. It was astonishing, the ease
with which we all took them to our
bosoms. “ ;
-.Now in my old age I still like
the convenience, but I also appreci-

ate the safety feature of not having

to carry sums of inoney in these
--parlous days. You can’t get on the

HE Every vear

thousands

of British
Columbians
are hospital-
_ized due to

ont “ fegative reactions to ->
prescription drugs. That's why the”

“Ministry of Health is introducing

PharmiaXet, a confidential computer

“network that keeps track of every
we prescripgion fi filled i in BC

bus by flashing your Mastercard,
true, and the whiskey store still
wants cold cash, but cab-drivers
recognize them, Pink Dot drivers
honor them, there are few mer-
chants who don't.

Certainly one has to keep track
of the thing. | have one of those
curd cases — it holds library iden-
tification, all the plastic for shop-
ping the various stores, one’s Care
Card. Flip it open, it's easy. So!

‘tell myself. °

But the day | was to meet
Denis, the man who wanted to ~

assess my fitness for the 9-1-1 run, :

I had to get.some stuff for supper

on the way back, and didn’t want to :

lug a purse along on the outing, so
I just slipped my. charge card into
my shirt pocket and went to meet

him. Next day I pulled out my |
‘ card-case and found no card. We -:
“were on the train, so it was hours
* before I could get home and tele-

phone the 800 number. They said it

would take a week, maybe 10 days.°
Well, of course it dawned on me .§

finally what I'd done with the darn
thing, and as soon as I'd retrieved it
{ called to tell them to relax. Too
late, they’d already started the
wheels and there wasn't a thing I
could do about it.

It was great to hear no time is
lost, no chance for misuse, but how
1 missed it.

Protecting Your Health

se to you at any community hari ey
so your pharmacist ean quickly.

potenualy href medication
interaction : 4

s Saving ‘Tax a
- Dollars, .
Preventing Fraud
and Abuse
PharmaNet will also sav nilions
_oftey dollars qvery year by:

-cunil ine pari s stop
prescription fraud and abuse,
twill cul hospital costs by.

+ the auinber of paticnts
ring harmful reactions to!
ption medi¢ tions. :

a tnstant
Rebates’

tify” for cba irmacare ve nals

“instantly
collec
or rehurid cheques.

1g the receipts and waiting

I had to go to the bank and get
some money. | had to write
cheques a couple of times. Ht was
awful, a different style altogether.

You hand over your card for

‘something, it’s going to be a month

between now and reality. You write’
a cheque or dig into your purse, it’s
now.

1 found it quite shocking. The
stuff just seemed to evaporate. To
be in debt, when we were young,
was something to be ashamed of.

* To be in debt in these: days is to.

be an active participant in the sys-
tem. ’

CORRECTION -
NOTICE

In our BE: 4A Fabutous Friday flyer,
Girls’ Denim Wear on page 4
should read, “Selected. Girls’.-
Denim Wear." :

In our B7-1 Baby Week flyer,
Bundle of Joy Denim. Dress on

. page 1 will be late — rain-checks

will be available at the store. Girls'
2-3X Fleece Bumwarmer Top on
page 1 will not be available for this
promotion. °

Sorry for any ‘inconvenience this
may have caused.

_SHOPRIDER

Call ul for free in-home dem

Bri s

* you have: oat pres
inforni: ition pick up it PharmnaNe ;
brochtire at your loci pharmacy,

belle beet ; oe

program init the Ministry: of Health, .

Cover ruanent ub op. Rr

sh Cott bi

a : ann

if , BC Ministry of i teath ain