srocery stores: _ FOR ALMOST more years than I care to admit I have . worked at a small supermarket nestled in a quiet well-to-do area of North Van, and I can imagine no better place from ‘which to observe both wihiat’s good about our community and what’s rotten. . We may each stand on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to political beliefs, we may be enemies when it comes to the ma- jor issues, but we are all united -: when it comes to food. _+> Sooner or later we all have to “eat, and, for that reason, grocery stores, more than any other _ business I believe, become a sort f microcosm of society. “Through those automatic doors come the high and the mighty, the . -low and the fallen, and everyone ia between. : Over the years I have watched therm all from a position behind ° ‘the counter, those bearing both’ : the haloes and the horns of our . - community, and if there is one — * * thing I’ve learned it is that you van never predict who will be wearing either. _ ; [-have seen mild-mannered, ‘sweet, grandmotherly types | ‘wander through the out door, ot. possible te please everyone. ‘Dear. Editor: Having « lived at 2248 Bowser. for.44% years we have seen : We. came to Pemberton Heights use it” “was a ‘country at- cosphere — no-highway, an old ‘country store: at the .end of a Streetcar, mostly: to: accommodate ikers ‘around our Fivers: and mountains. . No: dam, few houses. above the vel-of Pemberton Heights, and apilano Road, a small, not much sed, road, and’ stairs ~going’ up here? the. cut now “leads to Edge- | rout Boulevard.“ “But. things change and ‘who can Paul HUGHES’ VIEWS barely able to walk for the roasts stuffed down their knickers... Yet { have also seen young people, who look as if they would - Say, not for the good? -Roads are paid for by all peo- ple, and so-it would seem only tight that all people should use _them. If one’ access road is closed to accommodate the few living there, - it deprives the many of freedom , of movement. ”. Recently, “when ‘an «accident closed the Second Narrows bridge, - it took us 45 minutes. to’ go the . -three or four blocks from Save- On-Foods to Garden Drive, which was the first- street we could turn up’ to get access to Capilano Road and so to home. > This. .to_ accommodate the . few... who. 40" not. want traffic in ‘front’ like nothing better than to cuff you over the head with their skateboards, return purses loaded with cash that were abandoned and forgotten by their owners in the parking lot. Go figure. Asa further illustration of the capricious nature of our species, I'll tell the following tale. Some years ago, an elderly tourist visiting our city from Australia collapsed of a heart at- tack in our store and later died. As he lay in the aisle, a regular customer, who perpetually seemed - to wear an expression of deep misery, ignored the pool of urine, knelt down beside the dying man . and administered CPR. ‘She continued, selflessly trying ,. to save the man’s life, until the ambulance crew arrived. stood behind her in‘a sort of dazed fog, quietly thanking God _that such people exist, when another customer — always cheer- ful and quick with a smile — tap- ped me on the shoulder requesting that I reach across this human drama to fetch her a carton of cottage cheese. When i suggested that perhaps |AILBOX of their homes, denying the many who may need the access, and at the same time crowding. Marine _ which already has enough traffic. it. would be. nice. to please everyone. Not possible! If Lloyd Avenue access is closed to the highway (and it is’ only open one way), then there will be only two exits from: Pemberton’ |. Heights. -” Then perhaps. the people living = near. those... two. will. ask’. for closures fe give them less traffic.’ Arid we can all fly out. to the rest of this insane world. ° Valerie M. Edmonds: ; Norit Vancouver es of + society now was not an appropriate time, she smiled (naturally) and asked how long I thought they’d be holding things up. Such is the weird nature of this business, If you observe closely enough and long enough you can even gauge the health of the communi- ‘ty ... and its sickness. In the past few years, unfortu- nately, it is the sickness that has become more visible. Scarcely five years ago, we mever worried too much about crime in our area. Oh sure, we had the occasional petty theft, but ‘break-ins, and especially rob- beries, were unheard of. Our building never even possessed an alarm system. Since then, though, we have ; been broken into more times than. I can easily recall, and been the victims of armed robberies as well. at Just the other night, thieves. - broke in, brazenly smashing through a window in full view of the street, and cleaned us out of what is fast becoming the No..1 target of crime: cigarettes, What really re rankles i is that I know that the thieves who broke that window and stole those ciga- Trettes were probably in the store the day before — customers, on ” the surface — but in reality, sizing us up as victims. I never lock up and feave the store now without an.uneasy fear gnawing at the pit of my stomach. It is this uncertainty that is so . frighteningly paralysing. : . A friend, who manages another grocery store in Port Coquitlam, summed up this feeling best when he told me the story about an argument he had with an irate - customer a few weeks ago. He had sent the customer on his way, and had nearly forgotten the incident altogether, only to be, reminded by an item on ‘the six o’clock news, © ~ we It turns out this same ‘customer: ‘ left the store, went home and’ allegedly shot his neighbor in a . dispute over the trimming of a - hedge, afterwards holding police. at bay for 28 hours. - ..; “‘J’m not confronting anyone ~ anymore,”’ said this manager, and | who can blame him?) . What a business! What 7 a. planet! ' : No freedom for readérs? : Dear Editor: Oh! The irony of it! Not to ‘double: mention words | like standard”’ and “‘hypocrisy.’””: ‘Your. little nove, re: letters, says readers’ letters will’ be subject to this; that and the other — and taste!? Sot Your readers are subject . ‘to standards that Doug Collins 7 ~ does not have to meet, : -Hey; Doug! What if I men- tion: my feelings sex — do’ you think: my letter would ever. get. published?..No - way!. about: homosexual queers. and. anal’ “What “about , ur. oft-men-..* tioned ravings’ ‘about freedom of the press?’ - s No freedom: for North Shor readers, Just columnists. |‘ Be honest,:. Doug. ‘Answer this, one. Get an answer from; your, Publisher. ” ge Ww s laughable and just ‘shows 7 that your publisher has not the ” faintest idea about ethics — or about anything except making a money. ‘ Tony McDonnell North Varicouver. . SALE © 2nd FLOOR SHOPS JULY 9th-18th “SIDEWALK BE THERE!