JUST ADD WATER

I RAVE comgicied two
10-kSometre races (ruaning,
thet is). E have carried 2

46-powed pack 15 miles
throczh the Peravian
Asses. I have endured the

ceming pain of childbirth.

And now, I have experienced
the okimate endurance test — 7
hoers cx an airplane with a ied-
cer.

Fiest of all, le? me say that I
don't believe so-called modern
ancraft ace suitable for adults, let
aloue children.

For starters, the seats on these
aancenft are designed to inhibit
steep. I bave tried every position
Pisysically possible in these seats
amd have conchaded there are only
tenp ways for me to slecp on a

piame: .

1) ask a flight attendant tc hit me

over the head with a fire extin-
or 2) drink every last

en, of alcoho! the crew will

alow me.

Af yor accept that you can’t
sicep aad you’ve read People
cower to cover and can’t face your
420-page paperback, you. could
settle down and watch the movie.

It might even be a movie you
haven’t seen yet (if you have
young children, you definitely
haven’t seen it).

Problem is, if you’re smack in
the middle of the economy section
and aren’t Wilt Chamberlain, you
can’t see the screen.

Then there’s the matter of your
meal tray.

Those of us who don’t take an
hour to eat are imprisoned by our
meal trays while the flight atten-
dants go up and down the aisle
with yet more complimentary
wine, coffee and tea.

There's something about look-
ing for 20 minutes at the remains
of airline fish cooked in sauce
mystere that can make you want
to heave your tray at the movie
screen.

If today’s aircraft aren’t built
and run for adults, they certainly
aren’t built for children.

This is undoubtedly why, with
your toddler down the aisle, you
receive looks ranging from utter
disinterest (i.e. “If I don’t ac-
knowledge that there’s a two-
year-old on the aircraft he might
not have the seat beside me’’) to
undisguised horror (i.e. “‘If that
two-year-old has the seat beside
me my life will be ruined’’). Only
Bill Vander Zalm or someone with
appalling body odor would get a
more frigid reception.

Some folks even feel compelled
to comment on the unexpected ar-
rival of a child in the seat next to
them.

In the Vancouver-Teronto leg
of my trip to England, the mid-
dle-aged man in the seat next to
us looked up as we arrived and
groaned: ‘‘t was afraid of this.”’
@ had to restrain myself from say-
ing, ‘Yeah, what on earth can we
do about this problem of children
in public places?”’)

Though there are individuals c.1
a plane who will warm to your
toddler (grandparents are always
enthusiastic and you have to stop
yourself from blurting out:

Friday, June 12, 1992 — North Shore News ~ 7

‘Travelling the aisles, todd

“Would you like him, say for the
next five hours?’’), this still
doesn’t alleviate the basic prob-

lem: toddlers are meant to ex-

plore, aircraft aren’t meant for
exploration.

Those of you who have or have
had toddlers know exactly what I
mean.

If anyone had told me my son
could walk up and down the aisies
of an aircraft for 72 hours (and
find this acfivity fascinating) |
would have answered there was a
greater chance of me sprouting
wings and flying to England.

Boy, was I naive. Every watch
every passenger had on that plane
was wearing, every leftover they
had on their tray, every corner of

Hagen on education figures

need to contain a rapidly in-
creasing provincial deficit.

The total education budget
has increased 9.1% compared
to the overall provincial budget
increase of 4.7%. Any further

Dear Editor:

i would fike to respond to
oowcems expressed by members
of the North Vancouver com-
munity regarding education
fonding-

The province has made a
wsamber of improvements to
education funding for the
4992/93 school year. Aijl
Garis have received funding
for emrolment changes and an
economic adjustment which
compares favorably with the
cusent rate of inflation. In
addition, pew funds have been
aidei to support computer
technology, capital planning
and start-up costs, ESL pro-

grams and enrolment growth
that occurs after Sept. 30.

Media reports have Seft the
impression that funding jor
North Vancouver District has
been reduced by $10.2 miillion.

In fact, the 1992-93 funding
allocation to this district is
estimated to increase from
$84,309,727 to $86,844,158, an
increase of $2.5 million over
the previous year.

The government of British
Columbia has made difficult -
choices in setting its 1992/93
budget and has balanced the
necd for improvements to
social programs such as educa-
tion and health against the

increase to the education
budget could jeopardize our
ability to maintain funding
levels for future years.

The province is committed to
improving the quality of public
education in all districts, and
we will continue to work coop-
eratively with our education
partners and the community to
achieve this goal.

Anita Hagen
Minister of Education

“Most Canadians agree with’ Doug Collins

Dear Editor.

Good for you, Doug Collins!

In the past few weeks you have
written a number of articles that
repeesem the view of about 75%
of Canadians. You clearly spell
owt the many problems facing
Canada, including the
wabelrrable immigration policies

of the Conservative government
Gand Linerals before then) which

have resulted in the Asian youth

gangs in Vancouver and the Car- .

ibbean-colored problems in
Toronto and Montreal.

Most Canadians agree with you
completely and are fed up with
the elected politicians not having
the intestinal fortitude to publicly
support the concerns you express.

The current activities of some-
thing called the Harambee Foun-

dation, MLA David Schreck and
the Consul General of Ghana in
trying to ‘‘muzzie’ you and
freedom of speech is an
unbelievable affront to the major-
ity of Canadians.

Keep at it Doug, you are doing
a great job telling your readers the
truth.
William A. Dow
West Vancouver

HAVE A NIC
FLIGHT!...

that plane (including business
class), my son found overwhelm-
ingly attractive.

Tays, his favorite books, the
airline’s coloring book, the music
channels ... forget it, he was
destined to roam.

Your role as a parent — trailing
him to ensure he doesn’t stay in
business class or tear the galiey
apart — elicits some sympathy
from fellow passengers or at-
tempts at humor.

“Gee, are you walking to
Canada?" one jovial middle-aged
inan, relaxing with his wine, asked
me as J went by his seat for the
37th time. | almost said ‘‘Gee,
that’s about as funny as airline
fish.””

The horrible truth is, you have
to live that 7% hours of aisle-
marching alone, with no
assistance.

You won't get any help from
the flight attendants — if they
have a few spzre minutes they
don’t want to spend them with
your child (most attendants have
children of their own and conse-
quently have a healthy respect for
the capabilities of toddlers).

So if today’s aircraft aren't re-
ally designed for children, what’s
the solution?

For me, it’s quite simple. I
don’ t take my son on a plane
again until he’s old enough to
read People and enjoy a glass of
Bordeaux.

Community views on
police are outrageous

Dear Editor:

I am outraged, not at.the way
things are being handled with the
Daniel Possee case, but with the

way that our community views the

jobs o. volice officers.

I am a policeman’s wife and’ I
know what these men and women
go through on the job. ! would
like to see that the community is
behind them in any decision they
make concerning their lives and
others when they are in danger.

If an officer feels that his life or
the lives of others is in danger and
he shoots to wound, whether the
intruder’s gun is real or not,
resulting in the offender shooting
back and killing him or another
person, what do you think the
public would say? ‘‘Why didn’t
the police kill that person?’ If
you had a gun pointed at you, im-
itation or not, you can’t tell me
that you wouldn’t shoot back
given the opportunity.

As for looking into the history
of Daniel Possee, the police didn’t
even know that he would be there,
thus adding to their surprise.

It may be easy for some people
to condemn police officers
because they don’t feel they are
doing their jobs properly, but if
they were in the same situations

that these men and women go
through every day, | think that
they would change their minds in
an awful hurry.

Policeman’s size

North Vancouver

Moth protest
comic relief

Dear Editor:

Reading the many irrationa!
letters of protest about gypsy
moth spraying in the News and
reports in other forms of media
has provided some comic relief.

The unreported comedy is
the organized phone-in to the
gypsy moth hotline that started
when the spraying was suppos-
ed ta have started.

The callers were reporting all
their health-related symptoms
as a result of the spraying —
unfortunately the spraying was
delayed and had not yet taken
place and the calls went on for
some time until the organizers
of the protests could contact
their cohorts and stop the calls.
B. Scott
North Vancouver