ing for lau

RECENTLY MY husband pointed out that I have become

. more sarcastic. This disturbed me because [ve never been
particularly fond of sarcasm. With good reason, If you
look up sarcasm in Webster’s dictionary, you'll learn that
it's from the Greek ‘‘to tear flesh."” Yuck.

So I feel compelled to ask
myself, ‘Why are you verbally
tearing at the Mesh of those
around you? What's wrong with
you, woman?

“Are you the problem, or are
you reflecting certain traits and
trend§ in society at large?"’

Dwelling for a moment on
what's wrong with me, | do
believe my snipes are related to an
almost constant sleep-deprived °
state. ;

When you've been awake half
the night with a toddler and a
baby, you can launch remarks like
Scud missiles (‘‘Gee, it would be

‘nice if someone brought mea
crumpet with raspberry jam on it,
but I guess that’s asking too
much’’),

Hey, when I’ve had six: hours’
sleep, I become almost garden-
party pleasant. .

Is it aging that has put more
bite into my daily discourse?

Now that I've passed the big
‘4-0, am I just growly at the pro-
‘spect of The Big Sag and forking
out to color my hair?

I don't feel deeply unhappy
about getting older, especially

“-since Pm still relatively sane. So

_ many people I know seem to have

gore of f their own particular deep

“Dear Editor: ’
© In his July 1 colunin, “Matters
“of life and death,’? Bob Hunter
confused,
‘euthanasia issues.

Hunter is of the opinion, that

“the law ‘is inconsistent in that it.
gives pregnant women a‘ choice to *
‘abort, yet denies dying women 2.

choice to die.

The abortion issue hinges on the
moral status of the fetus.

A person i is a diologically com-

Dear Editor
‘1 wish.to express on behalf of

the Hip Hip Hooray Orthopaedic"
Walk Committee our. ‘sincere,
thanks ‘and appreciation to ali our

“sponsors, donors and supporters.

—- The walkathon, which took
“place on June !3 in Cates Park,
has raised in excess of $8,000 and
_ donations are still being received. .
If you have not. donated and
wish to. mail in your donation,
please call. 929-5465 for - details.
The funds raised will . be

Landmark i in need of some TLC

Hear Editor:

Re: Central Lonsdale landmark,
Friday, July 16:

This building No. 1601
become the ugliest, dilapidated
eyesore of. a landmark within the
‘otherwise somewhat. improving
overall picture of mid-Lonsdale —

of “heritage significance’’?

If.a similar building had existed
in my part of Northern Europe, it
would have been lovingly restored
‘to its former good looks (I would
“not say, “beauty,”” because it is
Rot beautiful in general).

- How on earth is it possible that

‘the abortion and.

has.

Catherine

JUST ADD WATER.

(l-admit it; | was disarmed by
the black humor of my first hus-
band when he’d comment accu-

“ rately about a mixed-up friend:

“Let’s face it, Cath, she’s a
psychological bag of s***.’")

Is my tongue more barbed now
because of a growing realization
that men and women are deeply
different and will never under-
stand each other on some levels?

Whoever talked about rejoicing
over our dif ferences was obviously

plete ‘and physically distinct entiry,

_whereas a fetus is biologically in-
“complete and physically attached

to a host. :
It follows that a fetus . is not
equivalent to a persca, and thus it

- has no rights.

Conversely, the euthanasia issue
depends upon whether ‘terminally
ill patients have a right to die.:

The short answer is no.

A right is a moral entitlement to
bodily self-determination and to

dispersed as follows: 50% will stay
in the community ‘and be used to
purchase new. orthopedic equip-

*“ ment and provide care and ser-

vices for orthopedic patients at

: Lions Gate Hospital.

2

The’. remaining 50% _ will be

contributed to. the National Or-

thopaedic Foundation to assist in
maintaining vital research projects
‘in the field of orthopedics.

Valerie M. Thoem, chairwoman
Hip Hip Hooray Orthopsedic

Walk Committee

the City of North Vancouver lets
landlords get away for so: tong
with an esthetically insulting ap-
pearance of a: building like that
(especially with a busy commercial
are like mid-Lonsdale)?

This building should be restored
without any further delay by the
(absentee?) owner or be
demolished soon.

The difference between heritage”

and eyesore is TLC, which is ob-
viously sorely missing here.

G. Fernandes
North Vancouver

hs in a wide sarcastic sea _

never married.

Men still don't understand why
you don’t want to pick up the
soaking bath mat they've left on
the floor and hang it ovec the rod
1o dry every morning.

Men still don't understand why
you sometimes need to talk toa
friend for an hour on the phone
(you have to talk to someone who
understands why you're peeved
about the bath mat!),

In her book about women’s use
of humor, They Used Ta Cull Me
Snow White... But 1 Drifted,
author Regina Barreca cites a
routine by American comedian
Jay Leno.

Leno talks about the movie Rig
and suggests that the premise of
the movie, a 30-year-old man
acting as if he were 13, isn’t un-
familiar to most women.

Says Leno: ‘‘The women are
out there saying, why doesn't
somebody make a real science fic-
tion and fantasy adventure and do
a movie about a 30-year-old guy
who acts his age?”

I don’t know whether that
qualifies as sarcasm, but I find it
hilarious.

_ Not to dodge any personal re-
sponsibility, but | think my inter-
mittent sarcasm might reflect the
state of society outside our dwell-
ing (where, by the way, worn-out —
tapes of The Goon Show are
played with disturbing regularity).

I don't see a Int of jocularity i in/
the strects, cafes and meeting.“
places of this corner of the world.
I don’t see a lot of folks throwing

non-interference by others.

The right to bodily self-deter-
mination is not a right to die, but
merely a right to be protected
from unwanted intrusion by
others.

So’ it comes about that the
abortion and euthanasia issues are
fundamentally different.

Since the law. recognizes this
fact, it is wholly consistent and
just.

Jack Pearce
Vancouver

Were taxed
to the max

Dear Editor:

A short while «go, I in-
formed you by a press release -
that the present MDP gov-
ernment was taxing the mid-
dle-income group of North
Vancouver to the mux.

Our average family tax bill
is now $23,525, the third
worst in Canada, behind that
of Ontario and. Alberta
respectively.

AS a " percentage to cash
income, B.C. pays (or owes)
48%, second highest in
Canada behind Saskatchewan.

The statistics also show that
the top 30% of income-
earners: pay 62.8% of all
taxes, while the bottom 30%
pay 5.8%.

Interesting information for
those who truly don’t under-
stand that we must get a hold
On governments that only tax
and don’t understand how to
create wealth.

Daniel Jarvis, Liberal MLA
North Vancouver Seymour

back their heads and laughing out
loud.

A Starbucks coffee outlet is a
metaphor for the scarcity of jovial
interaction in this soviety.

Individuals on stools alone,
drinking the prescribed caffe latte
and reading the very serious Globe
and Mail (and every now and then
looking up to see if anyone’s
looking at them). Talk about a
morose scene.

Why are we so short on big,
transforming belly laughs?

One reason has to be our
growing and entrenched cynicism,
To me, one indicator of how
deeply cynical this society has

become was the film A Fish
Called Wanda.

Having loved John Cleese in
Fawlty Towers, | was really look-
ing forward to this film. | came
out of it feeling angry and
depressed at the reléntless cynicism
and crudity in the: movie.

My father, another ‘Cleese fan,
also felt that way; the morning
after seeing the filin he went out
and bought.a VCR so he could |
tape the old films that are usually
shown after midnight on TY.

Plagues of really bad jokes (like
the dumb blonde scourge) also
don’t promote real jocularity.

in fact, most of the *‘Did you
hear the one about ...’’ jokes seem

to be either groaners or lewd little

numbers that men share with each
other.

Women’s liberation is in-
complete. ‘‘Good giris”’ still aren’t
allowed, or don’t feel comforta-

ble, in the area of sexual humor,

That's what made Mae West so
remarkable for her era. How
many of us so-called liberated gals
would swagger up to a guy and *
ask that playful little question?
“Ts that a pistol in your pocket or ‘
are you just happy to see me?"

We'd be terrified of being
labelled loose!

I suspect a sadder state of af-
fairs is also a social/geographical
phenomeion,

A friend of mine who hails
from the Maritimes finds the
average British Columbian dull,
grey and humorless. People in the
Maritimes and Quebec still sit
around their kitchens and have
some laughs.

Why is a good laugh rarer in
B.C.? Using the theory that
humor is a way of coping with
adversity, my friend feels it might
be because British Columbians
have had it so good for so long...

{t is remarkable how many pt's-
ple will teli you that New-
foundlanders are among the hap-
piest groups of people they know.
And we're all aware of the state
of the Newfoundland economy. -

So what can J do to rid myself
of this virus called sarcasm? Get- |
ting more sieep and moving to"
Newfoundiand are out.

I could rent some cid Mae West
movies and try out some lines on
my husband.

Then I could launch my own.)
plague of jokes. ... Hey, did you
hear the one about the shocked
husband who ...?7

DIGGING A TNE.

UNDER, BURRARD NET?
J THOuGHT WE WERE

Just FRYING To. cet

; AWAY FROM WHE VOERS ©

come alive! _

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