Ag - Wednesday, September 5, 1984 - North Shore News hat's wrong a IKE MOST-PEASANTS, I’ve often gazed at the cruise ships cruising under the Lion’s Gate Bridge, and pondered on the sybaripic lives led by those on board. My wife, however, thinks I’m fat enough now, without putting on 100 pounds in 10 days. But | always wonder about the modern seafarer’s life. The last tjme’ | was on anything’ bigger than a rowboat was in troopship days, when the menu con- sisted of corned beef and cold cabbage, and the chief pastime was peering over the side looking for periscopes. lt was with some en- thusiasm, therefore, that | accepted an invitation to have lunch on the Sunshine Princess. It ain’t often that such invites come my way, the public relations men be- ing afeared, no doubt, that when I get loose again, business will be at bilge level. We duly assemble at Ballantyne Pier, about 20 ex- -pectant denizens of the press, ‘etc. Bob Hunter its in atten- dance, and | ask how come they’re letting hippies on board. He gives his famous boyish grin, and points to his tie. When it’s time to go on board, he and I! find ourselves leading the rush up the gangplank. I feel as if ?’'m going to a Sunday-schoot treat. Bob is cool, he being used to being treated like royalty. Right away, I can see that this is no troopship. Luxury leaps at you, and _ white- jacketed crew members stand deferentially aside as we free- loaders prance by. By God, | think, they should bring back the Empire, provided 1 don’t have to clean the heads. But anxious though I am to get the P & O’s gin and tonic down my throat, | pause in get this straight by Doug Collins one of the lounges to improve my education. Right across one wall are three flags: a Union Jack, a Stars and Stripes, and another creation that looks like the Stars and Stripes without the stars. Also, in the top left-hand corner there is a Union Jack. It turns out that this is the Great Union flag, first raised at George Washington’s headquarters on Jan. 1, 1776. It wasn’t until the following year that the Stars and Stripes went up. Well, that’s something else that Collins didn’t know. In one of the ship’s three bars (none of that Ancient Mariner stuff for these sailors) | wonder whether the Brit barman can _ possibly remember who ordered what. The wonderful man _ does, however, and it occurs to me that if everybody had been like him, the Empire would still be in place. Captain Chris Sample ap- pears. I expect to see an old salt. But this captain is a young salt, and it is my guess is that he definitely didn’t start before the mast. He wasn’t even wearing a GE mailbox [>< | Racism Is a serious matter Dear Editor: Having no desire to carry out any sort of cor- respondence with Doug Col- lins (‘‘Get this straight,’’ Wednesday, August 22), I! have waited, read with amazement Collins’ slanderous diatribe, and have decided only now that his col- umn has become sufficiently unacceptable and offensive to warrant not comment but complaint. My opinion of Doug Col- lins as a journalist is that he has chosen, in a poor emula- tion of the ‘‘provocative’’ style of writers like the Van- couver Sun’s Les Bewley, to attempt to write a columy that excites and interests its readers by angering them. Although of dubious jour- nalistic worth, such a style is ethically acceptable. What is NOT acceptable, in a local newspaper or anywhere else, is the printed display of outright and unabashed — racism that Collins’ column constitutes. latest 1 did not protest after Col- lins’ assault on the North Shore Women’s Centre and Vancouver Status of Women, although I realize that you did receive a girth (sic) of let- ters during this time. I beg you, however, to consider this letter seriously; racism and the moral tragedy it breeds calls for serious action wherever it appears. Get this straight: a quick glance at the casualties — six million Jews, Blacks in South Africa, in- dividuals victimized by per- sonal assaults all over the world — makes one thing - clear: the attitudes of Doug Collins and the social calami- ty they incur are worth bring- ing into sharper and less light-hearted focus. FINAL DAYS OF CLOSING-OUT SALE 0% OFF AND MORE THE PATIO SHOPS PHS Bere Drie Wot Wore wee WM ad HOA TTT Pe Waa ta tara pha Se he ERRATA Why doesn’t someone from the ‘‘News’’ write a col- umn addressing the same issues Collins does, but seriously? Deborah Mcintosh West Vancouver me Youll save up to $100 Sou’wester, and looked positively academic. And he had charm. You would never have dreamt that meeting the Society of Freeloaders must have bored the poor man out of his socks. Times being hard out there, | won’t go on about the lunch. Suffice it to say that there were about 20 items on the menu, and we could have ordered every one of them if we had wished. You will be pleased to hear that | didn’t disgrace myself, and ordered only 10. Hunter probably managed more. Mr. Dean Miller, the p.r. type who risked his job by in- viting me along, took us on a Asters Cr 922-4171 i ye BMX - Mountain Bikes - 10 speeds (also 12 & 18 speeds) North Star Cycle 1719 Lonsdale, N up to Weekly Specials Gladiolus Kalanchoes Sorry — no delivery on these Items j- WES VAN FLORIST ‘wheel deal.’ Cycle pannier bags (as above in water repellent nylon perfect for school books ) ‘100. Tues Sat 10am 5 pm out adding 10lb a day? tour of the ship, which used to be called the Spirit of Lon- ’ don. I tell him the old name was more romantic, but that I won’t quarrel about it. He tells me why the change was made. Never mind all that, though. Noble ship, and the baby of the fleet even though it has nine decks, is 535 feet long, with a beam of 75 feet, 378 cabins, and one crew member to every two passengers, of whom there can be 700. Three of them this day were Fred MacMurray, Ginger Rogers and June Haver. What I say is, what’s wrong with putting on 100 pounds in 10 days? 5 for 4° 10 for’ 1*° 1°° 4’’ pot 922-3968 West Van Cycle 1479 Clyde, WV 980 1317 925, 1677 Used Bicycle 289 L J st (rear) Warehouse oe en