| MAY I ask a dumb ques-

* tion? Wait for it, wait for it.

First, some predumiaues: tion remarks,

; The papers ‘the other day caré .! . fied a story that has become utter- ‘ly predictable — a variant on -- dozens of similar stories. _ It is The Harassed Women Employees Story. This latest, carried by The Canadian Press news-agency, : begins: “Female prison guards and _.workers don't have to worry about’ harassment from prisoners as much as they do from male coun-

*“terparts and supervisors, internal |:

studies indicate...

a '“For example, 62.5% of female

employees ataprisonin =; Springhill, N.S., said they were ‘harassed by a co-worker.” . /

This Corrections Canada’study :

. showed that in Ontario the figure -

-. was 56.3%, and on the Prairies

. 55%. (No B.C. figure was given.) -

_,. Most of the Prairie-male guards

Said they thought that guarding “male prisoners was too dangerous

; for women. And at the Springhill

prison, “female guards are often openly called ‘100-pound weak- lings’ and other more vulgar» names.” Some’female guards say they’ve been threatened, yelled at, or humiliated by male guards.

“Now, I don’t make light of . unambiguous harassment. I: wouldn’t want jerk co-workers

around my wife and daughters (or

3

GARDEN OF BIASES

yours). In a perfect world, there would be no oafs, and probably a lot fewer male hormanes, than at present. And men would know

* when to back off.

But I think that in some cases of what is now widely. defined as harassment, what's going on is, bluntly: awkward, clumsy, women- fearing males — who fear rejec- tion too — trying to get dates with females. And, under the shifting, uncertain rules of current courtship and marriage (and indeed “freedom” within and with- out marriage), not knowing how the hell to go about it.

Which leads to my dumb ques- tion.

Crossi

HE NORTH Shore remains at the

mercy of its (vo main commuter con-

nections to the rest of the Lower Mainland.

As illustrated again Tuesday morning, mishaps on either the Lions Gate Bridge or the Second Narrows Bridge can bring the North Shore’s commuter transportation flow to a Full stop.

On Tuesday it was a diesel spill from a jack- knifed tractor-trailer truck. and a series of subsequent fender-benders that tied up traffic on the Second Narrows The gathering tide of commuter vehicles backed up across the North Shore and overflowed onto the Lions Gate, which can be brought to standstill with- in minutes of a single stall or minor traffic accident.

Woe betide the entire North Shore if acci-

dents occur on both bridges at the same time,

especially if that time is a morning or evening rush hour.

North Shore commuters, meanwhile, con- tinue to await a decision on replacing or: upgrading the aging and entirely inadequate Lions Gate Bridge.

The latest word-on that decision was: ‘yet another delay. This time a short list of the : options for the bridge’s replacement, which

. was supposed to be available last summer, will .

now not be released until’ ‘early March,. according to the Ministry of Transportation”. and Highways.

Studies, . plans, committees and meetings - dealing with the issue of the Lions Gate Bridge and an adequate third crossing of Burrard Inlet have been ongoing since March 1993.

Tuesday’s rush hour nightmare underlined: the need to make some decisions on the e issue. .

Sooner rather than later.

Why don’t those surveys ask:

“Has a co-worker made any sexual ” advances, including those that may

have been initially unwanted or. actively discouraged, that led to romantic involvement such as dat- ing, marriage, or other intimate relationship?”

The furious feminist forces have seized public policy so com- pletely in this area that no survey would dare pose such a simple, . open question. So workplace a liaisons leading, often, to marriage are the unmentionable element in this equation: Yet their inctusion would illuminate the issue. .

‘For, like it or not — and only

_ purse-lipped puritanical ideo-

logues could dislike it—the - “office romance” is an enduring reality. The workplace is a power- ful aphrodisiac. Millions of mar- tiages have begun — and of course some have ended — there. _ And many a courtship — or pre-relationship social foreplay, or

- whatever. the chic term is — began. with an unwanted or indifferently : 4 "received “pass” by the man: It’s no ‘crime for boy to be smitten by girl

more than-girl is smitten by boy: — yet. What used to end, quickly, with the brush-off now can become a harassment statistic. °

I work in one of the most socially alert, and politically cor- rect, of workplaces — in the media, But many of my young col-

leagues are doing exactly what old ..

journalists used to do: marry each

other. ;

In the early 1920s; one : Joseph, who worked in the Winnipeg Free Press building for the self-same CP mentioned above, met one Bertha, who worked in the paper’s circulation department. They mar- ried. They produced, though not their best effort, me. ;

In turn, I took out a female or two (who's counting?) in my newspaper office in my vanished youth. * '

Eventually one made herself’ indispensable, being exceedingly | kind to my dog, Sam. And then , she sold her condominium and began sobbing “Where will I go?

What will I do?” '~ We celebrate our 15th anniver-—

sary (and she said it wouldn't last!) on Feb, 29. However, since this isn’t a Leap Year, we'll proba- bly settle for Big Macs with the children on the 28th... -

But those up-tight survey-takers

and feminist ideologues don’t dare compile figures on the woman,

who, when a man playfully grabs her arm, doesn’t call for the gen- der police or the harassment offi- cer.

Instead — being totally liberat- ; ‘Dear Editor:

ed —— she fixes him with a steely eye and says: “Are you busy Saturday night? There’s a great Clark Gable movie on at the Bijou.” Or whatever they’re show-

‘ing these days, which are more

like the old days than the media

would have you believe. 1

mailbox s

"Dear Editor:

If ever there was a a God-given opportunity to get back to:a time when pop could take three kids to’ a-hockey game. and stif] have enough for peanuts all- ‘round it is now.

For. all the while. the hockey sticks and the briefcases have been going at each other, a formidable force with tremendous clout has.’ been lurking in the weeds and is

’ now about to do battle...

the puck’stops here... 33 “We will not” return at your beck and cal!: We will:stay, away

‘in: ‘droves,’ indeed, - you : will: be - forced to station:‘bouncers’ on th

outside of the Coliseum throwing people i in.” “

’ Elevating these hockey ‘ads. to the status of sainthood has beén.a lesson painfully: well- learned and

ly back.

. Ted Hadley - "West Vancouver —

. We commend the’ North Shere News for its brave stance’ in Sup porting Doug Collins and his views.

: May you continue to do so. ' HE. and J. Blackmore: -

; West Vancouver

‘Trixl Agrios ” Promotions Manager ° :

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