at

6 Terrace Review — Wednesday, March 9, 1988

| | Comm en t ar y by Stephanie Wiebe yes

Safe in the closet

by Stephanie Wiebe

I know a unique man. This
guy is an active, caring father,
an attentive husband, and a
loyal friend. The only flaw I can
find in his character is his
weekend hobby: He’s a ‘‘closet
couch potato’’.

If you worked with this man,
or casually knew him, you’d
never suspect. He’s a nice look-
ing, friendly guy, not the usual
beer-mongering slob we've all
heard about, plastered against
the sofa, belching and clicking
the remote control. This Mr.
Potato plays racquetball,
basketball and ice skates with his
children. He dresses well,
doesn’t swear, and has only the
occasional alcoholic drink. But
about every third Sunday, the
man simply doesn’t move. I call
this ‘“‘slugging’’. Just like the
common garden slug, he lies
around in his own slime, basking
in laziness, moving slowly only
when necessary (to grab the
remote control, sip his tea, or
answer a call of nature).

This guy puts on such a good
front, Most weekends, he’s out-
side raking the lawn, washing
cars, anything to look in-
dustrious. Drive by, and he’ll
pause to wave, then go back to
his energetic task, never betray-
ing his secret desire to collapse
like an exhausted walrus.

Once a month, his middle-
class haircut becomes ruffled,
sticking out all over, his glazed
eyes peering out from under the
knitted afghan, and his lanky

| body seems to have melted like a

Jet-Puff marshmallow into the
pillows; He’s a lump of sluggish
flesh, wallowing in a sloth-like

Fire report:

On Feb. 25 at 12:43 p.m. the
Terrace Fire Dept. attended a
chimney fire on the 4700 block
‘of Tuck. No damage occurred.

On Feb. 26 at 3:37 p.m. the
Terrace Fire Department took
part in a rescue operation on

- Bornite Mountain Road. A mine

ceiling collapsed resulting in a

- gave-in 50 feet from the entrance
.- of the mine. The fire department
. provided emergency lights and
- equipment, .

-' A local Assistant Fire Com-
‘missioner Seminar was con-
ducted in the Terrace Fire Hall.
‘Eighteen members of fire
departments in the Northwest

“participated on Feb. 23, 24 and
25.

stupor. He’s watching ‘World
Federation Wrestling’’, sweating
overweight sasquatches rolling

around in the ring. Goodbye, .

Mr. Wonderful — Hello, Couch
Potato.

If there was an award given
for this pastime, or if it were
declared an Olympic event, this
man would walk away with the
medal. His co-workers would be
shocked. Acquaintances would
protest. Even his mother might
not believe it. But I’d cheer this
guy on. He’s obviously been in
training for a few years, and-his
hours of motionless catatonia
should not go unrewarded.

But I won’t expose him — his
secret is safe with me. As long as
I can drop by on Sunday after-
noons to sip a cup of-tea, and

‘enjoy the sight of a champion

slug in his glory, the media will
never exploit this man’s talent.
At least not for under $75.00,

Freedom to choose employment uphel

Letter

To the Editor;

Score one major victory for
the rights of working people!

On Feb. 12 Justice Duncan
Shaw, of the Supreme Court of
British Columbia, ruled: ‘‘After

a great deal of consideration, I

have concluded that the inter-

‘pretation of section 53 (of the

Industrial Relations Act; Bill 19)

‘by the’ Industrial Relations

Council is patently unreasonable
and is so fundamentally erron-
eous that it calls for intervention
by this Court.”

The case in which this decision
was reached concerned a truck
driver employed by a hospital
laundry operated by the Minis-

‘try of Health. The laundry was

transferred as a going concern to
a newly incorporated society
controlled by the hospitals the
laundry served, That is, it was
‘privatized’. The truck driver
decided that he would rather
stay with the government, and
claimed that the transfer of the
operation meant that he was laid
off under the terms of the collec-
tive agreement between the gov-
ernment and the B.C, Govern-
ment Employees Union. The
employee would have a number

of options under the collective |

agreement, including reassign-

TH

date.
Kenney Street.

dary woodwork shop.

~yntil noon March 11,

V8G 3E9.

marked 'SHOP EQUIPME

The highest or any bid not necessarily accepted.

~ $CHOOL DISTRICT No. 88 (Terrace)
Has For Sale

The following shop equipment:
2 Only Atlas metal lathes
1 Only Rockwell Delta 8” Jointer model 37-315

All equipment is three phase (3 phase) and has
been operating in schools up to the replacement

Lathes can be seen at the maintenance shop 3211
Jointer can be seen at Caledonia Senior Secon-
PLEASE CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT TO VIEW

Bids must be written and in a sealed envelope
NT’ bids will be received

1988 at the purchasing

department, 3211 Kenney Street, Terrace, B.C.,

a/9e

The 1978 Caledonia Grad Reunion Committee recently pres
ment Centre. Pictured above (left to right) are Randy Durand, Vice-Chairma
Pre-School Teacher at the CDC; Cathy Hart,
the 1978 Grad Committee. The money was raised through a raffle fast year,
class reunion wich will take place July 29 to 31 this year an

Chairman 1978 Grad Committe

d the balance go

ented a cheque for $500 to the Terrace Child Develop-
n 1978 Grad Committee; Karen Skog,

e and Carol Davis, the treasurer for
with part of the money funding the
Ing to the Centre. The Centre will be

using the money for items such as gym equipment, t

ment to another job in the em-
ployment of the government or
severance pay.

To make a long story short,
the truck driver filed a grievance
which was lost at arbitration.
This decision was appealed to
the Labour Relations Board, as
it then was, by the worker’s
union, and the board ruled in
favor of the worker. At this time
the government brought in Bill
19, established the Industrial
Relations Council to replace the
Labour Relations Board, put Ed
Peck in charge, and appealed the

The

STORK

ruling of the L.R.B. The I.R.C.,
to no one’s surprise, ruled in

favor of the government and-

overturned the ruling of the
L.R.B.; by inferring that section
53 of the Industrial Relations
Act means that a worker has no
choice but to go to the new.
owner’s employment when the
business for which he works is
sold or privatized. This is what
Justice Shaw ruled was patently
unreasonable and so fundamen-
tally erroneous that it called for
the intervention of the court.

In his decision Justice Shaw

REPORT
Is the Stork about to visit you?

Let everyone know about the happy event by having it printed in the
Terrace Review. Forms. are available at the hospital.

CHRISTIANSEN — Gary and Lynne are
of their son, Martin Johanas. He weig
Monday, February 29, 1988. —

FIAOWERS -
of LA CARTES

Momibor of AFS Wire Service

eaching toys and building up thelr toy landing library.

states: ‘One of the most fun-
damental rights we possess as
free people is to choose the
employer for whom we will
work ... A law which requires a
person to be contractually
bound to ‘an employer not of his
choosing is directly contrary to
this basic freedom of choice.”’
He also quotes an earlier court

_decision that identifies this ele-

ment of choice as the main dif-
ference between-a servant and a
serf! - ,

continued on page 21

pleased to announce-the birth |
hed'7%2 Ibs, and was born on

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