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7| The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,July 19,2018 theifp.ca • Truck Accessories • Upholstery • Heavy Equipment Glass •Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1655 Wehandleall insurance work. We handle all insurance work. • your window & door professionals • 11 Mountainview Rd., N. Georgetown, ON L7G 4T3 905.873.0236 www.buy-wise.ca info@buy-wise.ca • awarded readers choice 27 times • Visit our showroom Furnace Air Conditioning Gaslines Boilers Water Heaters Radiant Heating 905-877-3100 proud local dealer of Canadian made products .ca The Sidekick and I gen- erally go out for dinner once a week - usually Fri- day date night. When the time comes to order, without exception, The Sidekick will question what I'm ordering. "So, what are you hav- ing?" she'll ask, perusing the menu. I generally reply "The steak." "But you always order the steak," she'll counter, "Why don't you order the chicken instead?" "Because I like steak. It's always good. "Why on earth would I order the chicken when I know I like the steak?" "Well," she generally re- plies, "If you order the chicken, then I can try some of it...." Let's face it, women tend to do that - if I order the chicken, and hate it, I'm stuck with it - but she had her taste. How often do you see a bunch of girls out for din- ner tasting what's on each other's plate? You see it on TV. In the television series Big Bang Theory, how of- ten have we seen Penny, Bernadette and Amy at some cool restaurant, en- joying a decadent dessert, and one of them invariably says, "Oh! Can I try that?" What follows is a feed- ing frenzy, with forks full of desserts being passed across the table faster than some dealer at a blackjack convention. On the other hand, I think I can safely say I've been out with the guys, hundreds of times in my six-plus decades on this earth. And I can honestly say I have yet to experience some guy saying to me "Ge- ez, that looks really good, can I try some of your steak?" I think it's pretty safe to say that guys usually eat what they order, and not swipe it off someone else's plate. It's a man rule. There is an exception to that rule, being that when a guy is out with a lady on a date, and she can't finish what she's ordered, then it's perfectly okay for him to devour it - but only after she's played the "I simply can't eat another bite," card. Of course, we all know the reason that she 'can't eat another bite' is because she's probably too full from swiping half of his steak in the first place. How about women go- ing to the bathroom? I'm certain there's a built-in homing device in all wom- en directly connected to their bladders. At a social event, din- ner, or anywhere people congregate, just watch the women. One woman will stand up to head to the powder room, and will turn to the other three ladies with her, give them 'The Look' and all three will accompany her - without fail. Why on earth do women go to the ladies' room to- gether? Are they in an unoffi- cial synchronized peeing competition, or simply afraid of falling in? I'd wager that if any guy stood up and announced to his buddies that he was heading to the can, not one of them would feel any ob- ligation to tag along. Matter of fact, he might garner some really strange looks from his friends if he even suggest- ed they join him. Guys just don't go to the can togeth- er. I guess it's simply one of the differences between the male and female spe- cies, and it's been in place since the first Neanderthal man and woman ordered dinner at a local cave. He ordered the sabre- tooth tiger steak, she opted for the grilled wooly mam- moth, but she likely tried to nip a taste of the sabre- tooth cat. And I'm pretty sure the trend will no doubt contin- ue so long as there are male and female species. So on date night, I will continue to order the steak - complete with onions and mushrooms. And she'll likely order something to- tally different. Cuz one fact remains - I love mushrooms and she hates them! - Ted Brown is a freelance writer for the IFP. He can be reached at tedbit@hot- mail.com. OPINION Why do women swipe food and go to the bathroom together? TED BROWN Column It's not in a man's DNA to share a bathroom break, writes Ted Brown Women have a bathroom code men don't understand. Metro Creative Graphics THE WAY WE WERE Built in 1876 by John and Hugh Cameron, this 1919 photo shows St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, the first congregational church in Acton. Built for a cost of $8,000, it was purchased in 1886. It is a good example of Gothic Revival architecture, with features that include alternative-coloured bricks used as quoins and buttresses, as well as pointed arched windows. While the cupola and steeple atop the church no longer remains, the building looks much the same as it did almost 100 years ago. It is listed as a heritage property. Text courtesy of Heritage Halton Hills. EHS photo Solving our refugee crisis Don't you get tired of the name calling and finger point- ing? As a parent and educator, I've always taught my kids that finding fault is not impor- tant, but finding solutions is. I only wish some of our pol- iticians would heed that sim- ple message. While it may not seem like it from our relatively isolated place of privilege in Port Per- ry, Canada is in the middle of a refugee crisis that is only go- ing to get exponentially worse. Our emergency shel- ters are overflowing now? Guess what? One million former refugees from Haiti and El Salvador are soon going to discover they are no longer welcome in the United States under Donald Trump's Zero Tolerance policy on refugees. Consider that this number is more than 15 times higher than the total number of refugees welcomed to Canada in 2017. Yet it truly is just the tip of the iceberg as this president at- tempts to close his borders. Where do you think these people will go? Canada is a country of im- migrants. This is not only the right thing to do, but it is also an opportunity. Like I tell my kids ... Get along. Get to work. Get it done. Steve Kreider