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6 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday May 23, 1999 The Oakville Beaver tan Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver, Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Martin Doherty Circulation Director Teri Casas OfHceManager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Metroland Printing. Publishing & Distributing Lid., indudes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser. Alston Herald^Courier. Bame Advance. Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian. Burlington Post. Burfngton Shopping News. City Patent. CoingwoocMfetsaga Connection, East 'rfark Minor, Erin AdvocaJa'Country Routes. Etobicoke Gcarden. Ramborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Hurone Business Times, Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week. Markham Ecnomist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Minor, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News. Mississauga Business Times. Mississauga News. Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner. Northumberland News, North York Minor, Oakvile Beaver. Oakvflte Shopping News. Odtmers Hockey News. Orilia Today. OshawaA/Vhitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week. Owen Sound Tribune. Peterborough This Week, Pet on County Guide. Richmond Hili/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. StouHviellxbridge Tribune. Fonarer 'rbung. City of York Guarden 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 RECOGNIZED FDR EXCELLENCE BY: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FDR: Editorials It's m a d n e s s The hideous tax motorists pay on gasoline at provincial and federal levels is nothing short of scandalous. And as if the current tax load isn't enough, federal and provincial government pooh-bahs from across the land are contemplating adding even more tax to a litre of gasoline. But get this folks, and here's where the issue gets really ripe-they wouldn't take such a step to merely raise revenue. Right. But instead, they're staking out the moral high ground by saying another gasoline tax hike would encourage people not to drive their cars. Not only is this Pollyanna thinking, it's absurd. But that's what you'd expect when you get a bunch of bureaucrats in a room trying to justify their tax-sucking jobs by writing another idiotic report. Consider the following: -Ontario's major industry is vehicle manufacturing which uses steel produced in Hamilton which employs people who buy cars that need auto parts that are made by Ontarians to go into cars built here and purchased by employed people who pay taxes. Is even this one example too convoluted for these masterminds to understand? These yahoos can't have it both ways. You can't all-of-a-sudden decide to lessen our dependency on cars without offering alternatives. And those alterna­ tives, aren't in place and aside from certain corridors around Toronto, don't even exist. If you don't drive, you don't get where you're going. Rural rail lines have been closed, with government approval, new highways have been built but no rapid transit corridors have been built with them and none are planned. As usual in such perverse thinking, government isn't the solution, it's the problem. And guess who would be hurt most by adding even more gas taxes? That's right people, those least able to afford it. I'm not rich enough to vote PC, I'm not sick enough to vote LIBERAL, and I'm not dumb enough to vote NDP... K itchen renovations and m en d o n 't m ix I know that, as men, we like to think w e've m ade great strides toward equality. However, recent experience has made me question the size and significance of those strides, made me think that it's still a horribly chauvinistic, sexist-sow world out there. My father, who sold real estate for years, used to say that when it cam e to the purchase o f a new hom e, w om en ru led . A lthough men were not actually excluded from the purchase process, they were virtually ignored. While men w ere a llow ed to a tten d hom e showings, offer their manly opin­ ions, and delude themselves into believing that they had a say in the location, size and style of home they were buying, ultimately, it was the woman who would make all the decisions. "The husband hates the place," my father would often report. "But the wife loves it. So, consider it sold..." I know what you're think­ ing. You're thinking that it's been years since my father sold real estate and since those days, baby, w e've come a long way. Right? Wrong! A w hile ago, my wife and I made a mutual decision to reno­ vate our kitchen - new cabinets, floo ring , shu tte rs , the w orks. Initially, when my wife brought up the idea o f us m aking a mutual decision on a kitchen makeover, I misguidedly questioned: "What's wrong with the kitchen the way it is?" Once it was pointed out to me in detail ju s t how hideous and repulsive the existing set-up, style and decor is - how could we have ever even eaten in that room? - well, I jumped right on-board. Now, I will not have it said that I was on-board without enthusi­ asm. It was not my fault that the first 50 times my wife ventured out on kitchen-renovation reconnais­ sance m issions, I was way too busy to accompany her. Grass to be cut, pool to be maintained, nap to be had. Inevitably, sadly, there came a point when my input evidently became even more pressing than my need to nap. So many decisions to be m ade. C ab inet co lou rs. F looring op tions: hardw ood , ceramic, linoleum? Did we want halogen pot lights, a ceramic back- splash? Where in the name of all that is microwaveable should we put the microwave? And on and on. To help answer our questions and m ake decisions, we began consulting experts. Designers, dec­ orators, contractors. It was during these consultations that I began to notice a trend. The experts were ignoring me, talking solely to my wife, asking her all the questions. Like I had nothing to offer (and when I did offer up an opinion, it usually elicited snooty laughter). I began to get a com plex . Began to think that maybe I'd been drawn into the whole process for comic relief. Or, maybe, everyone just wanted to hear what I had to say so that they could go the oppo­ site, which is w hat I frequently found happening. "You like black, Eddy? Well, Mrs. Juniper, I'd say white's what you want..." Hey, I wanted to scream. The name's Andy. And, although I'm a man, I can be a kitchen decorator too. My taste isn't all in my mouth. I can use words like "busy," and "flow" and "beveled" with the best o f them. I don 't know what the words mean, but I can use them. But, I knew, it was no use. The world expects women to renovate kitchens. Besides, I knew that if I screamed, and voiced any opin­ ions, and used kitchen-renovation w ords, the w hole darn process would just take twice as long.