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| 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, May 8, 1984 editorial comments 77 z sz 2A, ro LICK ANY MAN /N THE HOUSE / ay " chatterbox by Cathy Robb ODE TO THE AIRHEADS I've got the best set of bosses in town. I do, at least I think I do, although I'm sure there's a whole raft of employed people out there who would disagree with me. Last year, when the Star hosted a Best Boss contest, employees all over the Township wrote in to tell us what a bunch of wonderful bosses they had. The ones who didn't write have since been fired or have been sent off on assignment to Northern Ireland or Siberia or somewhere. But the point is, loyal employees all over the place were quick to take a few minutes and put all the neat things they like about their head honchos down on paper. And that in itself is Quite a feat. I mean, not too many people are writing letters these days. You have to practically misquote somebody to get a letter to the editor and if my mailbox is any indication, people just aren't writing as many personal letters as they used to either. It's so much easier to reach out and touch so- meone via telephone. The only people I know who consistantly write let- ters are secretaries, the poor underpaid sots who are forced to listen to some airhead's dictation, then try and make enough sense out of the gobbledey-gook to type up a business letter. You notice how the airhead bosses who dictate never actually write letters (bank managers are the worst offenders). | think it's because they don't know how to write a letter properly. The average boss wouldn't know a salutation if it hit him in his ruddy face. Most airheads also lack any sort of emotions. Most- lv because most airheads are men, although that is cer- tainly changing and female bosses tend to take on airhead characteristics Many airheads never smile unless they've just made more money or made a successful pass at their secretary. I've never seen an airhead cry, although I'm sure they've cried over lost capital. Airheads just seem to lack any kind of human warmth. They don't realize how much a *'well done" means to an employee who has just worked his butt off on a special project. They don't understand about bir- thdays, children, bad days, good days, Christmas, peo- ple's feelings or women. Airheads still have a hard time with women I had a boss once that would have made Betty Crocker turn into a raving feminist. If there was a Male Chauvinist Pig convention, he'd be voted Grand Poo. bah. I wrote a story once, during the short time I was working for him, about a group of oil magnates who ac- cidently landed in the community I was working in, in- stead of Toronto. All of them were fabulously wealthy with Mercedes dripping all over the place, along with glamourous wives and exotic real estate. So I started my story off with some juicy details about how neat it was to have the bourgois riche in our neighbourhood. The next day my boss called me in and said he liked the story, except for the feminine viewpoint. "'The feminine viewpoint?!?"' I remember shriek- ing. ""That's a colour story. A feature. Not a cooking column." He proceeded to explain how it's fine to have women writers but they shouldn't be writing news or features about things like business or money ---- worlds tradi- tionally dominated by men. Then he made me editor of his newest idea, the woman's page. I quit not too long after. Anyways, I can see I'm drifting from the point. The fact is, my ex-boss, an airhead extraordinaire, never wrote his own letters. He had a bubble-headed bleach- ed blonde take his dictation and type up his letters, like she had been doing for the past 20 years or so. She never complained and probably loved him dearly. I'm sure she would have written about him in a Best Boss con- test in a minute. But I'm positive he would never get off his fat patoot and write about her in a Best Secretaries contest. Which makes him no different than all the airhead bosses in this town. C'mon guys, I can't believe how in- ~ sensitive you are. Port Perry is supposed to be different, , isn't it? Or are businessmen, doctors, lawyers, bank managers and others just too doggone busy to send an entry into the Star's Best Secretary contest. I doubt it. Anyways, it's too late. The deadline for the contest was two weeks ago. And only one boss entered ---- and his secretary is also his wife. It's just shameful. Last year we had nearly 30 en- tries in our Best Boss cont where employees were asked to send in 500 words or legs on how wonderful their bosses were. This year we had a Best Secretary contest, where bosses were asked to send in 500 words or less on how wonderful their secretaries were. Only one boss sent an entry. Just one. Even the win- ners of last year's contest (I won't mention any names, but they've been in business for 35 years) didn't bother writing in about their employees. Even though it was their employee's devotion and enthusiasm that won them a free lunch last year. The whole thing sickens me. Just who do bosses think they are, anyway? In case you're an airhead (er, boss), I want to remind you that you're a real rat for not entering the contest. Not just a rat, a flea on a rat. And I hope you feel real guilty, although I realize airheads are incapable of feeling any type of human emotions such as guilt. (Turn to page 6) Soapbox Canada At times this country seems to be in danger of becoming the biggest soapbox in the world. Hardly a day goes by whe: there isn't some kind of march or demonstration in protest of political, religious or racial strife going on halfway around the world. In some instances, these protests have turned violent. There may not be anything wrong with drawing public attention to these issues, but how healthy is it for this country in the long run. Canada is a nation of immigrants. Our policy over the last few years has been to encourage new arrivals to bring their culture, heritage and language with them. Unlike the United States with its "melting pot" practise, Canada has opted for multi-culturalism, an expression of differences. Far too often, the culture and heritage that people bring with them to their new home contains prejudice and hatreds that go back years, even centuries. Canada, with its democratic institutions and tradi- tions of free speech, expression, political activity and assembly is very fertile territory to fan these imported ethno-centric hatreds and prejudices. A lot of energy that might be otherwise spent on working to build a better and stronger Canada is diverted into carrying on the battles of the original homelands. Canada has to be the only country in the world which offers people from everywhere citizenship and a soap- box; a chance for a better life and the opportunity to im- port and espouse the problems which in many cases were the very reasons they came to Canada in the first place. Many Canadians are starting to feel very uncomfor- table at the sight of demonstrations on Parliament Hill or on the streets of any city where placards are waved, flags are unfurled and an angry mob shouts "death to so and so." Canada has more than enough problems of its own that need to be addressed and solved, not the least of which is national unity. Surely, we don't need to become the world's soap- box for all the political, racial and religious strife going on in every corner of the globe. Auto Quotas What should the Canadian government do about the auto quota agreement which limits the number of Japanese cars and trucks that can be brought into this country? That agreement expired at the end of March and while federal officials say they would like to negotiate an extension, there are strong signs that Japanese auto dealers within this country are going to mount vigorous lobbying campaign to ease the restrictions. Their arguments for relaxing the quotas got a big shot in the arm recently when North American car makers announced gigantic bonuses paid to senior com- pany officials. How can these companies reward their senior ex- ecutives so handsomely and still clamour for restrictions and the need for protection? Sales figures for the North American Big Three in- dicate that 1984 so far is turning out to be just as good a year as 1983. Yet what about the consumer? In a free market society, should the consumer's choice be limited by government imposed quotas? How far should a govern- ment go in restricting the free flow of trade? There are no easy answers to these questions, of course, but one thing that should be kept in mind is that the turn-around in the economy in the last year or so pro- bably had more to do with boosting domestic made car sales than any quota system on Japanese imports. We suspect, the federal government is not going to yield to pressure and do away with the quotas, or even substantially relax them. This is an election year, after all, and there are a lot of votes in the auto industry towns like Windsor, Oakville and Oshawa. In the U.S, the Quota was extended to the end of April 1985. Keeping the quotas on for another year may not be such a bad idea. But sooner or later, the industry is go- ing to have to come to grips with the imports and do - head-to-head battle. On the other hand, nothing will kill the boom in car sales (domestic and imports) quicker than another round of inflation and high interest rates. Building a competitive product is one thing, but the best marketing tool the domestic car companies have is consumer confidence in the overall economy. Take that away and the quota debate becomes pret- ty much an academic exercise. } a EE NRRNE, a a RS CAD AY Gd St Laine JIL RL a a me u aid LL CAAA A Ee ------ aE _ wi in AERC