Posts with the Ontario tag

Barris Beat

Canada’s veterans would not be amused

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Grace MacPherson put her pride of country above all else in the Great War.

Grace MacPherson had all the credentials she needed to become an ambulance driver in the Great War. The first woman in Vancouver to earn a driver’s licence. The first woman to purchase a car in that city. When war broke out in 1914, she even paid her own way to Britain offering her skills as a driver to the Red Cross ambulance corps.

When she gained an audience with Sam Hughes, Canada’s minister of militia and war in 1917, to plead her case, however, he turned her down.

“I’ll stop any woman from going to France,” Hughes blustered.

“With your help, or without it,” Miss MacPherson said, “I will serve.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Competence and reward? Not here!

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Promoting cafe staff, like everything else, by merit and experience. thebalancesmb.com

It was the end of our shift. The boss, the owner of the restaurant, called a staff meeting. There were waiters, waitresses, cooks and the busboy staff – about a dozen of us. For several weeks we’d known that the head busboy was leaving the diner. So, we were looking to the boss for some kind of announcement about who would become the next head busboy. His decision was not unexpected. He gave the job to Denny.

“Denny’s been with us the longest,” the boss said. “He has the most experience. He has the trust of everybody on staff and all our customers. He’s the right choice for the position.”

Nobody, not a single person on our staff, disagreed. Everybody could see that the promotion had gone to exactly the right person. Denny met all criteria. So, he got the job. That’s the way it was done at a restaurant staff meeting I attended in the summer of 1966. (more…)

Barris Beat

Alone and unhealthy

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The pandemic of being alone.

How seriously we are all craving social contact. As I do my daily walks around town these mornings, I’ll wave or say “Good morning” to anybody and everybody. That’s why, when a friend I hadn’t seen in months pulled up in his car, I jumped at the chance to talk – he in his car, I two metres away. We talked about work, or lack of it. Then, I asked how his family was doing, in particular his university-age daughter.

“Well, to be honest, not great,” he said, “COVID.”

“Really?” I said, thinking that she’s awfully young to be infected.

“No, not that. The isolation at university, never leaving residence.”

(more…)

Barris Beat

What’s a Family Day worth?

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In 1951  film A Christmas Carol, Scrooge (Alastair Sim) ridicules Cratchit (Mervyn Johns) about expecting both a day off and full-day’s pay.

In the canon of English literature, it’s not the zenith of composition. It doesn’t resonate like a Shakespearean soliloquy, or crackle like Jane Austen dialogue, or whisk you away like a magical J.K. Rowling passage. But, for my money, the exchange between Scrooge and Bob Cratchit, in A Christmas Carol, says everything about our times.

“You’ll want all day tomorrow, I suppose?” whines Scrooge, anticipating his clerk’s desire to have Christmas Day off.

“If quite convenient, sir,” pleads Cratchit.

“It’s not convenient and not fair,” snorts Scrooge, “You don’t think me ill-used, when I pay a day’s wages for no work.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Beyond the stitches

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Romeo Daley, a Korean War vet, and I met during a talk in Fort Erie, Ont.

He entered the hall a few minutes before the historical society began its monthly meeting. With a service dog at his side, he made his way to the last row of chairs and quietly sat down. His chocolate Lab settled beside him, and the meeting began. The chair of the society welcomed everybody, in particular the first-time attendees.

“Welcome to all our regular members,” she said, “and to those here for the first time too.”

I could see that being centred out that way made the man in the back row a bit uncomfortable. But friendly smiles were exchanged between the society chair and the new faces and the atmosphere became relaxed. (more…)