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PAGE 6 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1995 Why are Canadians so often obsessed about age? We never tire of naming ourselves according to birth order, like some middle child complaining to his psychiatrist about whom Mom loved best. Just look around you and you‘ll see what I mean. First, there are the baby boomers â€" and don‘t you wish you had a nickel for every time that group gets ink? And then there is Generation X, those people now in their 20s, said to be an anxious, rootless bunch. And then there‘s the World War II generation. But that‘s not all. Somewhere in all of this, you must find room for the yuppies (young urban professionals), guppies (geriatric urban professionals), dinks (dual income, no kids), senior citizens, notch babies and thirtyâ€"someâ€" Maclean‘s magazine devoted an entire section in an issue shortly before the 1993 federal election as to whether Jean Chretien was yesâ€" terday‘s man. What does that mean anyway? Is it meant to say that the older you are, the slower you become? Or that there happens to be a certain age which allows you to operate at your peak? Even U.S. news and World Report devoted a whole story in a recent issue analyzing the various Republican presidential candidates according to their generation. Frontâ€"running Bob Dole, who happens to be in his early 70s, is given credit, the article says, for his military service but demeérit points for his age. Most voters, the magazine says, would prefer to vote for someone of the "silent generation", that is, the group that came of age in the 1950s. What nonsense. The pollsters must have nothing else to do these days. For while a few broad generalizations are possible about generaâ€" tions â€" the older a Canadian is the more likely he is to be lawâ€"abiding, for example â€" categorizing people by the decade of their birth is bound to be a silly enterprise. I really thought this nonsense about generations had been put to rest a few years ago when retrospectives of the 1960s revealed that, contrary to popular myth, most young people of the time supported the Vietnam War, shunned drugs (that changed with the youth of the "T0s, ‘80s and ‘90s), remained virgins until marriage (that one has cerâ€" tainly changed) and were more likely to call themselves conservative than liberal _ What on earth does someone‘s age have to do with the way he thinks? Or how much energy he might have for a particular job, such as politics? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. _ l e o There are people who are old at age 25. At a time in life when they should have a sense of adventure, they are already set in their ways. Rather than explore and imagine the possibilities of life, they are already thinking of the day when they can retire. They are dead and tired out just as life should be beginning Then there are other people, like my partner Mike Walters, who is over 70 and has the energy and imagination of a 40â€"yearâ€"old. He never ceases to amaze me. Or my friend Don MacLeod, the former president of the Savage Shoe Company, who is over 65 but never seems to tire of anything. The last time I visited with him, he was playing with his new voiceâ€"activated laptop computer with all the enthusiasm of a kid. So when it comes time to vote or, for that matter, do anything else, let‘s not rest so much weight on a person‘s age. Let‘s look at the whole person and see what they‘re all about. This is not to suggest that generational generalizations are always baseless. The times do shape men to a degree. But in a nation of 28 million or so Canadians and hundreds of subcultures, knowing when someone is born is not likely to yield all that much meaningful inforâ€" Generational generalizations Waterloo Town Square 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario NJ 1P2 Telephone 886â€"2830 News Line 886â€"3021 Fax No. & " /feanwhile Fred Sagel Melodee Martinuk (Sports Editor) People who don‘t know that Canada is the land of promise should be here during our election camâ€" But the candidates who really deflate the voters are the ones who vow to "shake them up" if elected and promptly forget the pledge once they join the council, board or commission. The loudest of critics can become the most passive proponent of the status quo soon after the votes are counted. Our councils, school boards and hydro comâ€" missions have examples aplenty in their ranks. The fact is they‘ve been coâ€"opted; they‘ve become members of the lodge. They‘re gaâ€"ga in delight at the perks of office and the rewards that go with not rockâ€" ing the boat. It happens too, in the House of Commons. The late Max Saltsman, the superâ€"popular Waterloo North MP, used to tell of a diamondâ€"inâ€"theâ€"rough unionist who was elected to the Commons and vowed to raise hell with the establishment. As Max told it a few months later, the unionist, all slicked up in posh suits and a new haircut, was makâ€" ing the rounds of the posh cocktail parties and his rebel days were over. Max told the story only to point out how easy it was to be coâ€"opted by the perks of power. Or, as the politiâ€" cal maxim has it, you‘ve got to "go along to get along." Helmet law a worthy legacy I‘ve known examples of candidates who were coâ€" opted. That includes the office holder who long ago as a firstâ€"time candidate vowed in newspaper ads and at allâ€"candidates meetings that he‘d shake things up and open things up. He did neither and he‘s still serving. The morale is that you have to be suspicious of canâ€" didates. If one tries to tell you he was born in a log cabin, OK. But draw the line at manger. Worthy Legacy: Trish Woodworth of Waterloo is still grieving the bicycle death of her daughter, Lynda, 25, four years ago, but the mother‘s efforts have brought a soonâ€"toâ€"be law requiring cyclists to wear Mrs. Woodworth worked with London MPP Diane Cunningham and together they saw a private memâ€" ber‘s bill become a reality. It‘s, of course, a tribute to Mrs. Woodworth‘s concern that others should not die, but law will endure as a memorial to her daughter. To underscore the obvious, the helmet requirement will force unthinking parents to do the right thing. And let‘s not have an echo of the motorcyclist antiâ€"helâ€" Mary Baycroft Jerry Fischer Rick Campbell Paul Winkler Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the newspaper. e International Standard Serial The Fairway Group 215 Fairway Rd. S., Kitchener, Ont. met refrain: "It‘s my head and I‘ll do what I want with It." Under ordinary circumstances you could agree, but as long as all of us are sharing the cost of health care, we have a right to have them avoid injuries. And speaking of helmets, we are faced with life‘s big mystery: why did kamikaze pilots wear them? The Wages of Sin: Crime doesn‘t pay. Villains never prosper. Oh, is that so? Idi Amin, remember him? The butcher of Uganda who dines on those he thought were plotting against him? He converted to Islam before he fled Africa in 1979 and found sanctuary in Saudi Arabia. He has been given a house and a handsome "pension." Amin still thinks Ugandans want him back in power. _ Or how about Jeanâ€"Bedel Bokassa, former "Emperor for Life" of the Central African Republic? Remember that charmer? He was jailed for eating ;hildren after returning to his country from exile in aris. But he was pardoned in 1993 and lives in a governâ€" ment villa where he proclaims himself to be the 13th apostle of Christ. % § 5 Another African tyrant with blood on his hands, Col. Mengistu Haile Mriam, is a guest of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The colonel lives in a comfortable house and his neighbors report his garbage overflows with empty whisky bottles. _ The list could go on and on, but you get the idea. The wages of sin are often a comfortable retirement. What'sthat,youw?WhtMBrimMulmgfi You should wash your mouth out with soap for talking about our former PM in the same breath as say, Idi Besides, we‘ll never know what it is to be Brian until we‘ve walked a mile in his Guecis. $45 yearly in Canada. f $90 yearly outside Canada L