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Like initiative, writer is wrong Harold Albrecht may know something that the rest of us don‘t, if he truly believes the federal Conservatives‘ Child Care Spaces Initiative will succeed in creating 25,000 promised childâ€"care spaces (Chronicle, Feb. 14, 2007). He may know something that the provinces of Ontario, New Brunswick, _ Manitoba _ and Saskatchewan don‘t, since they tried and failed to use a similar scheme of capital grants and tax incentives to persuade businesses to open childâ€"care programs in their workplaces. He may know something that business owners don‘t, since in a recent Globe and Mail poll of comâ€" pany officials, the vast majority reported that they weren‘t interestâ€" ed in participating in the Conservaâ€" tives‘ initiative. He may know something that Catherine Swift, president of the Canadian Federation of Indepenâ€" dent Businesses, doesn‘t as she statâ€" ed that the initiative "is just not practical. Seventyâ€"five percent of Character Education: Dalton McGuinty swept into town a couple of weeks ago, and talked about the need for schools to take part in character educaâ€" tiom Once you get past the fashion, the language and the music â€" all the same things we tried to shock our parents with â€" they‘re a fairly engaging group for the most part. [ O This, of course, was met by a wave of approval from those people who like to say, "Those kids today ... they‘ve got no respect for anyone." (Which, by the way, is the same thing their parents said about them 40 years ago, and 40 years before that, et cetera). 1 know lots of kids, a function of having children, and most of them are pretty good. This is difficult for those of us who have to walk our dogs up and down the street â€"â€" especially if you have a dog like mine, who I swear actually tip toes if there is any kind of rain or snow on the ground. His primary goal when he gets outside is to go inside as soon as possible. Sweet sounds: The Kâ€"W Symphony is holding some consultation sessions, asking people for their ideas on how the symphony can go forward after its "financial crisis" of the fall. Of course, there‘s some behaviour that I wouldn‘t take part in, but isn‘t that what teenagers are supposed to do? Rebel? I‘m not sure we need a government program to help out; I always worry havâ€" ing the government involved is just going to screw things up. Had enough? Snow, | mean. I know, we‘ve only had six weeks of winter, but personally, I‘m running out of places to put it. __And the longer it lasts, it seems, the less people shovel their sidewalks. _ I‘ve got some people not too far from me who don‘t bother, except for a strip about a foot wide. They started off OK, then kind of lost interest. So please, if you don‘t care about people, help all the desperate dogs like him. _ s Turning kids‘ play into dads‘ play The sessions were sparsely attended, but kudos businesses in this country have fewer than five employees." â€" He may know something that experts in early childhood developâ€" ment don‘t, since they insist chilâ€" dren benefit from quality education and care provided by trained proâ€" fessionals, and that only ongoing operating funding â€" not small, oneâ€"time capital grants â€" can deliver this. 1 sincerely hope Harold Albrecht knows something that the rest of us don‘t. But 1 suspect that, like the Conâ€" servatives‘ Child Care Spaces Initiaâ€" tive itself, he‘s just wrong. Customers deserve topâ€"notch service q dmittedly I am a curmudgeon. n‘t get mewrong, I like little children, puppies and sunsets, but 1 easily take offence by people‘s behavior, even sometimes their mere existence. Executive director YWCA Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo BRIAN BOURKE COMMENT If the group really wants some public input, they should hold these consultations the next time they come back, cap in hand, for a public fundraising campaign. Strike while the iron is hot. The symphony has also hired a new music direcâ€" tor. Edwin Outwater will be flying in and out from California for the job. Seems like a forwardâ€"thinking kind of guy. to the symphony for at least trying. On the minus side, the symphony returned to Waterloo city council asking for $85,000 in grant money. That‘s the same amount as the city gave in "emergency" help in the fall. That money was given on the condition the symâ€" phony come up with a plan. And m there‘s still no sign of that, some four months later. My daughters all have their own spot, so I thought I‘d do the same thing. An effective move, however, on a parent‘s part. Start using the things kids consider theirs and it seems the devotion to it lessens somewhat. _ This, of course, has opened me up to endless abuse as some strange old person using "their" techâ€" Nothing rips the heart out of the "cool" factor than some fat, old, balding man taking part. * Hear more of Brian‘s thoughts on life with the KOOL Morning Crew every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on Waterloo radio station 105.3 KOOL FM. Councillors should demand some kind of accountability before handing over any cash. e â€" Want to feel old? Try this. Last week, for some bizarre reason, which I think had something to do with self promotion, I launched my own page on www.facebook.com. Described as a "social networking system," facebook lets you post picâ€" tures and other stuff, and gather So far, the only plan from the symâ€" phony is a plan to have a plan, which really is not a plan at all. I also feel it incumbent upon me to instructively inform the person of their errant behavior. In other words â€" complain. In the past week I have been the brunt of shoddy customer service. On the occasion of notifying a food conglomerate that my popâ€" corn set aflame in the microwave, 1 was made to feel like a liar. Constructively, I submit to those serving the public, and taking our money, if there is a complaint, offer an apology â€"â€" even if you don‘t perâ€" sonally want to, do it on behalf of your employer. The other event required a clerk to educate me on the finer retail points of "exchange" versus "return." It shocked her when I refused to keep the leaky bottle of shampoo. _ They count on our continued support, and your job depends on it. Don‘t assume the customer is devoid of mentality even though they were imbecilic enough to buy a defective product. Waterloo ence between looking and seeing. Just the same, there‘s a difference between hearing and lisâ€" tening. â€"Toronto psychologist Dr. Nina Josefowitz appeared last month on CBC television to discuss the importance of good listening skills. o e â€" Curious to know more, I spoke with her recently about how one can become a better listener. "Turning off BlackBerrys and cellphones is a good start," says Josefowitz. "People want to be listened to, and part of the problem is time. Peoples‘ lives have become so busy and overâ€" committed, and you need to make space and be open to slowâ€" ing down in order to really listen." _ Josefowitz says that if you are truly going to listen to someâ€" one, you need to give your undivided attention. A multitasker, she says, is not a good audience. In addition, Josefowitz says it‘s important to try and understand what exactly the speaker is saying, and not your interpretation of the words. Lisfiening is integral to communication, but it seems to be a dying art. â€" s "When talking on the phone, you can tell when you‘re not being listened to," says Josefowitz. "People are fooling themâ€" selves when they think they can focus on what someone is saying while parâ€" . f ticipating in other activities, like PA chelzking email and typing on the MARSHALL computer. By allowing yourself to be ARTS distracted, you are not listening as R well as you could be." â€"a F Good listeners take in information as the words are spoken and listen to the whole message, rather than thinkâ€" ing ahead and forming their own conâ€" clusions. Many of us are guilty of formulatâ€" ing our own response, and awaiting our turn to speak, rather than listenâ€" ing to what someone‘s saying. Marshall Ward is a professor in the fine arts program at Wil frid Laurier University. Email is welcome at mward@wlu.ca. "It can be difficult, but people need to be patient and resist the temptation to interrupt and rebut," Josefowitz says. "It‘s also about courtesy and consideration, and when you are focusing on yourself; you‘re not entirely listening to the other persen." Even nonâ€"verbal cues require a type of listening. In my stuâ€" dio art courses, I can tell a lot about how a class is going through the body language of my students. If a lesson is failing to engage them, they don‘t have to tell me verbally. Ditto if the lesson is going great â€" their postures and expressions speak loud and clear. And while listening skills are not as widely practised as speaking skills, they are just as important in conversation. Being a good listener will not only ensure that you are receivâ€" ing information, but will affirm to the speaker that you care about and understand the message being presented. Another benefit to good listening: it‘s good business. A study on job site Monster.com indicates that, on the way up the corporate ladder, listening skills generally improve. Hourty employces may spend 30 per cent of their time lisâ€" tening, while managers often spend 60 per cent and executives 75 per cent or more. â€" â€" s In addition, other studies over the past few decades indiâ€" cate that business leaders consistently rank listening among the top five skills they want from employees. So although our society places so much emphasis on speaking as a way to win friends and influence people, it‘s the goqt_i listeners, ironically, who get noticed. _ "In our professional life, we think we have to talk a lot in order to make a good impression," Josefowitz says. "But effecâ€" tive work is accomplished through listening." _ Michael Purdy, contributing writer to Monster.com writes, "Naturally, listening is critical in the business environment where a mistake in understanding can cost thousands or milâ€" lions of dollars; or listening to a customer or employee can make a product better and increase the bottom line." Don‘t take it personally when someone tells you to "listen up." It‘s sound advice. 66 Listen to this isten up!" is what I shout when trying to get the attention of my studio art class. I tell my students: When drawing from a live model, there‘s a differâ€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE * Wednesday, February 28, 2007 * 9 MARSHALL