Connie Sampson

Tell me Why and Tell me How

Submitted on May 11, 2012 - 2:18pm

Bullying has become a major concern for school boards, parents, students, Police Services, provincial governments and, hopefully, you and I.

One action I have noticed in news reports of child suicide, is that parents say they reported the bullying and the school made no attempt to deal with those parents' complaints. One mother was told that her daughter was acting on a whim and that girls fight. That girl committed suicide last November.

Connie Sampson

Publishers have Writer Phobia

Submitted on April 23, 2012 - 9:05am

So you want to write a book? Nothing to it – and usually nothing for it. But that's another matter.

First, you need to choose a genre and then you need a plot and believable characters. You have to think about those characters in such detail that you know more about them than you do about your mother. Some writers say the characters tell them where the plot should go next. Sometimes I worry about those writers.

Connie Sampson

Ignorance is Bliss it Seems

Submitted on April 2, 2012 - 3:04pm

The fire at Turgeon School brought out the usual 'experts'.

Police officers, ambulance personnel and fire fighters are the targets of 'those who know'. According to these bright lights, who rarely, if ever, ask for an explanation of what is happening, fire fighters do nothing all day but polish trucks, lift weights and watch TV. Police officers take coffee breaks and eat doughnuts. Ambulances are driven at slow, slower and slowest.

Connie Sampson

Can They Swim?

Submitted on March 21, 2012 - 8:22am

Saskatoon is going to get another bridge. I understand it is to facilitate traffic expected from the 70,000 new citizens expected to move into some neighbourhoods that don't yet exist, but will within the next decade. Does that mean none of this will be in place soon – except the bridge?

Connie Sampson

BEAR ON THE PORCH

Submitted on March 7, 2012 - 11:29am

The Canadian Wildlife Federation asked recently, “How do you connect with wildlife”?

Did I complain when the Bohemian Waxwings pooped on my car in technicolour?

First pass was on their way from the Mountain Ash. Orange splashes. The second pass was on their way from the crab apple tree. Red splashes. Dear little creatures of nature, the colours clash. We share the red currants, raspberries, strawberries and cherries with the birdies – provided I net the bushes in time.

Connie Sampson

Apology and stuff

Submitted on February 22, 2012 - 10:12am

“A promise made/Is a debt unpaid” -Robert Service.

A few years ago, I wrote a weekly column in The Shopper, which is, by the way, the only locally owned paper in town. Do you miss Conrad Black who owned the Herald? It is Jerry Paskiw who gave me my start as a columnist these many years ago.

Connie Sampson

What do you think?

Submitted on February 2, 2012 - 7:23am

There are many of us war babies and baby boomers, all either retired or near retirement. It is going to open up a large number of jobs.

Many people, are approaching retirement and counting the days because they hate what they do. Their reaction could well be "Anyone can have my job and good luck to them"! Others are saying "Maybe. But Canadian workers first". Still others are saying, "I've done my bit and I deserve some retirement time before I die”.

Connie Sampson

When a duck isn't a duck.

Submitted on January 16, 2012 - 7:29am

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a – wait a minute: calling it a duck may be politically incorrect. The 'Society for the Preservation of Ducks Which Aren't ' will send the Quackers Police after you. And don't say 'quacker' because you will offend crackers, especially those which want to be known as biscuits.

Ridiculous? Of course. But it anymore nonsensical than Australians demanding Santas stop saying Ho Ho Ho because it is an insulting word to prostitutes, who are correctly called sex trade workers, in North America?

Connie Sampson

2012 xmas quiz answers

Submitted on January 1, 2012 - 12:19pm

What Happened to the Three Kings?

No kings and possibly no sheep in Bethlehem on the first Christmas Day? It really spoils the creche scene we're used to! But wait. All is not lost. (And no, you can't have a second creche for only $19.95 no matter who you phone. There are no operators standing by...)