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Parker’s Pen

David Parker

Forgetting can be very frustrating, especially when it centres around the simplest and more frequent things. I often get a smile watching people park their car, walk into the grocery store, and then turn back – hoping no one is watching – to pick up a bag to carry out their purchases.

Soon it will be remembered just like switching off the car, but I hope people take a good look inside the bags once in a while, because surely there’s a danger they can be infected with all kinds of bacteria from vegetables, fruits, meats and even the bottom of some cartons.

I applaud the Calgary Co-op for fighting to keep their disposable plastic bags which seem so convenient, safe and eco-friendly.

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And on the subject of grocery stores, I worry about the ever-increasing number of Co-op’s and Safeway’s own brands filling the shelves. Maybe Cal & Gary and Compliments are a good buy, but imagine the day when you walk into a grocery store and only see one label!

I like to select my olive oil from bottles with good graphics, telling me where they were produced, and give a thought to the people who made my Branston pickle or baked beans.

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It’s interesting to see that the west end is being bantered around again as a location for the new arena.

Doesn’t make sense to me when the land is available at the Stampede grounds where it is so easy and familiar to get to, and will be a big boost to the developing East Village and Victoria Park.

Maybe it’s just being dangled before us again to make us think that council is thinking hard about a decision.

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One of the problems with a west end location would be LRT connections, especially from the northwest which would certainly mean changing trains.

Better council members and transportation gurus spend time solving the safety issues along the LRT lines. I was talking to friends recently who bemoaned the fact that they had given up going to the theatre downtown because they were uncomfortable – maybe even used the word frightened – to sit on the train because of too-regular disturbances at Sunnyside and Lions Park stations in the evenings.

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Good to see that people are returning to work in the downtown core, encouraging for retail and restaurants. But I notice men in particular are being more post-COVID casual in their working attire.

Remember when oil companies started casual Fridays? Now every day is casual. And not just here. I read recently that Kiwi, a leading brand of shoe polish for over a century, is pulling its product from UK shelves.

A ‘sign of the times’ they say as more men are wearing trainers or casual shoes that don’t require formal polishing.

Reminds me of Linda Curtis, for years the Women’s Editor at The Albertan newspaper who said to me, “It’s easy for men, all you need is a clean shirt and a polished pair of shoes to look good.”

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Hope the wind blows hard and the sun keeps shining bright, because when we get our fleet of electric buses they will have to be fully charged to make it around this big city.

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I see that even Rolls Royce has entered the production of electric cars. The first deliveries of Sceptre will be made in the fourth quarter of this year. Price suggested by car buffs at around $400,000. Another $40,000 will get you a Phantom, but not too many of us could afford a Phantom Gold priced at $550,000 – USD of course – but at that price who cares?

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Final words: Earning a living is mostly earning not enough living.