Life as the “official light holder”

   

By Trevor Doré, Opinions Editor

hether it was fixing the car
or working on something
around the house, I was

always ready to lend a hand and my
dad was always hard at work on
something. “Get out there and give
your father a hand,” my mother would
say. I would rush out to the garage
egger to help my father with his latest
and greatest project. Without looking
up, he would utter those words that

overtime have become all too familiar:

“Come here, hold this light.” The first
couple of times I felt pretty proud. I
was the “official light holder.” While
my dad tried to figure out why the car
wouldn’t run or the fridge wouldn’t
cool, I was in charge of shedding light
on the situation.

Holding the light was great, for
the first little while. However, as I
become older, being the “official light
holder” became a little lame needless
to say. When my mother would say,
“Go help your father,” I knew what
she really meant was, “Go hold the
light for your father.” It wasn’t hard
for me to think of things that I would
have rather been doing. This was the
case until I bought my own car. It was
a Ford Escort and for a first car, it was
surprisingly reliable. Perhaps, this
was because I had bought it from my
dad, who had taken good care of it. I
slowly began to realize the value in
being able to do your own repair and
maintenance work.

In this day and age, it seems that
more and more, we are willing to
hire others for work that we feel we
are unable to do ourselves. Now I am
not suggesting trying to be your own
dentist or doctor, but give some things
a shot. Throughout my life, I can’t

remember a time when my father has
hired help or taken our vehicles to the
garage. It seems that there is nothing
he can’t do. No doubt, there have been
times when he wasn’t sure what he
was doing and cursed ever starting a
project. And, I am sure that he has lost
some hair and potentially some sleep
during projects in which he was in
over his head. However, he continues

to start new projects and slowly, I have

begun to realize that.being the “official
light holder” isn’t simply a mindless
task that needs to be done. It’s a front
row seat to a life lesson. Some of the

. best times spent with my dad have

been late nights in the garage and
early mornings in the basement.

He always manages to get the job
done. Sometimes, it probably could
have cost him less to hire someone
else to do it, but in general, I imagine
he has saved the family countless
dollars with his do-it-yourself repairs.
While some of the repairs may not be
professional grade, they always work
and the job is always done better the
second time if need be. Plus, I am
sure he’s always learning. Sometimes,
I wonder where he learned to do all
of this stuff. While much of it comes
from repair manuals and help of the
Home Depot, I imagine some of it
came from his days as an “official
light holder.”

In the end, a lot can be learned
from holding the light and in the
grand scheme of things, he was once
an “official light holder” too. So,
the next time something needs to be
done around the house, give it a shot,
or take a front row seat and hold the
light. While you may loose some hair,
the lessons and life experiences you
gain will be priceless.

 

 

Baro

Getting lost? No one does it thanks to GPS

      

Trevor Doré

opinions editor
ummer is a time for road trips
reminiscent of the family
vacations of yesteryears. As

a kid, every year my family would

pack up what seemed like all of our

belongings, pile into the family van

and set out on a two-week family

vacation. A lot of the time we would .

go to the traditional spots but on
occasion, we would set out in a
direction from which we had never
been. With dad at the wheel and
mom shouting out directions, my
sister and I were along for the ride.
We always had the map out. It was
interesting to see where we were
headed, how far we had travelled
and where we were in relation to

   

GPS technology, there is no more
questioning. As soon as you have the
slightest inkling that you’re lost or
not sure where you are, strike up the
GPS and it all becomes clear. There
is no more meandering, exploring,
and walking around in circles. No
more stopping to ask for directions.
Many preach the wonders of
GPS, and don’t get me wrong, it has
pulled me through a couple times
and I am not talking about being
lost in the woods, I am talking about

While being lost would create a little tension, it wasn’t always a
bad thing. Sometimes, when we were off the path that we had set
out on, we would come across an amazing little store or end up
taking a scenic route that we otherwise would not have known
existed. Getting lost was simply a part of the experience.

other famous locations.
Occasionally, we would get
lost. We’d end up driving around in
a circle or missing a turn. It didn’t
happen very often, but occasionally
we had to stop to ask for directions.
While being lost would create a
little tension, it wasn’t always a bad
thing. Sometimes, when we were
off the path that we had set out on,
we would come across an amazing
little store or end up taking a scenic
route that we otherwise would not
have known existed. Getting lost
was simply a part of the experience.
It added to memories and usually
made for a good story. I haven’t been
on a road trip in a couple of years;
however, I have decided to set out on
one this year. Because I haven’t been
on a road trip in a while, I have not
had the experience of using GPS.
Originally designed for
defence and military departments,
it seems that GPS systems come
standard in just about every new
vehicle. With the invention of GPS
technology, it has and will become
almost impossible to get lost. With

being lost in Downtown Vancouver.
While it is nice to be able to find
your final destination, get there in
record time, do what you came to do
and leave, a part of me feels that by
no longer being able to get lost, we
are going to lose something. While
looking for something complete
different we stumble upon a gem.
Take Christopher Columbus for
example. Or, keep it simple and just
think about a time when you were
lost and found an amazing coffee
shop or restaurant. How about the
time that you tried a different path
while you were hiking that took you
to a lookout that you had no idea
about?

In the end, GPS may limit our
possibilities of getting lost, making it
possible to get to where it is that we
want to be with the least amount of
hassle. However, hopefully it doesn’t
completely prevent us from talking
a stroll of the beaten path where we
might discover some hidden gems.

I guess we could always choose to
turn it off or leave it at home and set
out in pursuit of adventure.

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