Good Samaritans to the rescue
Dear Editor,
Last Monday morning, we were driving to Edmonton and were several kilometres east of Hinton on Highway 16 when the right rear tire disintegrated which forced us to the shoulder of the road. We immediately contacted AMA and were informed that assistance would arrive in about 45 minutes.
We set out a danger alert triangle; and I was in the process of trying to remove the spare tire from the trunk, when a large light delivery truck passed us, crossed over to the westbound lane and returned to park behind our stalled vehicle. We thought that was great service by AMA; but out of the truck came a young man from Hinton who noticed that we might need assistance and immediately returned to offer his services. He took charge of the situation and was in the process of changing the tire when another large light delivery truck pulled off the road behind the two vehicles. The driver of the second vehicle was the father of the young man who first stopped; and the two of then wrestled the destroyed tire from the rim, installed the spare and put everything back in order. Of course we cancelled the AMA distress call, and offered to pay our saviours for their act of kindness, but they insisted that what they had done was nothing. They simply sent us on our way with the recommendation that we return to Hinton for some tire replacements-—which we did.
This wonderful, generous act of kindness and concern will long be treasured, as we will fondly remember the two Good Samaritans who came to our assistance. They were Carl Day and his father Larry. We will forever be grateful to these two thoughtful and generous men from Hinton. Our sincere thanks to a couple of great role models from a couple of seniors who were truly in distress.
Bob Dowling
Jasper, Alta.
Stop ‘squandering our natural capital’
Dear Editor,
I drove from Calgary to Jasper for the first time in quite a few years June 12. Of course, I heard about the Glacier Skywalk through social media because I maintain ties with old friends here.
I must admit that I didn’t quite grasp the exact location of the project until I drove by it. My first thought was, “Are you kidding me?” If you’re going to see bighorn sheep in Jasper National Park, it will be on that slope.
“My second thought was, “Holy Dina! That’s going to cause traffic backups usually only occurring in nightmares come July and August.”
I cannot believe anyone of sound mind thought that was a good idea. The comments in the June 13 article, “Skywalk a heritage site threat,” by Greg Fenton echo comments I hear all the time as I work in environmental conservation in southern Alberta. We often discuss how to get through the mentality that refuses to admit environmental degradation is a cumulative effect.
It is very sad for me to think that the attitude exists in our national parks. I’ve travelled enough of the world to know that our natural areas are what make Canada great. If you could see the way people’s eyes light up with wonder and longing when you tell them you’re Canadian, you might reconsider squandering our natural capital.
I say, “Stop it. Just stop it.”
Claudette Lacombe
Calgary, Alberta
Small town criminals can mean big time loss
Dear Editor,
On Feb. 20, a number of stores in town were hit by credit card scam artists. While in Lucia’s Gems and Gifts, a couple picked out jewelry with little to no apparent concern for the price of the items (which totaled about $2,500). This gave the salesperson an inkling that something was off about the transaction. While attempting to put in her pin, the customer said she couldn’t remember it and asked her partner for another card that she attempted to swipe. The salesperson would not accept this transaction (as it was not verified by chip) and said she wanted to call Visa and have the amount reversed. She than called Visa while the couple was in the store and they left stating they had no time to wait. She then saw the same couple walking past her store with Moroccan Oil bags and alerted us at Wild Orchid.
In Wild Orchid, the same woman picked out $400 of Moroccan Oil products, again with little to no attention to price. From the moment she was in the store, she was rushing the salesperson stating “the train is leaving, the train is leaving!” over and over again. Wanting to keep the sale and obviously give good customer service, the salesperson proceeded with the transaction as fast as possible so that she could catch her train.
Directly after processing the transaction, Wild Orchid received a phone call from Lucia’s and the salesperson went back through her receipts discovering that the woman had indeed taken her chip card out of the reader and swiped it. She did it incredibly quickly, ripping off both copies of the receipt from the Moneris machine (customer and merchant) and handed the salesperson the customer copy, then literally ran out of the store. Though the transaction appeared to be have been approved, with no verifying signature on the credit card receipt, the transaction is not valid.
Local RCMP were notified and diligently followed up by getting a description of the culprits and searching the town for them. As a business, we were notified some months later by Moneris, the company that processes our credit and debit card transactions, that the credit card used was indeed fraudulent.
As small business owners in a small town, we felt that this information should be shared in an effort to stop these types of scams from happening to the honest business owners of Jasper. It is easy to get comfortable and trust those that we know and see in our everyday lives, but we cannot forget that not all people are honest, and not all can be so openly trusted. The more aware you are of scamming practices, the better prepared you and your colleagues will be.
Nadia Helmy
Jasper, Alta.
Glacier Skywalk nightmare
Dear Editor,
I had a nightmare that I thought I would share.
Hi, my name is Leroy, I’d like to show you around our new Glacier Skywalk.
Hi, my name is Jack, I’m from Jasper and these are my friends from Edmonton. They have never had a chance to walk on a glacier before, so I thought I would bring them down her for the experience.
Leroy: Well, unfortunately there is no glacier here for them to walk on.
Jack: Really, I thought that was why it was called a glacier skywalk. So where is the glacier?
Leroy: The closest one is about four km away. If you look down the valley, you can just see it behind that mountain.
Jack: So what is there to walk on?
Leroy: Well we have this piece of glass sticking out of the side of the mountain you could walk on.
Jack: Why would I want to do that?
Leroy: Oh, lots of reasons. It will bring you closer to nature, allow you to experience the grandeur of the great outdoors and let’s you appreciate the wild, unspoiled majestic beauty of our national park.
Jack: All that from standing on a piece of glass?
Leroy: Of course and besides it’s cantilevered.
Jack: Canti-what?
Leroy: Levered.
Jack: Last time I was here there were some beautiful mountain goats with their kids, where can I see them now?
Leroy: Well unfortunately they have all left.
Jack: Why would they leave?
Leroy: We’re not sure, but we think it might be because of the diesel fumes coming from the buses we park here now.
Jack: That’s too bad. So what about bighorn sheep, there used to be quite a few of them around?
Leroy: Oh yes, we have lots of sheep here. If you just look along the side of the buses you can see them licking the sides of the buses. In fact you can see that some of them have got on their knees and have crawled right under the buses to eat.
Jack: What on earth would they be eating under a bus?
Leroy: Oh lots of things, road salt, spilled diesel, axle grease, brake fluid, antifreeze.
Jack: Doesn’t that hurt them?
Leroy: Oh no, our environmental assessment said that it provides all the essential vitamins and minerals they need for a healthy lifestyle.
Jack: You must be kidding.
Leroy: Oh no, we know it must be true because we spent a lot on money on that assessment.
Jack: I’ll bet you did. Don’t any of the sheep get run over when the buses start to move.
Leroy: Of course, but Parks Canada has said that it is well within the acceptable limits for road kill in this area.
Jack: That’s disgusting.
Leroy: Well, I have to go on break now, are there any more questions?
Jack: Just one. How do I get the hell out of here?
Leroy: Just follow the rumble strips, and remember to recommend us to all you friends.
Jack: (Sotto voice) Not too bloody likely!
Jack Templeton
Jasper, Alta.
