Don`t mess with these kids

Don`t mess with these kids a photo by Rob Hoey on Flickr.

In New York, where I used to live, they would use milk jugs as planters, and maybe an occasional beer can as an ashtray. But in Canada, it's the hockey stick that is used for things you'd think hockey sticks were not made to be used for. Take automotive repair--hockey sticks can be used to hold open the hood of the car, substitute for a chock for the tire (in Canada, they misspell it 'tyre,' which I know is misspelled because my Spell-Check tells me so), to keep the car from rolling when you jack it up using another hockey stick for the jack handle. But in the photo here of the "Tim Bits" or hockey kids who are sponsored by Tim Horton's Coffee, they use the hockey sticks as canes--to keep from falling as they skate. Now don't get me wrong, these kids probably skate better than me by a long shot, but in the game of hockey, where your opponents are trying to knock you onto your butt, the stick helps to keep your balance. And if you're just learning to skate, the stick is like a ski pole for a beginner and keeps you from falling. Next year I plan to buy a pair of used skates for the Rideau Canal and will most likely buy a hockey stick to pretend I'm practicing, when all along I'm just trying to stay alive, stayin' alive.