Walkin' the Picket Line With Our Buddies at Canada Post

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. He's so old he remembers when you had to lick your own stamps!

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He doesn't have any teeth. He just drinks condensed owls' milk out of his bottle. He climbs way high on things and he can't get down. I say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" He makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I have to help him. He's a handful!

Know what? Our buddies at Canada Post can't go inside the building and work. That's too bad.

 I know what postal workers do. They work very hard. They have a very important job. The are the nice people who bring us letters and packages. They bring them right to our door!  I l-o-v-e letters and packages, don't you?


I share my Smarties and gummy worms with the nice Postal Lady who comes to our house. I think she's a princess, you know. I get mail, you know. I cards and presents on my birthday. They come by Canada Post.  My birthday is on July 1st, you know. That's the same day that O Canada has a birthday, too!

James says CUPW stands for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. It's a family. Chance and James and me are family. Our family is pretty small. There are 550 people in the CUPW family in Windsor. That's a lot of porridge to cook! They must have a really big kitchen table! Wow!

CUPW is on strike. I know what strike means. My teacher, Miss Jackie told us. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street.

Strike means nobody can go inside the Post Office. The door is locked.

Our buddies are in front of our Post Office. Our buddies are picketing. That means they carry signs and blow whistles. Sometimes good citizens have to walk the picket line until somebody will listen.

Know what? Chance and me can help! We're good citizens! We can help our friends and neighbours. We can help our buddies!  We can carry signs and blow whistles. That's a good idea! Then the big boss in Ottawa will hear them and they can go back to work! I hope it's soon. Canada Post is one of my favouritest places.

People drive past the Post Office and honk their car horns and wave. They give us thumbs up.

 Strike is what happens when the two sides stop talking. One side is the labour union and the other side is management. The big bosses sit down and talk to the workers. The workers have leaders. The leaders talk to the bosses.  When they agree and shake hands everyone can go inside and we can get letters and packages, again.

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Do good deeds! Help your friends and neighbours. Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to Canada Post and walk the picket line with us! We can help! Okay! Over and out!"

Canada Post

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Chance and me are hanging out at the Post Office. I know what the Post Office does. It's where we take letters and packages to send to our friends and buddies who live too far away from us. It is a nice way to keep in touch.

 We buy stamps and put them on our letters and packages so they are ready to go visit you!  If I had  stamps on me, I could come to your house, you know. A nice Postie would bring me to your door.   Stamps are fun to collect. They have pictures on them, like Queen Elizabeth and the Canada flag and polar bears, too!

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. 

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Keep in touch with your buddies and friends. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can write letters and take them to Canada Post! Okay! Over and out!"

Mardi Gras

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's old and forgetful, so I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? We're at the Post Office. It's a nice place. We come here to buy stamps so we can mail a package. A big 'ole truck will pick up our package and take it to your house! I could be a postie. I'm pretty good at licking stamps, you know.

When we get home we get to eat baked beans and chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup on top. That's because it's Mardi Gras today. We get to eat paczis (punch-keys), too! Paczis are yummy. They have jelly inside. We only get them once a year on Mardi Gras. Chance is too little to eat paczis so I will eat his for him. James says I'm being a pig. That's silly. I'm not a pig. I'm a bear cub. Growing bear cubs need to eat a lot of paczis!

Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs?" That's us! Charles and Chance! We're handsome bear cubs! He'll scoop us up in a big hug and tickle our ears and kiss our noses. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens! Eat paczis and pancakes today. Don't forget the maple syrup! Over and out!"

The Fountain

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. I look after him cuz he's forgetful and really old. He must be 20 'cuz he says he was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark.

Look up here! I climbed up  on the fountain. The fountain is in front of the Post Office in Olde Sandwich Towne. I l-o-v-e to climb. There's no water in the fountain this summer. That's too bad 'cuz I like to watch the water.

Know what? I can see everything from here. I can see the Canada flag.   If bear cubs had pockets I'd keep things in there. I would watch everybody and eat all the Smarties in my pocket. I would eat the red ones last. It's a rule.  Bear cubs don't have pockets. Maybe I will grow some when I'm older. I'm five, you know. My birthday is on  Canada Day. When I'm older I am sure I can climb even higher.

When I was a little cubby I couldn't climb very high.  James says I used to crawl on the floor and look for trouble. I don't know who trouble is. Okay. I gotta go. I gotta get me some gummy worms at Mac's Milk. Wait. I know. If you come with me, you can get some, too! This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, Be good citizens.  Bye for now!"