Unemployment gets a boost

Revenge is sweet but instant gratification but is even better.  An abusive and aggressive truck driver almost knocked my colleague and I over today when he came hurtling out of my building’s underground garage.  When my colleague highlighted to the driver the driver’s obligation to stop when crossing a footpath (one of the busiest walkways in Sydney), the curt response started with an f and ended with an uck off.  He then threw it into 2nd gear and accellerated off.

Three things worked against this individual from the outset.  Firstly, there is no such thing as a quick getaway in the most congested city in Australia.  Secondly, the advantage of anonymity is promptly lost as soon as you step into a truck plastered with your employer’s name followed by a toll free number (revenge it seems can also be free).  Thirdly, it’s a shame when you lose your sense of accountability and it bites you on the ass.

By mid-afternoon I received a phone call from the General Manager of the driver’s firm to be informed that it was the driver’s third warning and as a result had been let go.

Do I feel guilty?  No.  You live by your choices.  Unemployment is currently at record lows.  If this clown can’t get a job in this environment then he probably shouldn’t.

The Party-san is over…

Partysan is a little known Sydney street mag. It’s readership consists of people trying to look busy while waiting for their coffee, wannabe clubbers and 2 year old boys.  The last because the mags are usually the only thing within the reach of a 2 year old in the cafes and clothes shops in and around Darlinghurst. 

While my little bloke’s interest faded beyond the front cover mine didn’t really kick in until the last page.  Everything in the middle was just purposeless fluff desperately trying to justify its existence.

On the last page however, an editorial (for want of a better name), that really didn’t have anything to do with what the rest of the mag was trying to say, started with the catchy line, “I knocked a cyclist off his bike this morning.  It was actually quite enjoyable – I’d recommend it to anyone as a means of relaxation….”.

Unfortunately for the magazine I had just taken up being being a born-again social crusader a bit shy on causes.  Being an avid peddler myself however, this was just the ticket.  After loading myself up to the eyeballs with argument it was time to ping the editor.

To the editor’s credit, the change of mind was remarkable.  Not entirely surprising when you highlight a preparedness to approach every advertiser, its distribution network, its printers, the police (the author did after all admit to a hit and run), Sydney City Council, lobbey groups such as Bicycle NSW and Bike Sydney as well as mentioning sedition laws in passing and Alan Jones’ recent guilty finding in court for inciting violence in relation to the Cronulla riots.

This will be my first retraction and apology in the print media…What crusade my little bloke comes up with next is anyone guess.  Maybe Amway…or Mel Gibson.

One for the road…

Remember the days when a poof was just a foot stool, when earning $100k a year could still pay off a house and when the customer was always right?  I can, and as a result I have become an activist of surprising persistence.  I haven’t pushed whales back into the water or started using crystals as a deoderant.  No, instead I have become an activist for accountability.

It’s a simple enough concept but all too seldom pursued.  Broadly speaking, we have become complacent with bad service or getting screwed, preferring instead to stick it too them by say not eating there again or not buying something from the shop that wronged us…  We’ll not anymore.  I’m bringing civilised confrontation back en vogue…

 Take the restaurant that tried to charge me for two bottles of wine when I only actually had one.   It was suggested that in an age of on-line restaurant reviews (Young Alfred’s) it might be worthwhile sacrificing a $56 bottle of red wine to keep the customer on-side and save face rather than boast about their apparently flawless systems.  Throw in the suggestion of a quick call to the Office of Fair Trading and the ATO (given the state of their poor internal reporting systems) and all of a sudden a bottle appeared.