The weather here over the past few days has been grey and... soggy. Just awful. It cleared up this afternoon though, having taken all the nasty particles out of the air and leaving it smelling fresh and clean on our way to meet up with some friends at the Red Room- the uni bar.
Gam and I arrived 10 minutes before polls closed for the student union elections and were accosted by 3 different people from 'Thrive', 'Last Chance' and 'Jolt' as soon as we set foot on uni grounds. The parties change their names every bloody year, so it's hard to keep track of which one is affiliated with which political party, but we knew 'Jolt' is the Young Liberals. The only one who would admit to a political affiliation was Ms Last-Chance, who admitted to being an ALP member.
What was interesting was that when we asked the individuals from each party questions on their policies, 'Thrive' and 'Last Chance' both claimed to be preparing for what they saw as the inevitability of VSU. Ms Last-Chance said that one of their policies was to cut the salaries of various Union positions to save money. Something that probably should have been done a long time ago, yeah, but I like that.
Ms Jolt, however, said to us "Well, VSU hasn't come in yet" and proceeded to tell us how Jolt would force the businesses on campus to cut the price of a bottle of Coca Cola from $2.00 to $1.70. I'm the wrong person to talk to about cheap Coke, because I don't drink the stuff, but not only that- this chick is a member of the party who is forcing VSU upon us and yet she refused to say how her party were going to fund their policies under VSU.
Needless to say we both put Jolt last on our ballots.
I'd only been to the Red Room once- walk in, walk out. It was early when we got there, about 4pm, but it quickly filled up with campaigners after the polls closed. The place sells only 4 kinds of beer, none of them good, but the entire inside area is non-smoking. This was the first time in my life I've been able to sit in a bar, have a beer with friends and walk out not smelling of stale cigarette smoke. Damn it was good.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I am so, so looking forward to the time when people don't smoke anywhere there are other people, like bars and clubs and such.
We're fairly enlightened here in Canberra, and I really notice the difference when I go interstate to Sydney or Melbourne.
Sad thing is, as a result of so little exposure to cigarette smoke I am now hypersensitive to the smell of it. When I get in the lift at work after the smokers have come back from a cigarette break, it stinks! I get grumpy when I have to walk past a smoker OUTSIDE because I might have to breathe their smoke!
If only people were clever enough to simply NOT DO IT.
Yeah I get the hypersensitive thing too- often the smell of a smoker after they've had a cigarette is worse than the smell of the cigarette itself (though not as bad for you). Gag-inducing.
I'll be so glad when the full anti-smoking laws come into effect here in Queensland- right now it's 2/3 of the indoor area of a venue must be non-smoking (which is a load of rubbish because the smoke spreads through the air... the 2nd law of thermodynamics is obviously something politicians aren't familiar with). Besides that, with any smoking at all allowed, most venues just ignore tje 2/3 rule everywhere except right at the bar, so most clubs are just as smokey as they ever were.
I'm holding out for it to be banned in public too (though not holding my breath...)
Uni politics can be nasty. I remember when they bussed in the ag student so to make a vote to dissolve our union for elections before an audit could be done, in exchange for their receivin the snooker table I loved for their college.
It burns me good.
Yep. Go to any smoking club in Canberra and you may as well bag your clothes when you get home lest they pollute the house.
Post a Comment