I didn't see any hippies in Karoonda.
I've just returned home from the scene of a fatal motorcycle accident.
The SES were called there to set up some sort of marquee, for which purposes I am unaware.
Proceeding to the scene was an event -as this was a "Category A" call-out, we had lights and sirens going and were running red lights at intersections. When we arrived, there was a large object covered in a tarpaulin - with a trail of blood on the road suggesting what it might be.
On Friday night I had already attended a couple of minor jobs before news broke of a town near Murray Bridge that had been torn a new arsehole by gale force winds.
That SES units were called from all over metropolitan Adelaide was an indication of the scope of the task at hand.
When we arrived just after midnight it was difficult to see just how much damage had been done. The CFS headquarters in Karoonda had one of its sides blown out, but still served as the emergency response headquarters for all agencies.
My team was immediately dispatched to a house , which had four pine trees fallen on its roof. By the time they had been cut away at was 6:30 am.
We returned to the CFS headquarters in Karoonda, which was by now crawling with uniformed personnel.
Not a single one of them had dread-locks.
This weekend, hippies were cycling naked in Belgium, and blocking access to a military base in Queensland. As far as I'm aware, hippies in South Australia were totally unencumbered. The news report of the destruction in Karoonda didn't seem to prod any of them into action.
Something close to you.
Something you can do something about.
Something you don't have the luxury of planning six months in advance.
As it turns out there were only minor injuries, which was a matter of luck, with iron roofing sheets flying around and a matter of "Thank fuck" because both the hospital and the ambulance station were damaged. So most of the damage was property only, but should that matter?
I'm sure some beatniks could go on a rant about personal property not being that important or whatever, but that doesn't wash when we live in a day and age where even communists are house-broken.
As Karoonda is not a wealthy place, 60 percent of house holds were uninsured. People who can't even afford insurance are being lumbered with the lion's chare of a $2million (And rising) damage bill. Where's your chant now? Where's your banner? WHERE'S YOUR FUCKING LAPEL PIN?
I'm simultaneously furious at this scum and proud that I do something that actually helps people. I know that I'm in the right place and I know that I want to stay there.
The SES were called there to set up some sort of marquee, for which purposes I am unaware.
Proceeding to the scene was an event -as this was a "Category A" call-out, we had lights and sirens going and were running red lights at intersections. When we arrived, there was a large object covered in a tarpaulin - with a trail of blood on the road suggesting what it might be.
On Friday night I had already attended a couple of minor jobs before news broke of a town near Murray Bridge that had been torn a new arsehole by gale force winds.
That SES units were called from all over metropolitan Adelaide was an indication of the scope of the task at hand.
When we arrived just after midnight it was difficult to see just how much damage had been done. The CFS headquarters in Karoonda had one of its sides blown out, but still served as the emergency response headquarters for all agencies.
My team was immediately dispatched to a house , which had four pine trees fallen on its roof. By the time they had been cut away at was 6:30 am.
We returned to the CFS headquarters in Karoonda, which was by now crawling with uniformed personnel.
Not a single one of them had dread-locks.
This weekend, hippies were cycling naked in Belgium, and blocking access to a military base in Queensland. As far as I'm aware, hippies in South Australia were totally unencumbered. The news report of the destruction in Karoonda didn't seem to prod any of them into action.
Something close to you.
Something you can do something about.
Something you don't have the luxury of planning six months in advance.
As it turns out there were only minor injuries, which was a matter of luck, with iron roofing sheets flying around and a matter of "Thank fuck" because both the hospital and the ambulance station were damaged. So most of the damage was property only, but should that matter?
I'm sure some beatniks could go on a rant about personal property not being that important or whatever, but that doesn't wash when we live in a day and age where even communists are house-broken.
As Karoonda is not a wealthy place, 60 percent of house holds were uninsured. People who can't even afford insurance are being lumbered with the lion's chare of a $2million (And rising) damage bill. Where's your chant now? Where's your banner? WHERE'S YOUR FUCKING LAPEL PIN?
I'm simultaneously furious at this scum and proud that I do something that actually helps people. I know that I'm in the right place and I know that I want to stay there.
posted by Mr Schrempp @ 7:34 pm
6 Comments:
At 12:39 pm,
Mr Schrempp said…
I was also tempted to yell out "Hey AIESEC" to see how many change agents had managed to drag their sorry arse up there.
At 8:40 am,
Gilganixon said…
If you do that you'll get punched. At the very least, you'll be appearing to suffer from Tourette's syndrome.
Hippies and self-proclaimed change agents alike suffer from the same general diseases - rank hypocrisy and a tendency to take themselves entirely too seriously. when your mission is saving humanity, you don't have time to help out a couple of people who've just had their lives smashed. Of course, their abilities aren't commensurate with their vision (in the case of hippies, they're vile stoners, for "change agents" it's usually more to do with incompetence or having no intention of doing any good in the first place).
That being said, I sure as hell wasn't there, and neither were the general population of Adelaide. Since I can't account for my own motives (or lack thereof), I won't attempt to account for those of others (except change agents and hippies, of course).
Excellent post, in any case.
At 11:04 am,
Mr Schrempp said…
When your mission is something vague like "Peace and fulfilment of humankind's potential" it is quite easy to bullshit your way out of failing to achieve it (Or anything else for that matter).
A lot of people weren't up there for various reasons and this wasn't intended as some sort of self righteous "Look at me" proclaimation. Far from it actually as that is exactly what I take offence to with hippies and change agents.
One of the naked bicyclists had "Stop the G8" painted upon his chest.
He was referring to a summit that had famously cancelled $50 billion in 3rd world debt on the weekend.
At 3:07 pm,
Gilganixon said…
I wouldn't accuse you of self-righteousness. You only exercise self-righteousness where it's deserved, such as against hippies and change agents. That's just called "righteousness".
I'm a bit iffy abut cancelling third world debt, but if the G8 decided to do it they probably had their reasons. Perhaps the democratic and economic reforms they will enforce on those countries may in the long term do more good for their economies than the damage cancelling debts will - with luck it may help them avoiding getting into debt again, but if they can't make good this chance to get out of the hole, they're pretty much fucked if they want more cash later.
At 8:00 pm,
Mr Schrempp said…
Yeah, I'm a little luke-warm about cancelling third world debt for the reason that it amounts to a declaration of bankrupcy. It is however, what people who ride bicycles might like to see.
Any more cash delivered now will be entirely on the terms of the lenders, who will almost exclusively be governments as private financial institutions will now consider these countries a bad risk.
If these harsh terms require that the countries will have to limit their corruption to 70%, then it might be overall a good thing.
At 12:47 pm,
Gilganixon said…
Unfortunately the cause of the masive poverty in these third-world countries isn't always due to corruption and a lack of democratic decency. It may also have something to do with the way people sometimes like to establish nations on land hardly fit to farm dirt on. After the slave trade shut down, these nations had little to export to the developed world than exotic diseases and prestige that putting colonies in them used to bring. Now that colonies are old hat, they're stuck with the diseases and rotten, rotten poverty.
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