It’s hard to think of anything to write here that hasn’t been said already. Should I perhaps suggest something that’s completely over the top? A little context first...
Living in Sydney for 12 years, I grew used to buses travelling in threes, heat slowing trains (when they were running at all) and dwell times on platforms little changed between red-rattler single-deckers and Tangara double-deck carriages.
After moving to Melbourne in 2007, I find our trains, trams, and (yes!) even buses to be comfortable, reliable and convenient for almost all of my travel needs. I don’t even have a driver’s licence and rarely feel the worse for my choice.
It vexes me that it’s so hard for passengers to move out of doorways on trains and trams; why drivers struggle with slowing beside a slowing tram and stopping beside a stopping tram; why it’s so hard to have your Metcard or myki ready BEFORE you need it, especially if you’ve been waiting for longer than a minute; why school students sit while adults stand; why men remain seated while women stand (call it sexism or chivalry, I don’t care); why the able-bodied will not give up their seats for the elderly, the infirm, or expecting mothers. The social good manners that I was raised with (not so long ago - I’m only 36 now!) seem to have gone out of fashion.
So, some over-the-top suggestions then? Let passengers who actually validate their tickets kick in the shins anyone who doesn’t. Fine parents whose students don’t validate their tickets or give up their seats to adults. Make the penalty for fare evasion compulsory donation of blood to the state’s blood banks. Maybe repeat offenders could donate bone marrow.
Stop whinging. This is me.
i don't know why i'm surprised. it's always been easier to curse the darkness than to light a candle.
as much as it might be entertaining for five minutes to have everyone who doesn't validate their ticket on the tram kicked in the shins by everyone who does, it's not the answer.
the problem is that people are selfish. they're selfish because they're sinful. they're sinful because they're born cut off from God. even after you turn away from a life without God and earnestly do your best to live a life worthy of the calling you have received, that brokenness still impacts your life. amongst many other things, it means i still want to kick people in the shins when i think their behaviour merits it.
if you're inclined, please pray for me in this regard. i will do my best to remember to thank you, when we meet in heaven.
