This article explores the author's experience with the strict rules and regulations prevalent in Australia, contrasting it with the country's perceived image of being a land of rebels. From parking enforcement to crowd control at sporting events, the author highlights instances where Australians are met with an overzealous application of rules, leading to a sense of joylessness.
When a kindly-looking elderly woman asked if she could share my table at a cafe not so long ago, I happily shifted seats, moved my computer and gave her the lion’s share of the space. Then, after sitting down, she scolded me for using a laptop in a cafe. One of the surprises of coming to live here was the realisation that the story Australia tells itself about being a land of rule-breakers and anti-authoritarians is fallacious. Ned Kelly, and all that, is a myth.
Meek are most Australians in obeying a sometimes bewildering number of rules. Rigid are the authorities in applying them., which often becomes a game of cat and mouse with the squadron of council parking inspectors dispatched like SWAT teams to ensure harried parents park for only five minutes rather than six. Do they really need to levy such heavy fines? Do they need to show such an eagerness to enforce parking regulations? Do they need to hunt in packs? These public servants are only doing their jobs, of course. My beef is not with them. But are they truly serving the public? To those who learnt to drive in Britain or America, being ordered to park in the direction of the traffic flow is a novelty. Rear-to-curb parking is also unusually prescriptive. And don’t get me started on the cryptic parking signage and its messy hieroglyphics. Sometimes, it takes so long to decipher that it is already time to drive away. Even when Australians are supposed to be having fun, they are met with the long arm of the fun police. At my first Ashes series on Australian soil, I was shocked to see how fans bouncing weightless beach balls were met with such heavy-handed policing. Cameras were trained on the crowd with a rewind capability to identify miscreants who had started Mexican waves. Patrons were asked to remove their sunglasses before ordering a round of drinks to ensure they were not inebriated. There’s a rationale behind these rules and regulations, but also an overactive streak of joylessnes
AUSTRALIA RULES REGULATIONS JOY CULTURE PARKING SPORTS
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