Well , y’all I’m sitting here on my 4 th beer . I’ve just watched part of the Taylor Swift documentary and I’m now lucky enough to be watching a cheer leading documentary. Yep , entrenched. And the documentary is about a town in Texas . Couldn’t be more American . It’s a Saturday night , Tex is at Big Bear snow boarding , Leroy played baseball , it’s the last Saturday before daylight savings kicks in, that happens tomorrow. We are in the middle of the Democratic election process ,and yep it’s roped me in , sadly I admit it . I’ve been trying to stay off it , but politics is American culture . Ya know it’s just had me thinking ….. this place …………it’s a million miles from Melbourne .
It gets me to thinking about our trip and how I could compare those places to where we are in LA and to back home in Melbourne .. It’s real down there in New Orleans . Just a few kilometres out of the city centre and you’re in with the locals . There’s no Albert Park , South Yarra , Toorak , or a Mont Albert , Kensington ,Brighton or Sandringham. The ghetto is close and the ghetto is a lot realer and a lot bigger than anything we’ve ever known in Melbourne . Privileged, that’s what you feel ,embarrassed . The Uber driver who takes us out to ‘Parasite ‘( skate park )thinks she has rich Australians in her car . I’m uncomfortable with that perception, but in her shoes she’s entitled to think that . The locals out there look sideways , just briefly . Maybe it was my paranoia , maybe and probably they didn’t give a fuck who we were . They’ve got no idea who we are . No explaining about coming from lower class would talk your way out of a mugging out here . Fortunately it’s 11am and it’s quiet under the overpass ,only a couple of skaters and an Aussie family .Yep ,it’s a trip out . You don’t ever forget where you came from . There’s pride , there’s that chip on the shoulder ,but shit Howie ..have a look at this joint .Tanti Park is like a resort in comparison . Mate ,these kids would climb over broken glass to live in Noble Park , Broad Meadows , Doveton or a Pines . Don’t worry , this is the greatest country in the world , where else would you want to live ?
Texas , the most like Australia that I’ve seen so far . We pass by and never really enter suburbia like we briefly do in New Orleans . It’s flat , spread out and not something that appeals that much , but there’s middle class wealth , it’s growing and the cities (San Antonio and Austin ) we visited were pretty hip .There’s working Mum and dads in Toyotas , Fords and GMH driving back to there replica two story houses with pools in back yards . There’s garden supply stores , Home Depots, trade supplies ,pool shops ,retail and furniture shops , all there to help fit out your 25 square home with back and front yard . You actually need to mow your lawns out here ,and hey you can do it yourself .
For now kiddies , it looks like we’ll all have to bunker down for awhile and hopefully ride this health crisis out . Travel is gonna be on the downlow . Our upcoming trip to the East Coast looks very fragile , we might be up for a big loss , pandemic isn’t covered in most travel insurance . Shit ,might no be getting back to Aus for awhile . Stay healthy , you live in a good place with great health cover ………. for us , we don’t need any more health bills . Anyway , it ain’t too bad , I just had a 3 hour surf ….practically on my front door step .
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