Trains

I hate how Australian transport is one big national joke. The other day I was at the city and was trying to get home. All of a sudden, the train stops at Stratty and they tell everyone to get off for track work. No forewarning. So we all got off and went to check the timetables for trains. No timetables. There was only one train leaving Stratty and that was to return to the city. So pretty much I had to trek back and forth for over two hours before I got home. No wonder everyone calls cityrail shittyrail.

Now you'd think that the government would be investing in measures to improve our public transport system. I wish. No, instead they're spending money on some machine that sits on top of the ticket barriers telling you when you can remove your ticket. Thank you. For the past few years, every time my ticket popped up, I've been standing in front of the barriers going no where because I didn't know when to remove my ticket. 

^ taken off google 

Obviously, investing in these "indicator screens", as some people are calling them, is a waste of money and is pretty useless. All this talk about Australia being a growing and ageing population means that developments need to be made to cater for these changes. Apart from service efficiency (for example in Hong Kong, trains come every 5 minutes), we need more carriages with more room so that more people can fit. If you've ever taken a train to the CBD during rush hour, you'd know that there is no such thing as personal space when you're literally squished like a pack of sardines in the train. This has got to be a safety hazard, especially if the train ever encounters a problem whilst underground. We also need to cater for the elderly. More and more people are growing old. While all the younger people can stand around and get knocked into each other as the train moves, the elderly folk probably need to sit. Not only that, we have to account for the jerks who don't give up their seats for those in need and like to take up 3 seats for 1 person.

Ok, so I don't want to fully dismiss the government's efforts. Them having to live in Canberra when parliament's in session is punishment enough. Kidding. The fact that they have track work means they're trying, and I applaud that. But they just seem to be going about it the wrong way. 

Heads up Miss Prime Minister. Elections are drawing closer. 

School Uniform

I'm a proud supporter of school uniforms, not because of school pride or because it prevents bullying and ostracism, but mainly because when it's 7:00 am, i really cannot be bothered to find something to wear. Wake up, get up, wash up, put on my uniform. I'm set for the day.

But this same situation keeps occurring. Teachers keep asking "where are your socks?", because apparently they are too short, but ahem, they reach my ankles. While it'd be easy to buy longer socks, i really don't want to simply because A) that costs money, and B) I'm not breaking any rules and i couldn't care less if i was. As disrespectful as this sounds, some times i'm extremely tempted to answer them "OMG you're right sir. Where have my socks gone. Must be magic."  and just walk off. 

So here are some reason for why i dislike school uniforms:

1. The person who designed school uniforms probably lived very very close to the equator, because they seemed to forget that in a year, there are 4 seasons. I've been to four schools, and one of them decided that it'd be fun to have short sleeves in winter. While it may have looked fashionable or whatever, we all froze. And of course, the jumpers weren't all that thick either. Cotton. All cotton. Some schools are smart and have woolen jumpers, but while at this school, every winter i froze. Because of this, no one wore the school uniform. Random jumpers and trackies. So all in all, unless you met a year 7, outsiders probably didn't even know what our winter uniform looked like.

2. Uniform designers are fashion terrorists. I thought designers had some sort of fashion sense. But no, doesn't seem to case. And i think the people who get it the worst are girls. Let's point some out. Cheltenham Girls, oh how i feel sorry for you. Pink and maroon. Your colours couldn't get any worse. The sad thing is that blue is also a school colour, but instead of letting their uniforms be a nice shade of blue, they mock them by letting their socks be blue. Before they changed their winter uniform, it was maroon. And sorry to say, but it just looked liked dried blood. A big sea of dried blood. Yay beautiful. And then there's Sydney Girls. Brown all over. Even their shoes. That's the most depressing school colour as well. 

^ taken from the Northern Times. Mannequin kinda creeps me out. 

^ taken from Sydney Girls High School website. Drew in the smiley face (:

3. School uniforms introduce dumb rules. I understand that uniforms make the school look good if every one wears the same thing. But some things are just bordering ridiculous. Private schools even have hair length limits. But that's private school problems. You pay that much expecting to be made into gentlemen and ladies. But no, i'm talking public schools here. My biggest biggest wtf is... school socks. Who cares how long your socks are?! Why care?!! If a member of the public is offended and complains about someone having too short socks why would you care what they think any way? I mean they spend their time checking out people's feet and then complaining. Now I'm not bagging out schools or anything, but Hornsby Girls, no one looks at your feet!

^ taken from Hornsby Girls High School website

And for those who may or may not be wondering, "sox" is a real word ): It's ok. i was just as shocked. 

But like i said at the beginning. I wouldn't get rid of school uniforms. And i understand that schools have an image to uphold. I'm just saying, some times, uniforms are extremely impractical and a little ridiculous. And for the record, i'm not bagging out those schools. They're just examples. 

If you're confident, you can look good in anything. 

Racism

What do you of when you some one mentions a racist.The usual stereotype is some ignorant hick with a beer in his hand.  But we all know, racism exists every where. You don't have to look far to see it. Just check out your grandparents. I'm sure they'll have plenty of stories about how some race is untrustworthy, dirty players, another is dumb or something.

Let's face it. Racism is dumb. It stems from an irrational fear. And it's even dumber if you live in Australia. One of the top ten racist phrases include "go back to where you came from". Well, if you have any basic knowledge of Australian history, you'd know that the first white settlers were convicts who pretty much stole the land from the Australian aborigines. This applies to America with the American Indians and many other places. Because back then, it was all about conquering everything. That's why so many languages have gone missing. Because ages ago, conquers would eradicate entire clans, eliminating cultures, values, languages in the thought that they were superior and therefore these inferior beings and everything that came with them did not need to survive.

Skipping the history lesson, what I'm trying to say is, out of all people, Australians really have no right to be racist. Because in reality, unless you're an Australian Aborigine, you could technically "go back to where you came from."

Let's face it, in this globalised era, everything's everyone's. It's all about the human race now. You invent something, we'll take it and turn it into this. All this fear about immigrants taking jobs away. Jobs exist because of other nations. Who else is buying Australia's coal? Most immigrants don't even have high paying jobs because of language barriers. And in reality, those complaining don't want the immigrants jobs, they just want to complain for the sake of it. If i hired them and gave them a broom and washcloth most of them would probably chuck it right back at me.

Complaining is the easy way out. If you really want to see change, make something happen through actions.

Book Smart

So recently, there's been a post circulating around all the schools. Especially the selective schools. Why? Because some one (who's names I've figured out, hahahaha i feel quite stalkerish) has posted on facebook quite a controversial post. I'll let you decide for yourselves what you think.

Any way. Regardless of how rude the post may or may not be, I have to admit that it is true that the HSC is more based on memory than hard work and talent. Which is why, it isn't a accurate measure of how smart a person is.However, for you to be able to ace the exam after flickering through the textbook for 20 mins means you have talent and you worked hard. But it's unfair to say that people who are not in selective schools are not as smart as those in selective schools. Being smart isn't only measured by academics. what's the point of being smart if you can't relate to other people. Sure, you can hold a desk job where you don't have to speak with customers, but you still have coworkers.

Either way, good luck to all the HSC students this year. HSC isn't everything. You can be successful regardless of how well you did in a few exams.

Success is not enough, others must fail. That is such a horrible phrase. Nothing great can be achieved alone. Test me. Tell me something and I'll tell you why it can't be achieved alone.

Those who are privileged should be those who are the most humble. 

Younger Generations

Older generations always complain about the young generation. Your music is too loud. You dress too provocatively. While this may all be true, let's not forget, it's the older generation that raised the younger generation. It's the values of the baby boomers that got passed down to Gen Y. So really, how can you blame the younger generations for not turning out they way you wanted them to when really, you were a major influence?

I admit, seeing ten year olds dress in skimpy clothing makes me cringe. It's just sad to see that innocence be tainted so soon. But grossness aside, can we really blame them entirely? I mean yes, it was their choice to wake up and wear a short skirt that almost reveals their underwear, but who bought them that skirt? They're ten. Of course it was their parents.

But i don't blame the parents. No I don't. If my child nagged me for four weeks straight, i'd buy them a short skirt to shut them up too. No, i blame the media. Yes you, Hollywood. Every day the media feeds us warped notions of beauty that distort our perceptions of reality and true beauty. And despite the obvious negative effects (e.g. anorexia, bulimia, depression, bullying, and scary ten year olds dressing like they're hookers), we continue to consume this steady diet of advertisements, movies, and gossip magazines. But it is pretty hard to look away when the media pretty much shoves ideas in your face 24/7. If you check out the schools, it seems like five year olds are better at applying makeup than spelling it. After all, there's no such thing as Professor Barbie.

So really, there's no point telling off the younger generation. If stereotypes have taught me anything, it's that kids won't listen to you any way. So don't waste your spit. If you're really angry about how the younger generations have turned out, look to the older generations. Ask them, what have you done with true virtues and values? Look to the capitalists and ask, why have you turned us into a bunch of mannequins that get molded and shaped by your representations and definitions?

But not all hope is lost. The older generation has done a good job. I was on the bus today and it was extremely packed. It was early in morning and every one was still groggy from just waking up. We reached a stop in front of a retirement home and about 7 grannies got on. Almost instantly, 10 seated passengers at the front got up, and stood at the back. No complaints, they weren't even asked to move, they just did so out of the goodness of their hearts. I just watched the older generation pass down some good values.

Teach by doing, and if needed, use words.

Haters

N.B. This post is going to be ironically hypocritical.
Also, i get lazy, so you'll probably notice my grammar degenerating.

I hate how people hate haters. How some people comment on movies saying things like "you shouldn't be hating on this if you can't make anything better". It's not my job to make good movies. If this rule applied to everything, the world would be ruined. "Sorry, I couldn't save your son. But hey, don't be hating on me. It's not like you can do any better. You go learn medicine." If i pay for food and it sucks, im allowed to hate on it. I'm sorry im not nice Ned Flanders. But reality is, no matter what you do, there will always be people hating on you, and they have every right to. I mean if hating things was so bad, why do reviewers get paid so much? (Fun fact: food critics are one of the best rated jobs in the world).

Now i dont want this to be seen the wrong way. I agree, when you pay $15 at the cinema expecting to come out amazed and renewed after watching twilight, you're in for a bad time. And that's your own fault. But of course, everyone has to start somewhere. We cant all be prodigies who master techniques in a day. But because of this, you might as well let people provide constructive criticism. It's the only way any one can improve.

Public Servants

Just so you know, I appreciate Australia's workers, but how are we to develop without constructive criticism. So, yes, I know I will sound like a complete asshole complaining 24/7. But I'm just trying to help our country grow.

Now it's assumed that at some point in every one's lives, you begin to hate your job. Maybe it hasn't happened to you yet, maybe it never will. Well I wouldn't know. I'm a student. Either way, here's my rant.

I don't understand why people are so unfriendly when it comes to customer service. Your job is to work for me when I pay you. Yes, that sounds snobby, but that's the truth. When i hand you my cash, your services are temporarily mine. And i don't understand why you'd be upset by that. Lady, Sir, your job exists because people like me hand over our money. The least you could do is smile. If not that, at least show less attitude.

Today, my bus driver tore up my ticket and threw it at his windscreen. Unnecessary much? Only after his aggressive act did he proceed to explain that i had used up my travel ten. To be honest, i'm not sure that i did, but i guess we'll never know now. But let's say i was wrong. I'm only a tiny bit sorry since it was an accident, but this doesn't mean it's okay to treat me with attitude from then on. Death glares, i can handle, annoyed tone of voice, fine, but making me pay the incorrect fare and then driving off before i can even comment. No way jose!

I'm not cheap. I'm just poor.

But of course, not all bus drivers are like this. To end on a lighter note, i once had an amazing train guard who treated the train like a roller coaster and spoke with an eccentric voice. "Ladies and gentlemen, please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicles at all times. Next stop..."

Simple things, they can make or break your day.