On the day of celebrating the legacy of the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King,
This year, I spent Christmas back in the US but saw the new year turn here in Australia. An interesting experience not just because of the time difference (a full 16 hours ahead of the east coast of the US) but also because it's summertime here in the southern hemisphere. Meaning New Year's Eve celebrations are typically held either outdoors having a late barbecue or on a beach. Or better yet outdoor watching fireworks without a scarf, gloves and mittens but in shorts and sandals.
Like holiday movies. It was interesting to discover the low number of Australians who've seen the holiday movies that we hold dear in the US. And I'm not talking about modern classics like "Scrooged" starring Bill Murray, but even "A Miracle on 34th Street" starring Maureen O'Hara and a young Natalie Wood. That is, until I realized that unlike the US where it's cold so we're indoors doing things like being curled up watching a movie while it's cold outside, here they're at the beach boogie boarding and throwing lamb kabobs on the barbie.
While flipping through television channels the other day, Butters observed mildly that the sports talk program the tuner rested on momentarily sure was gossipy. I couldn't agree more.
In fact, it led me to look at just how a sports talk program like ESPN SportsCenter is little different than The View as both sit around discussing topics of interest to them with little regard for what's really happening in the world outside. "Yet for all that," I can hear you say, "one is talking sports and the other fluff so they aren't really the same." Well, observe the chart below:
Maybe men and women are from the same planet after all.
At the office, I always kept something sitting on my desk: an EASY button. We Americans all know those as they're offered by Staples office supplies in the US; a store and ad campaign unknown in Australia. Pressing the bright red button with easy spelled out in bold white letters rewarded you with a cheerful voice blurting "That was easy!" Needless to say, the easy button was very popular around the office where - because it's an open plan office - folks I knew, and didn't know, would just walk by and press it, laughing and shaking their heads.
I mentioned it to a friend of mine, an re-pat ex-pat in another city here in Australia. He has a young school-age daughter who was born in the US and is learning to live here now. He related to me how his daughter came to him one day and in all seriousness asked, "Daddy? Why do kids here steal so much?" Surprised, he asked what she meant. "Well," she said,"when we go outside we have to wear hats and kids take anyone's so they can go out." Pronouncing, "That's not right to take something that belongs to someone else."
Winding down my window, he stepped up to my car door holding a small black box-like affair sporting a white tube.
I knew I was successful this time because the breathalyzer unit responded with a rather smug beep. A quick look at the unit by the officer and I was waved on my way with a curt "Thanks!"
Well here I am "celebrating" the US holiday of Thanksgiving in Australia again. And again it's a non-Thanksgiving for me. An anti-turkey day. A turkey-bar, to misuse a math phrase for the negative.
"I have no idea why I get messages from this guy telling he's going to be out of the office", a co-worker, Mobby, complained. "I mean, I have never sent this guy a message and he never sends me anything - except when he's going to be out of the office!"
