Yesterday I finished early while most of the other mango crew went to the packing shed to catch up on the processing. It was only 10AM, so I decided to go to the creek to cool down. Being such a hot day, I was expecting heaps of people, so it was a pleasant surprise to find the creek empty of people. I waded around knee deep for a bit – in the cool water surrounded by rainforest – before building up the courage to jump in.
It wasn’t long before I was joined by a couple of acquaintances from high school days long gone, now doing their apprenticeships. I hadn’t seen them for two years. At first it was Jack, ‘Mabu’, Reece and some other guy I didn’t know – I joined them in passing a football before starting a full-on two-a-side game of footy [ie, rugby] in the creek. Not the most proficient footballer myself, I appreciated playing in the water because these lads would have been ultra-gross dripping with sweat and radiating the unwashed-for-two-hours-in-North-Queensland scent, had we played on dry land. This matters when you’re required to essentially hug them as you attempt to bring them down. The whole tackling business was also easier given the water landing.
Later on we were joined by Jess and his mate Christian, bringing with them an esky [ice box] full of bundies [Bundaberg Rum]. A couple of the footballers retired for a cigarette. The last thing these people need is an addiction, I tell you. I had Matt the engineer’s wisdom in mind (talk like the person you talk to) as I attempted to produce conversation from people with only a basic grasp of English. Of course, they didn’t have much to say – except to confirm that one of their mates (also an old classmate of mine) would be getting married and simultaneously becoming a Jehova’s Witness, presumably in order to do so. It was a surprise for me because the young man in question has definately had his share of wild parties, informal substance experimentation (as opposed a formal method of experimentation depicted below) and the like. Maybe this conversion business will change him for the better, but I could never see myself converting – to anything – soley for the continued love of someone else. What do you think?
Experimentation (from XKCD)
I was disappointed, but not surprised at the very basic lack of capacity to reason or communicate in these young men. I enjoyed their company, and compared to others in the world this mob is actually going quite well. They’re in training for careers that will probably get them through life comfortably – I mean, it’s not like they’re drug addicts (although I dreamt a few weeks ago that one of them was), highly antisocial or mentally unstable. But I would consider them failures – not in themselves, but of the education they received, be it formally at school or from society in the ‘real world’. I believe that very few teachers they had (and I know who their teachers were) could connect and stimulate their minds at the crucial age. These blokes aren’t the brightest in the box, but they’re definitely a lot dimmer than they should be. I don’t wish to present a detailed analysis of education and its function in society, but the point is that these boys will be easily mislead. They’ve probably already developed inclinations to the redneck ideology, if you could imagine one ever existing.
And our government demands their opinion on who should lead us. I’m just glad that the choice is usually (but not always, given recent international events) between semi-intelligent, somewhat-qualified candidates. Sometimes I wonder if politicians rely on such people for a vote, and if that could explain why education often plays second (or third) fiddle.
Finally, dozens of four wheel drives filled with kids descended upon us, timed and executed like a military ambush. I could sense a bit of conflict and tension – probably because young children would not fare too well in a game of drunken creek football. Given that I’m allergic to kids (they make me sneeze and cough), I thought it was best to escape. So I did.
High school graduation was on Friday night. It’s been two years since I left school. Coincidently – almost as a cumulation of the things I’ve learnt since, I’ve found a book to read. I doubt I could have understood or appreciated much of it two years ago.
My latest read
It’s not light story about hungry caterpillars – I expect it to be quite demanding. Please note that I find people who always let on about how smart they are… irritating to say the least. That’s in general conversation, but as this blog is an anthology selected from my personal head space, I’d like to remind everyone that I can and will be as intellectual, rude, pollitically incorecct, coarse, inappropriate, silly or outrageous as I like. Also note the tagline.
It’s been consistently hot recently – that’s no good when you’re sweating away picking mangos in a paddock in the middle of the day. I’m sweating behind my knees and it’s 10 at night. I want to implant a water bottle beside my stomach so I can fill it with icy cold water and stay cool in the day (or hot water in the middle of a Melbourne winter). Think of it as reverse cycle centeral heating for the human body.
