The Deep South

Out on a far edge of Melbourne's inner-city, Hipster neighborhood, sits a small pub. In my mind, I can still see it clearly. The all dark, time stained wood, dusty floors, worn high-stool seats and formica tables, with dozens of retro, antique cowboy boots snaking their way along the top shelf of the island bar. There's a pool table directly to the right as you walk in, dual Technics Decks in the left hand corner and a small dining room and kitchen out the back. The men's toilets are lined with a wallpaper that consists of black and white, sketched recreations of famous photographs of greats of The South like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, The King and others I can't seem to remember.

Of Sandwiches, Shakespeare and Salvation

The sandwich is back!

Yep, there's a proclamation. One must always proclaim at the beginning. William Shakespeare taught me that, with such epic opening to his little plays like:

"Well, now is the winter of our discontent...."

Awesome. Grab the audience with a bold statement, pull them closer with the intrigue of that which requires explanation, set the table for what is to follow and they are yours, for however long your literary skills allow you to hold them. All one has to do, is follow such an opening with a few hours worth of dialogue, throw in something like 'a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse' at the end, and you have something approaching the quality of Richard III. Easy as that, if you just start it off right.

Fodder

Previously, I have tried to ensure that my postings have not been targeted at anyone I know. They certainly have mentioned people I happen to come across and postulate upon others I may know a little more intimately, but they are 'about' them, rather than 'at' them. I speak only of my reactions to and lessons learned from interacting with certain people. This distinction is very important, for it provides me with the guilt-free freedom to broadcast stories and opinions on many of you who read this damn thing and not be later shaken off or up, by the numerous (and there are those, so don't think you are alone) emails that I receive with the most bizarre protestations of re clarification. (for the record - if you live in Darwin, then you are a Darwinite!)

Today, we break this barrier.

One Day

When banks first started coming out with ATMs, there was a certain reticence, on the public's behalf, against replacing their transactions involving human contact inside the bank, with an interaction with a hulking computer, stuck outside the front. People grow fond of tradition and get comfortable with systems of repetition. Change, even when the obvious and logical benefits of progression seem clear and self evident, can, sometimes, be hard to implement. So, in their wisdom, The Banks decided to make the use of all transactions on ATMs, free. The idea being, that there was already enough hindering a mass conversion to a system the banks hoped to, one day, save them millions upon millions of dollars in unpaid wages, that it would be counterproductive to encumber the public with another reason to avoid useage.

Their plan involved growing a comfortability and dependence upon, what would one day, become colloquially known as, 'the hole in the wall' and to eventually drip fees and charges into the process. This is exactly what happened. I remember, when Australian banks, unilaterally and quietly, went from 25 cents a transaction up to 50 cents, thinking that we had opened Pandora's Box and these charges could spiral out of control. Today, banks all over the world, reap billions of dollars in ATM transaction fees.

Simple plan and brilliant execution.