44. Krispy Kreme

Hi, I am Greg and I want to grumble about a certain doughnut shop that has opened up on Port Road at Croydon.

Now for years when I have caught planes home I have been bemused to watch people rearranging the overhead luggage so that they could bring their box of Krispy Kremes back to the apparently deprived and doughnut-less frontier town Adelaide.

But now, amid much fanfare, we have our very own Krispy Kreme outlet!

Last Monday I was mildly amused to see people camping in the freezing cold to be the first to contribute to the global franchise’s $500m a year revenue. That was just bizarre (as was the knife-point doughnut theft later in the week), but what I want to grumble about was the number of people who thought it was fine to park in the bike lane outside the shop.

As I rode by on Thursday I counted 12 cars parked in the no-parking zone.

I’m sorry, it is not ok that I and other cyclists are put at risk by being forced out into the traffic lanes just so that they can get closer to the their sugar fix.

I don’t think you need to be a health fanatic to say that in peak hour traffic, my health and wellbeing should have a higher priority than their easy access to breakfast treats.

And ok, having got that Grumble out of my system, I will acknowledge that it is pretty trivial in a week where the Australian government abandoned any real policy to address climate change, madmen or zealots shot down a passenger plane at horrendous human cost, and in a disproportionate and bloody response to rocket attacks against it, Israel is bombing Gaza and continuing the cycle of war and hatred.

But what can I say about that. To paraphrase Gandhi, when I think of western civilisation, I think it would be a good idea.

But the issues here are just too big, too horrible and too disempowering.

I am Greg, and I despair.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 22 July 2014

16. Australian Wars

Hi. I am Greg and I want to mourn more than grumble today. Last week we celebrated Armistice Day, the end of the war to end wars. And we unveiled a memorial to Aboriginal soldiers who have fought for our country. Lest we forget.

But did we forget or fail to memorialise the Aboriginal soldiers who first fought for their country – against the European invasion? And what about the Australian militia that went to New Zealand to quell the Maori uprising in the 1860s, or the ten South Australian contingents who fought the Boers in South Africa and the Boxers in China at the turn of the last century.

After the war to end all wars, there were Australians in the British forces that fought on behalf of the aristocracy in the Russian Civil War, and a few brave volunteers who were the first to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War before the second world war swapped one dictator for another in Poland and ended in nuclear holocaust in the Pacific.

And after that Australians saw service in the Korean War and the Malayan emergency in the 1950s, and the Indonesian confrontation beginning in 1963. And then came the disaster in Vietnam and a generation’s respite before we went to defend a feudal regime in Kuwait against a dictator in Iraq – I’m sure it had nothing to do with the oil. Then there was the second Gulf War searching for non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and the invasion of Afghanistan which ended up being our longest official war.

And to finish this list, we must remember the Australian peace keepers in Africa, the Middle East, Timor Leste, the Solomon Islands and elsewhere.

Overall, a pretty mixed list – from heroic and necessary fights in defence of highest principles to cruel adventures for imperial self-interest.

I have no experience or even real comprehension of what those who fought these wars endured and make no judgement on them. But when it takes my whole 2 minutes to list the wars of our nation’s short history, I wonder at what point should our remembrance question the militarism of our heritage?

It’s not just about history, it’s also about culture and current priorities. Not just our foreign policy, but more locally, do we really want the second largest research organisation in the country to be dedicated to warfare, or our manufacturing base to be built on warships in the Port River? And is it ok to take over my local school with Maritime Courses to provide the kids of western suburbs a job in those industries? Perhaps it was forever thus for workers, but can we imagine a less militaristic future?

I hope so, but until then I am Greg, I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-16/

First Broadcast: 19 November 2013