An email I sent to my friend Assumpta, currently in the UK. Pretty much sums up a lot of what has been going on.
Hey there,
Sorry I missed your call AGAIN. Sir and I need to get one of those calling cards and give you a buzz at some point. I was at a lecture on 'Does Australia need a cultural policy?' and Sir went home because her dad go made redundant today. But usually on Tuesday we are at the movies so you wouldn't have been able to contact us anyhow.
Some pretty strange stuff has been going down in the past couple of days. At the lecture they served tea, coffee and light refreshments. It was a smallish room and I was sitting at the back, nearest to the refreshment table. Anyway, as I was sipping my tea I realised that I had put sweetener in it instead of sugar and it was too sweet, so I wanted to put a bit more hot water in the cup. As I was waiting for the crowd to clear, so as not to disturb anyone on their first round, I saw the strangest thing - this man filled a glass up with milk (okay, okay, so it's not unusual to drink milk but the glass was for water and the milk was for tea and coffee, so he had essentially emptied the small jug) and then I saw his hand swiftly grab a handful of teabags and stuff them in his bag. He didn't know I'd seen him because I was watching the table from behind. Anyway, one of the admin ladies got suss and spoke to the MC who came over and suggested he take a seat because the lecture was about to start. Then the man started complaining that they didn't have instant coffee (presumably because he couldn't steal the sachets) and the MC diplomatically said that that was because they had a perfectly good urn of coffee...
So the man sits down. He's dressed pretty scruffily but I shouldn't talk because I was in Halloween gear (corset top under a spiderweb mini-dress and jeans). However, the lecture was for ALUMNI only, and all our names were checked off on a guest list at the door. So this guy has a degree, he's not just some bum off the street after free food, milk and tea. After the lecture (which was good) the guy is the first to put his hand up to ask a question. He rambles for five minutes about being a republican for 25 years, a bit of Howard-bashing etc and... there is no question. It was just a soapbox stance. WHAT IS WITH THESE PEOPLE??? Who steals teabags worth 80c and then gets on some kind of cultural policy high horse? I couldn't think of anything except "you stole Twinings from the refreshment table" and I think the MC had the same thought, by the look on his face as this guy was blathering on. Gosh!
It comes at a pretty weird time for me. I saw Michelle at another Alumni event last Friday. It was billed as a cocktail party so I got all worked up with regard to the dress code but it's Macquarie... v relaxed. The party ended up being a semi-launch for the Centre for Research on Social Inclusion so we left after the speeches and met Laurelea, who was running late, at a cafe and had dessert. Michelle dropped me at Chatswood Station where she told me that Erin got married in September. This I knew, but only from deduction and memory. But then a complete wave of bewilderment swept over me as I caught the train home.
Why wasn't I invited? I can accept not being invited but that leads to the next question: why didn't she just tell me she didn't want to invite me? It takes all of two minutes to type up an email that says "hey, I know we've been really good friends in the past but we've drifted apart these past few years and I just don't find room for you in my life any more". And I would understand. I would. I don't think I'd cry, either because I would recognise it as truth.
And then I got annoyed. The last time I saw Erin it was at Michelle's farewell party for her move to Canberra - January 2005. But not through want of trying. I invited her to two birthday parties, a farewell party, a welcome home party and made several attempts to arrange a catch-up, to which her constant refrain was always "I'm really busy at the moment...". I also sent her a postcard while I was overseas, bought her a small gift, which I ended up posting to her instead of handing it to her in person as I'd imagined, sent her a Christmas card, a birthday card and offered her a job at Red Apple. To never have her make the effort to say "no. stop, we're not friends" is almost obscene. Your thoughts, Ass?
On top of that, I also discovered that last Friday, when seven managers went to lunch to reward themselves for some feat of greatness, they racked up a $990 bill at The Loft. THAT'S obscene. But more straightforward. Though I'm angry because a friend of mine at work recently resigned because she was being paid $5K less (pro rata) than everyone else even though she did more work and more hours. When she asked for a pay rise to the same rate as everyone else was getting they said no and put her back "on probation".
WHY IS THE WORLD SO GODDAMN CONFUSING??? Please don't tell me I've infused the rule of logico bizarro into reality. Please, please.
Anyway, I am sorry that I missed your call. I will endeavour to buy a calling card and give you a buzz on my own initiative at some point in the near future, probably after i get rsi from nanowrimo and after i stuff my face full of chocolate on sunday. Keep well, my sweet.
Cheers,
Adeline
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