High-Riser

Thoughts on the world by a friend

By Sender Zen

So, the local socialist counselor – and a handful of residents – mostly in secret it seems until recently – have started to make waves – embarrassed the minister – sold us out to the Herald Sun. Reinforced those age old stereotypes.

Yes. We are all criminals and thugs and broken down losers with thousands of children and no hope or intelligence at all.

Give me a break!

Or have I already said that?

Haven’t we seen this before?

Isn’t this what ‘renewal’ was all about?

Why we had to endure all those long years of sledgehammers and angle grinders, levels of noise so percussive and painful it made life here physically traumatic for years.

We have the new flats and guards and magic doors and pretty lawns now.

Don’t we.

Isn’t it time to stop complaining about each other and just start trying to be nicer to each other?

If someone leaves his or her rubbish in the wrong place, spare the few seconds it takes to put it where it goes.

Takes a lot less time than standing up at special meetings and demanding evictions and yet more police.

Seems to me that poor people should never call the cops on each other. Has it escaped their attention that the jails are full of the poor? Has it excaped their notice that the police are never going to be on our side?

Why give them the excuse.

Talk to each other.

Ask questions.

Do it face-to-face.

Interact.

Mingle.

Stop this gutless sniping and endless calling of angry public meetings where only the cocky and the loud-mouthed and patently insane have the nerve to speak up.

I know because I’ve tried.

The first time I spoke at a meeting I dared to state publicly how much I loved living here – how lucky I feel – how this place saved my life – how lucky I feel to have anywhere at all and was promptly accused of being some dangerous liar.

If you don’t whinge, you aren’t wanted. Is this the law here now? AND how compared to the private rental market this place is paradise. Maintenance cleaning, it’s all bloody marvelous.

Try being homeless. Try being out there on your own.

Try and grow up and stop acting like privelleged children. Stop cracking tantrums and stop whining. Just stop.

Look around you.

See what we have made here. A genuinely peaceful, astonishing community, where every culture, race and age in the world are able to live in four long concrete boxes. Marvel at it. Feel proud of it. Love it.

Stop endlessly acting like all the rich that surround us on every side who, never forget, must be eyeing off all the land we have and making calculations on how much money they could make by subdividing, yuppifying.

We are lucky

And we have to protect it

Defend it

And we can start behaving like adults – and stop always running off to bleat and inform on each other.

We are free.

We are lucky.

We are housed

And we have homes.

Now…let’s start to make a community.

Please?

High Rise out.