SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT AND NEVER THOUGHT UPON

I don't think I have changed altogether over the last few years, but perhaps when I reached two decades old I became more observant, or more perceptive, or maybe just a bit less ignorant. Either way, I have a lot of beef with how the world is working right now and unfortunately, I've experienced first hand how the GENERAL population of Australia (GENERALLY) is incredibly prejudiced against different ethnicities, people with disabilities and mental health issues, women, and basically just anyone who's a bit ~different~. 

I was on the train on New Years' Eve at around 10.15pm with Lewis and Daniel, headed back towards Northcote to get our bikes. There were a whole lot of families on the train, but not so many that there weren't seats available throughout the carriage. We sat and were just laughing and talking and I was getting embarrassed for being too enthusiastic about a Yeezus discussion when there was a bit of a disturbance behind us.

hey man, i have tourettes! you know what that is? do you know what it's like living like i do? 

listen MATE, just tone it down in front of the kids, alright? there's no need to stare or frighten them

i wasn't doing anything! i have tourettes! 

i don't care i have kids

So this exchange was taking place between a man with his wife and two small children, and another man who was sitting across from them. This other man was quite young, and whether he had Tourettes or not is neither here nor there because he was clearly mentally unwell, whatever his diagnosis truly was, anyone with a brain could've made that observation themselves (let alone this particular family, but more on that later). 

So this exchange escalated from this initial dialogue, the older man, with a wife and children looking on, prodding and poking at the other man who was very obviously unwell, until the entire carriage was watching. What truly confuses me is what actually happened to spark this exchange in the first place, because not a peep was heard from that end of the carriage until the older man began berating the younger man, telling him to 'tone it down.' The man's wife leant awkwardly over her little daughter (who, along with her brother, was bearing witness to this entire debacle and their father's juvenile behaviour, how embarrassing for them) and pressed the security button on the side of the train wall, calling for 'assistance' to be sent to the carriage. Which was bewildering to me, because the only threats being thrown were from her own husband, not the other man she was 'reporting'. So now three raised voices are competing for space in a carriage now wrought with tension, and parents covering their children's ears while they silently shake their heads at the scene. Inter-dispersed between the hysterical and redundant argument that was going on between these three voices were the little voices of children confused (i bet he's drunk - a comment I heard from a little mouth that was particularly upsetting to me, because the small girl who said it didn't just pull it from nowhere, a mother or father or some other grown adult has taught this child that there are no sicknesses of the mind, only a body can fall ill, and any unusual behaviour is caused by substance abuse which is only for the stupid, weak and the poor), and the even MORE useless comments from adult bystanders such as i studied jujitsu for four years mate i could take him no problems - like really? Really? Is that helpful to this situation right now? I mean I understand that you're a man and it's very hard to continually have to establish your value and your worth solely though physical means and society's expectations on you are cruel and unattainable but are you really looking for that validation right now???

The whole thing ended with the young man sprinting down the train aisle as soon as he realised that authorities were being called (although none ever came thank goodness - a whole other issue however because what if an ACTUAL emergency was occurring and no-one answered the emergency button??? I digress...) and I think he got off at the next station? But I didn't properly see. And the entire carriage de-clenched, so pleased to be rid of such a smear on society...

As we rose to get off my cowardly plan was to simply glare at the man and wife as I passed them, too intimidated to actually speak my mind, but my Lewis - ever the righteous and courageous young man - tried to reason with them just before we left the train.

you know, he had tourettes, man. he couldn't help it.

it's uncomfortable for my kids.

yes, i understand that, but there's no need to bait him like that, it doesn't help anything. 

oh, and you would know would you mate?

yeah actually, i would know. 

well, good on you, then. 

Meanwhile, I plucked up the courage to appeal to his wife.

yes, it makes our kids very uncomfortable. 

i know, it's very difficult to explain to kids, but he was clearly unwell - 

i actually work with people like that, so i would know, actually.

And at that point, my resolve and my whole heart crumbled when I realised that if this woman, who was calling security on a sick man who was not physically harming anyone, and was only responding to the baiting, and biting, that her own husband was taunting him with, claims to actually WORK WITH DISABLED AND MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE...it boggles the mind, and makes me absolutely exhausted, and totally hopeless. 

And just tonight, I was blocked on Facebook from a old high schoolmate's profile because I called them out on a racist status that I found very offensive, and if had been read by a person of the ethnicity and religion that was being targeted in the post, I am sure they would have been extremely upset. That was literally 20 minutes ago, and my god, I am fuming. 

That New Year's Eve saga on the train really made something happen within me. I could be classed as mentally ill myself, and while I do worry about the stigma towards depression and anxiety that exists within our society (which is the stigma that I suppose is directly related to my own issues), I am much more concerned about the deep seated distrust, even dislike, even hatred, of people with moderate to severe mental health problems, and conditions such as Tourettes Syndrome. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - mental health is just as important as physical health. Even if you can't see a broken mind like you can see a broken arm, it doesn't make it any less real or terrifying or unhealthy or DANGEROUS. 

That doesn't even address the racist culture that runs dangerously underneath our ~~~~peacefully multicultural~~~~ society. It's everywhere and I want to vomit. 

Watch the above video, not for the ridiculousness that is the Sunrise morning show but for the apt commentary that the woman who filmed the racist attack on the bus makes regarding racism in Australia.

Happy fucking New Years, Australia. I hope that husband and wife had a wonderful evening with their children, who will no doubt grow up to be exactly like them.