Jane Routley's Blog, page 8
January 17, 2015
Into the Pit?
An intellectually disabled man is bickering with his mother as they wait for the train.
“Take your coat off, you’re too hot,” she says.
He pouts. “No! Shut up!”
3 minutes before the train I turn and see him at the edge of the pit sitting down and putting his legs over the edge. Is he about to jump onto the tracks?
“No, no, no!” I scream and rush at him, panic jolting through my nerves. “Please stop!” I grab his hood, which comes off in my hands, and then his collar and hold on hard, shouting, “No No!”
He bursts into tears and rolls back on the platform.
Now I feel like a brute. He wails like a small child as I apologize and tell him I’m not mad as him. “Please don’t cry,” I beg in front of the whole crowded platform.
His mother comes over, picks him up and pats him. I tell her I’m sorry for making her son cry
“I was going to let him sit till the train comes and then get him up,” she said. “It works better that way. He’s always doing it. He never gets down on the tracks.”
I’m glad she knew what was going on. When I was in training, they warned us to mentally prepare ourselves in case we saw someone hit by a train someday. I honestly thought my turn had come.
As the train rolls in, I bring out some small gifts - a bottle of water and a zoo badge. I still feel like a complete heel.
His face is red and soggy from crying but he’s pleased with the badge and gulps down the water gratefully.
“There you WERE hot,” says his mother. “I told you to take your coat off.”
“No! Shut up,” he says.
“Take your coat off, you’re too hot,” she says.
He pouts. “No! Shut up!”
3 minutes before the train I turn and see him at the edge of the pit sitting down and putting his legs over the edge. Is he about to jump onto the tracks?
“No, no, no!” I scream and rush at him, panic jolting through my nerves. “Please stop!” I grab his hood, which comes off in my hands, and then his collar and hold on hard, shouting, “No No!”
He bursts into tears and rolls back on the platform.
Now I feel like a brute. He wails like a small child as I apologize and tell him I’m not mad as him. “Please don’t cry,” I beg in front of the whole crowded platform.
His mother comes over, picks him up and pats him. I tell her I’m sorry for making her son cry
“I was going to let him sit till the train comes and then get him up,” she said. “It works better that way. He’s always doing it. He never gets down on the tracks.”
I’m glad she knew what was going on. When I was in training, they warned us to mentally prepare ourselves in case we saw someone hit by a train someday. I honestly thought my turn had come.
As the train rolls in, I bring out some small gifts - a bottle of water and a zoo badge. I still feel like a complete heel.
His face is red and soggy from crying but he’s pleased with the badge and gulps down the water gratefully.
“There you WERE hot,” says his mother. “I told you to take your coat off.”
“No! Shut up,” he says.
January 13, 2015
Lemon Scented Gums
I have the best work place.
“What’s that lovely smell? It’s so fresh and lemony,” asked a Malaysian tourist yesterday as we watched the rain sheeting down outside the waiting room. Truly I love standing under our big tin verandah and watching rain falling grey over the khaki coloured native trees in the park - especially if it’s warm rain. The birds chortle with delight and the trees … Ah! Bliss.
“It’s the lemon scented gum trees,” I tell the impressed lady. “They let out a scent when it rains.”
There was the dark nutty undertone of wet wattle tree too. Australian vegetation is gloriously smelly.
I do wish that I could get maintenance to fix my gutters though. The roof overflows over the electrical box which is fortunately well sealed, the air conditioner, which I turn off as a precaution and me as I enter the office. All the more reason to stay outside and enjoy the rain.
“What’s that lovely smell? It’s so fresh and lemony,” asked a Malaysian tourist yesterday as we watched the rain sheeting down outside the waiting room. Truly I love standing under our big tin verandah and watching rain falling grey over the khaki coloured native trees in the park - especially if it’s warm rain. The birds chortle with delight and the trees … Ah! Bliss.
“It’s the lemon scented gum trees,” I tell the impressed lady. “They let out a scent when it rains.”
There was the dark nutty undertone of wet wattle tree too. Australian vegetation is gloriously smelly.
I do wish that I could get maintenance to fix my gutters though. The roof overflows over the electrical box which is fortunately well sealed, the air conditioner, which I turn off as a precaution and me as I enter the office. All the more reason to stay outside and enjoy the rain.
December 25, 2014
Its all go at the Junction
Monday - The Medic found two little kids, 12 and 9, running barefoot round the station and discovered they’d run away from foster care the night before. Since the older child was mentally handicapped it was the younger who was the brains behind this scheme.
He persuaded them to come into the station for muffins and trainspotting till the police and Child Services arrived.
Tuesday – A man was yelling racial abuse at a lady in a headscarf (this was the day after the Sydney Siege.) Other customers stood up for her and the police arrived and took him aside for stern talking-to. One of the few good things to come out of this horrible event is the “#I’ll ride with you movement, which makes me kinda proud.
Wednesday – I drew the short straw and got the job of cleaning vomit out of the sink in the women’s toilets. This is a matter of pouring water into the sink and then massaging the contents with a toilet brush till it all goes down the plug hole. A customer poked her head in the door while I was doing this and we had a ruefully humorous conversation about the nastiness of it all. When I emerged from the toilets feeling as if I’d never be clean again, I discovered that she had paid for the kiosk to make me a coffee as a reward for the task. Bless her! The coffee went down a treat.
Thursday – Technology failure!!!!! All the screens went blank and I was forced to rely on the paper timetables in order to give train information. (OMG! Quelle Horror!) With the help of the people in the control room and the fact that the trains ran pretty much to schedule, we muddled through bravely for an hour and a half until the screens came back and we were able to rejoin the modern world again.
Friday - I’m went in early for Christmas morning tea and an exchange of Kris Kringles. This year I drew one of the bosses and bought him a sauce gun – a plastic gun-shaped tomato sauce bottle. I figured this was the perfect gift for a man who is soon to have 5 children under 10 and look forward to seeing pictures of the resulting mayhem.
And then I manned the barriers (sounds very Les Miserables, doesn’t it?) Mayhem occurred when a group of kids on bicycles invaded the station, riding and doing wheelies on the concourse and platforms and flipping us the bird when we asked (with increasing ferocity) that they stop. But Age and Cunning will always win over Youth and Beauty. One of them was unwise enough to leave his bike unguarded while he went to the toilet. I yielded to a bad impulse, put the bike in the lift and pressed it to go down to the platform. Then I locked myself in the office and made him beg me to tell him where it was. Satisfying but I suspect ultimately it’s unwise to up the ante like that.
He persuaded them to come into the station for muffins and trainspotting till the police and Child Services arrived.
Tuesday – A man was yelling racial abuse at a lady in a headscarf (this was the day after the Sydney Siege.) Other customers stood up for her and the police arrived and took him aside for stern talking-to. One of the few good things to come out of this horrible event is the “#I’ll ride with you movement, which makes me kinda proud.
Wednesday – I drew the short straw and got the job of cleaning vomit out of the sink in the women’s toilets. This is a matter of pouring water into the sink and then massaging the contents with a toilet brush till it all goes down the plug hole. A customer poked her head in the door while I was doing this and we had a ruefully humorous conversation about the nastiness of it all. When I emerged from the toilets feeling as if I’d never be clean again, I discovered that she had paid for the kiosk to make me a coffee as a reward for the task. Bless her! The coffee went down a treat.
Thursday – Technology failure!!!!! All the screens went blank and I was forced to rely on the paper timetables in order to give train information. (OMG! Quelle Horror!) With the help of the people in the control room and the fact that the trains ran pretty much to schedule, we muddled through bravely for an hour and a half until the screens came back and we were able to rejoin the modern world again.
Friday - I’m went in early for Christmas morning tea and an exchange of Kris Kringles. This year I drew one of the bosses and bought him a sauce gun – a plastic gun-shaped tomato sauce bottle. I figured this was the perfect gift for a man who is soon to have 5 children under 10 and look forward to seeing pictures of the resulting mayhem.
And then I manned the barriers (sounds very Les Miserables, doesn’t it?) Mayhem occurred when a group of kids on bicycles invaded the station, riding and doing wheelies on the concourse and platforms and flipping us the bird when we asked (with increasing ferocity) that they stop. But Age and Cunning will always win over Youth and Beauty. One of them was unwise enough to leave his bike unguarded while he went to the toilet. I yielded to a bad impulse, put the bike in the lift and pressed it to go down to the platform. Then I locked myself in the office and made him beg me to tell him where it was. Satisfying but I suspect ultimately it’s unwise to up the ante like that.
United Colours of Metro
The united colours of Metro
Passengers waiting for the 2.40 one Friday: a regular who is a DVD pirate (an older man who used to own a video library before Net Flicks put him out of business and pirating is his revenge) is on his way with his bicycle to play Bingo, two hipster girls in black having a little snuggle together, and, best of all, one of the regular English as a second language classes. One tall (and very talented) African guy is dancing with an Indian guy (bollywood meets the zulus) while the rest of the class clap and make whistling noises. The Railways - where different cultures meet.
Passengers waiting for the 2.40 one Friday: a regular who is a DVD pirate (an older man who used to own a video library before Net Flicks put him out of business and pirating is his revenge) is on his way with his bicycle to play Bingo, two hipster girls in black having a little snuggle together, and, best of all, one of the regular English as a second language classes. One tall (and very talented) African guy is dancing with an Indian guy (bollywood meets the zulus) while the rest of the class clap and make whistling noises. The Railways - where different cultures meet.
December 8, 2014
Sundays at the station
Sunday - the thought of all that lovely overtime money comforts me as I stand by the barriers on my rubber mat (makes your knees ache less at the end of the day) in the chilly wind and hope someone is going to ask me a question before my brain explodes from boredom. Fortunately last weekend Stereosonic was on at the Showgrounds and droves of people streamed up the escalators to catch the special train on plat 6 giving me a chance to catch up on young folks fashion. Coloured hair seems to be all the rage this year but the dark haired girl with the tight yellow leggings and fake breasts in the leopardskin bra top seemed to be making an original statement of her own. They all had to go to the toilets. Since several of them seemed to go in at a time leaving a distinctly alcoholic smell behind them, I concluded they were not just using them in the traditional way. We ran out of toilet paper and didn’t have the key to change it and since I could hear the young folks telling each other to take some extra loo-paper to use later, I figured putting a loose roll in wasn’t going to last long. So in the interests of everyone getting an equal share, I doled out bits to the toilet goers. After five years of study at Victoria’s best universities, it has come to this. I am a glorified toilet attendant.
November 28, 2014
The Iceman Cometh
While working in the booking office at the junction, I met this week’s Customer of the Week. A vague cheerful heavyset man, he stood at the window searching though his wallet.
He’d lost something valuable, he told us.
My friendly workmate pointed out his credit card was sticking out of his shopping bag – a bag that also contained nappies.
“It’s not that,” he said, though he was glad to have it found.
“Have you lost your Myki train pass?” she asked
He kept on searching.
“No. Something much more valuable.”
“Then it must be drugs,” joked my workmate.
Funny how when making a risky joke, you sometimes get the right answer without meaning to. A moment later the man had pulled a little packet of Ice Crystals and was showing it to us with all the nonchalance of a man showing a new sim card. Apparently he should have had two packets and could only find one.
“That’s 800 dollars gone,” he said.
So there we were examining this tiny packet of highly illegal substance.
“It looks like shards of glass,” said my co-worker politely. Hard to know the etiquette of such moments, but politeness seemed the best policy at that point.
“Yes, it’s very pure,” he said. “I’ll cut it. Perhaps I left the other packet where I was before. I’ll go and look.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” I said
Always good to make helpful noises when unsure of etiquette.
Tucking the packet back in his wallet he moved away from the counter before turning back to correct any possible misconceptions.
“Not that I use it you understand. This is just business.”
Apparently that was supposed to be better.
I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe this station story. We aren’t sure we believe it either.
He’d lost something valuable, he told us.
My friendly workmate pointed out his credit card was sticking out of his shopping bag – a bag that also contained nappies.
“It’s not that,” he said, though he was glad to have it found.
“Have you lost your Myki train pass?” she asked
He kept on searching.
“No. Something much more valuable.”
“Then it must be drugs,” joked my workmate.
Funny how when making a risky joke, you sometimes get the right answer without meaning to. A moment later the man had pulled a little packet of Ice Crystals and was showing it to us with all the nonchalance of a man showing a new sim card. Apparently he should have had two packets and could only find one.
“That’s 800 dollars gone,” he said.
So there we were examining this tiny packet of highly illegal substance.
“It looks like shards of glass,” said my co-worker politely. Hard to know the etiquette of such moments, but politeness seemed the best policy at that point.
“Yes, it’s very pure,” he said. “I’ll cut it. Perhaps I left the other packet where I was before. I’ll go and look.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” I said
Always good to make helpful noises when unsure of etiquette.
Tucking the packet back in his wallet he moved away from the counter before turning back to correct any possible misconceptions.
“Not that I use it you understand. This is just business.”
Apparently that was supposed to be better.
I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe this station story. We aren’t sure we believe it either.
October 29, 2014
Thank God for the Salvos
Metro and the Salvos have a project going on where bands of youth workers rove the trains and stations, talking to young people and heading off potential graffiti etc. I know this because they’ve started to come to the station when out Flexible Learners come in from their school. They hand out lollipops and chat to kids and try to entice them into their Employment and drug counselling programs. Things have been pretty toxic with the FL’s these last few months. There’s been verbal abuse, racial vilification and one incident of breaking into a car and fighting with police that lead to kids being arrested. Individually they seem like nice enough kids, but it’s hard to take the long view that these are troubled kids for who need to be patiently enticed away from behavior that will lead to jail in later life when you’ve had them telling you that you’re a F***ing M*** and I know where you live. But having the Salvos there does seem to help keep a lid on things. And they had out lollipops to the rest of us too.
Not sure where this comes in the not taking candy from strangers advice my mother gave me, though
Not sure where this comes in the not taking candy from strangers advice my mother gave me, though
AusRomComToday
Just did a Author article for that excellent on-line Romance Readers/writers magazine AusRomComToday
http://ausromtoday.com/2014/10/29/at-...
http://ausromtoday.com/2014/10/29/at-...
October 18, 2014
Great Review
Jane Routley – Mage Heart
I’m very excited to have received a great book review at the On-Line Book Club at http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/view...
I’m very excited to have received a great book review at the On-Line Book Club at http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/view...
October 15, 2014
Golf Cart versus Train
A titanic struggle took place at my station last weekend though it wasn’t quite on the level of Godzilla and Mothra. Some golfers got stuck on the tracks while driving a golf cart over the pedestrian crossing. They wisely jumped off as the train approached (you’d be amazed at how many people think a train can stop in time) abandoning the poor little cart on the tracks all alone. The golf cart put up a good fight. It took a couple of hours to get it out from under the train. I was working at the junction and spent the morning directing disappointed zoo going families to alternative transport. But on Monday looking at the cart’s poor little carcass sitting by the gates, shattered screen, broken axle and missing wheels it was easy to see who won the match. I wonder what the Golf Club said to the golfers.
