Darryl Australia looked out the front lounge room window of his double brick and tile,

middleclass suburban house. They were at it again. He looked up the street to the

opulent two storey house on the hill. There was movement there and as he watched,

from it came a group of his neighbour’s friends. The group swung out through the

gate and headed down the hill. They were aiming for a small house at the very end of

the street.

Darryl moved to the southern window and pulled the curtain away. Already there was

a group gathered at the house. House was a misnomer really. It was basically a run

down shack. Asbestos and wood. It had a lean to that served as a shed and a few

old car bodies in the front yard but not much more. The owners had a vege garden in

the back yard but battled to pay the water bill so the plants wilted in the sun. At the

moment there was a full blown fight going on. Punches being thrown and curses

shouted. The combatants were split largely into two groups. On one side the darker

skinned Mr Abdul Afghanistan and his brothers against a predominantly white

Caucasian group fronted once again by Chuck America.

Mr America was the self styled neighbour hood watch guy who was always ready to

pitch in to keep the neighbourhood peace. There was talk of, and some real proof of

clandestine drug dealing going on down that end of the street. Worse than that was

the reality that a group of thugs were bullying citizens going about their everyday

business? There had been a big explosion in the street and two big trees had been

felled. The cause of all this unrest had been sourced straight to the Afghan

household. Groups of youths would gather outside and they were seen cruising the

neighbourhood at all hours. Things were going missing and most of the community had

had enough. But what do you do? Chuck was the first one to speak out and he had a

valid point. I mean there was a history. Remember Mr and Mrs Iraq. Night after night

you could hear them. The dogs being kicked and starved. The wife beaten every

night. His children being whipped and sexually abused. Something had to be done. It

was a mess no doubt. Ernie England and Chuck got together with a group from the

neighbourhood. They went down there and all hell broke loose.


Darryl wandered down later and got into a scrap with a few of the relatives.

Absolutely not to his taste and the whole thing stunk. But what do you do? You can’t

just let the bastard get away with it. Darryl wondered if it all was worth it in the end

though. Those poor kids. Then there were all the injuries from the stoush. Even the

dogs were sent to the pound, so you have to wonder if they were ever better off

afterwards.

Darryl pulled the curtain across. His son was down there now and he knew there

would be blood split. He just wished things would settle down. Most of the neighbours

were great. Neville Newzealand was a hard worker ,treated his kids well. There was

a whole bunch in the street that were beaut. Charley Canada, Mal Malaysia, Scotty

Scotland etc .You could go on. Great neighbours willing to pitch in and help and fun

to have a beer with. Even Jerry Germany and that Japanese guy had settled down

lately.

Bambang Indonesia down the street where the cheaper houses started, with his huge

family was a bit of a worry though. Especially the way he treated Mr and Mrs Timor.

Disgusting really, but with so many kids you didn’t want to make too many waves by

speaking up. And Daryl remembered the Vietnamese brothers. What looked like a

family that was out to cause strife and unsettled everyone turned out to be nothing

more than a family feud? Two brothers fighting over ownership of the house. Soon as

Chuck and his neighbourhood watch intervened the brothers united against the

common foe and gave him a hiding. Chuck still wasn’t over it. Maybe that was why he

persevered with this crusade.

Darryl sat down and sipped on his beer. He would finish his drink then head over to

see Mr Timor. He had been helping out a bit over there lately to try to make up a bit

for the past.


He looked back down the street again and shook his head. The Afghan family were in

disarray. Chuck and Ernie England had the Mum and Dad at the front door again and

were laying down the law while the Afghan older brothers were out the back throwing

stones over the roof.

Darryl shook his head. Love your neighbours. Christ it was hard enough just getting

on with them.

Beau Philp 2010

I realise now that people will make of this what they will despite the sincere intentions of the author.

C'est la Vie

So who owns the servo and chemist on the corner? And who are turning a blind eye whilst it is refueled/restocked from The Iraq and Afghan households?

Pity Chuck America and his overstuffed householders have no interest in that as they fill up the Ford F350.

Get us a beer Daz..

Is there the slightest sense of humour or the ridiculous in you at all Doc??

Do you ever smile or give a gut wrenching laugh at something??

Those that laugh long also live long and those that live the longest are the ones that are able to laugh at themselves.

Just remember that none of us is going to get out of this life thing alive, and I am happy to admit to being a .

theDoctor said...

ignorant self indulgent simpleton propaganda

Spot on Doc

cisco said...

Is there the slightest sense of humour or the ridiculous in you at all Doc??

Do you ever smile or give a gut wrenching laugh at something??

Those that laugh long also live long and those that live the longest are the ones that are able to laugh at themselves.

Just remember that none of us is going to get out of this life thing alive, and I am happy to admit to being a .

people believe that crap and justify dropping bombs to kill innocent people and sacrafice their own children to fight for some bogus ideal of an imaginary freedom, and they get their beliefs from tv.

i upload youtube clips because no one reads any more.

these youtube clips would never be shown on tv, and for good reason...

.... they might cause you to think

and maybe even question

I take every thing seriously and I take nothing seriously.

I laugh all the time, but I don't find anything funny about another persons suffering.

***EDIT*** unless its funniest home videos and some two year old has just belted his old man in the nads

Clearly its fable to try to condense complex issues into a form we can understand. I have a few issues with the similies though.

Firstly child abuse is not restricted to countries that are 'troubled'.

Secondly half the issues facing the troubled families can be sourced back to Chuck. The common term for this is blowback.

Thirdly its not mentioned that the poor old Afghan family suffered from harrassment and home invasion from Ivan the Russian and Billy Britain along with ChucK and Daryll recently breaking down the front door and giving the Afghans a hard time.

Fourthly, many of those 'troubled' neighbours fought as hard as they could against the big bullies on the street. Some won, some lost. However its a bit simplistic to say they have settled down.

Yes its fine to try to simplify complex issues. However when we try brush over extrememly important reasons why we face these current problems, all we do is stick our heads in the sand and not understand why people don't agree with our views.

I love a stable fable - I use one to rest my dinner on every night as I watch Today Tonight and Current Affair for all my worldy information and views.

Is Today Tonight the worst form of gutter tabloid journalism that there is and has ever been ?

Even the worst 'how offensive can I be' shock-jocks had some professionalism about them.

Today Tonight is ... leaves me speechless.