Daily Archive

Time for another CityRail story. This experience really made my stomach churn. You’ll find out why soon enough. I’m just warning you now: You really don’t want to be eating something while you’re reading this post.

It was my normal venture in university last Tuesday. Again, and as I always seem to do, I got the all-stations train from East Hills. Once at Wolli Creek, I got off (as, you may recall, trains don’t go through Sydenham and Redfern outside of peak hours for the East Hills line), and proceeded to platform 4, where I would wait for the train coming up the Illawarra and South Coast line, headed towards the city.

No problems with that leg of the trip. Well, there were the usual problems - people sitting next to you, people talking loudly on mobile phones, all the windows closed, progressively getting later and later as we made our way up the train line. But there was nothing out of the ordinary thus far. The should have alerted me then and there.

The power, the truly evil power, that conspires against me (employed by CityRail no doubt) was biding its time. It was saving all its potency for the train that I was about to board. I should have known that something was going to happen. I wish I had the foresight at the time. I really do.

The train arrived. The gates of Hades opened, and out rushed (not stepped off or walked, but rushed) a businessman and an Asian-decent woman, both 40 or older. This wasn’t the issue. In fact, people rushing in and around trains is common practice. And I know to stand to the side of the doors to let people out first. I then began to walk into the carriage, wondering to myself “What was their problem?”

And then it hit me. With overwhelming force and strength, it hit me. A smell. The smell. My God the smell!

Now I consider myself a civilised man - perhaps some might argue too civilised. One part of my civil upbringing was being taught to keep myself clean. To shower or bath once at least once a day. To wear deodorant. Obviously, there was someone who had had a slightly different upbringing. They were taught to never clean themselves, and that the human odour is, well, intoxicating.

The vile and putrid smell of body odour filled the cabin. There were many people already there, before I and the others at Wolli Creek got on. Their faces, for the most part, were blue. Blue from holding their breaths for minutes on end. You could hear the brain cells dying, not because of the lack of oxygen, but because of that repugnant smell!

In a quick survey of the people around, I spotted the culprits. I didn’t have to get any closer to know it was them. I knew. I sat in the furthest seat away from then, but I knew in my heart (and in my nose) that there was never going to be a seat on this train far enough away.

That ranks and foul air: I shall never forget. It hung on the hairs through my nostrils. It burned the back of my throat. For days, all I could taste was that damned smell! Choloraform, Mustard Gas, Agent Orange: They were preferable options.

The smell didn’t come from but one source though. Rather, it was being omitted by a whole family who looked like they were living on a welfare income. A father and mother, 2 daughters and a son. The 2 daughters were dressed for school; the father in a 1990’s basketball jersey with a Yankees hat made fashionable, and shorts down to his ankles (the waist, not the legs). Do note the absence of shoes. The mother was dressed in such a way that she may have got on the train immediately after walking out of a second-hand store. She didn’t look like the sort of person who would have paid either.

As I sat there, I began to wonder if my clothes would begin to absorb and soak in the smell. I began to worry, as I held my breath for extended periods of time. “Would I have to burn my current outfit? I rather like these shorts.”

All the whole, there was an incessant and extremely annoying clicking’sucking sound.

You might be saying, now, “Thomas, you forgot the son!” All intentional, good reader, all intentional. That fat, unpleasant, irritating agitator was sitting directly opposite me, bouncing off one parent’s shoulder, that he sat between, to the other and then back again. Over and over. I’m sure he was dressed like Satin, and I have come to believe that the Dark Prince has come to tempt me with sin for the next 15 minutes.

The temptation: Murder.

That damned kid sat there, bouncing away, apparently ignorant of the disgusting smell that surrounded him and his family. And on and on he would make this clicking/sucking sound; as though he were sucking the inside of his cheeks in, then letting them go. He performed this with such regularity and rhythm that I wondered if he was, perhaps, an idiot savant. I realised that he was simply an idiot.

The boy wouldn’t have been aged more than 5 or 6. And never have I been angered and annoyed by someone so young.

The most obnoxious thing about this family was that they didn’t even care about that little git’s non-stop ‘habit’. I could understand (not really. Not at all) wanting to go out smelling like nothing on this green Earth should smell like, but you couldn’t possibly ignore that damned noise! Only once did anyone try and shut him up - the father. And even then it turns into a joke between the two. A quality father/son moment I guess.

At one point, the mother was handing out loose change to her school-bound daughters. The son put his hand out for some money then. I expect he will be doing this quite a bit throughout the rest of his life.

I ended up staring at the boy after my numerous quick glances didn’t quieten him. All he did was look around and continue.

Eventually, Redfern station was upon up. I had been standing at the door for a few minutes prior to this though, in the hopes of escaping the 7th circle. I craved the fresh air and peaceful silence I have often taken for granted. The doors opened and I too rushed out. Even on the underground platform that I was on had the sweet smelling air that I was longing for.

I continued my rush to university, trying to push all memories of that damnation of a train trip to the untapped portion of my mind (where it would find company in that part with sympathy and empathy). Though I fear these memories are a beast that will ravage at me for some time.

Thomas.

And big numbers came the way of Barrack Obama today from the Southern state of Mississippi. The margin of victory, at the moment with 99% of the vote counted, is 24%. Obama received 61% of the vote, Hillary Clinton just 37%. In terms of delegates, and this will change a little in time, Obama has gained 17, Clinton 11. So Obama extends his already large lead over Clinton in terms of pledged delegates. This result will get him some superdelegates as well - likely from Southern states I suspect.

Obama won himself 60 of the counties, while Clinton managed just 21. She won the North-East area, picked up one on the border to Arkansas, and then the South-East (those counties on the Gulf of Mexico). Looking at some of the counties I listed Obama to be strong in in the previous post on Mississippi, Hinds he got 81% of the vote, Madison 77%, Rankin 61%, Yazoo 70%, Holmes 81%, Humphreys 75%, Sharkey 73%, Issaquena County 66%, and he won all of the South-West counties (i.e. Jefferson was 88%, Wilkinson 80%). This was a state that Obama was bound to perform well in, and he did just that.

Looking at the exit polls, there are a lot of interesting numbers. Mississippi proves to be very racially divided. Obama won 91% of the ‘black’ vote, while Clinton won 72% of the ‘white’ vote. There were only two other states this polarised - Alabama and Arkansas (both neighbours to Mississippi). 30% of the Democratic voters said that race was an important decider, and of that, 60% of them were Obama voters. Contrast this to Ohio: 20% said race was important, 60% of them were Clinton voters.

A very intriguing stat: 14% of the Democratic voters said that they identified as Republicans, and 78% of them voted for Clinton. 37% of the Democratic voters had a favourable opinion of John McCain, and 62% of those people voted for Clinton. It’s probably worth reminding readers that Rush Limbaugh (conservative to the n’th degree radio host) encouraged Republicans to go out and vote for Clinton to keep the Democratic race going, and to try and get Clinton to win the nomination. While it might not have played a big role in this state, it might be something to keep in mind before people start saying ‘cross party appeal’.

In terms of age, Obama won 72% of the 18-29 group, while for the 60+ groups, Clinton won 54%. This is significantly down from her previous efforts, but I don’t think it’s as significant as could be made out to be with issues like race floating in the air.

Some additional questions were asked with the exit polls. They always are, and have centred around Ted Kennedy’s endorsement, debates, statements, and various other endorsements that a candidate has gained. This time the question was ‘Who is more honest?’ 7 in 10 polled said that they though Obama was the more honest candidate. That is something that should appear in the news soon. Also, 40% of the Clinton voters think that Bill Clinton’s campaigning efforts have had no effect, while 23% say he has hurt her campaign. And 64% of the Obama voters said they thought Obama should pick Clinton as his running mate, while 60% of Clinton voters say that Clinton shouldn’t pick Obama as her running mate. Very interesting that last one is - another example of race coming into play?

It will be interesting as to how these results will be spun. Clinton has been romped, so she can’t say it was close. She could try and say that Obama didn’t gain too many more delegates than her, but then she draws attention to her roughly 120+ total delegate count trail, her 150+ trailing in pledged delegates, and Obama closing the gap with superdelegates. If she says anything about location, or how Obama has won all of that Southern area, the Obama campaign is bound to respond by saying this questions her electability across the country if she can’t manage one South-West state. She could try and say that her wins in Ohio and Texas are bigger and more important, though I expect Obama to say “I’ve just won as many states as you in 3 days, and have still won more states, votes, and pledged delegates.”

The Obama campaign is bound to come out and say that this was a big and convincing win, aids to his electability argument, and that Obama is back on target. They need to spin the headlines with this for as many days as they can, and keep the two 20%+ wins that Obama has notched up at the front of peoples minds as we enter the 41 day break between primaries.

Holy noodles and cheesecake! I went to sleep yesterday and the 24 hour period that WordPress counts had recorded 522. I just logged on then and I ended up with 1,175! I’ve received less in an entire month! Wyoming - results, Mississippi - polls got 860 visits alone, and combined with the 95 it garnered on its first day, and what it has done today, it’s now had 995 visits in 3 days, and sits behind Superdelegates on the all-time list (Superdelegates has 2,272 visits).

This monumental day brought the week’s visits up to 1,538 - 19 visits more than I had for the whole of last week. The record stands now at 1,603. I expect that to be broken.

The month is now at 3,207 - 1,288 short of a new record month. And with more than half the month to go, I expect a new record there too. Maybe, just maybe, the 5,000 could be broken?

All-in-all I’m very pleased with this. While I don’t blog just for visits and hits, when I see this sort of stuff happen, it’s really the only ‘reward’ for this hobby. So I get happy. With quite a few more hours to go for today, I wonder how high the numbers will go?

Thomas.