Keep Ya Shirt On !

Keep Ya Shirts On !

“Victorian Cabs Need Air-conditioning!!!”
“Victorian Pensioners Are Lost And Need Help Dressing Themselves.!!!”

Yes these are the headlines that have screamed at me over the last few weeks. But they won’t be found in any newspaper or on any T.V. news program. “Why?, What, Oh the humanity?” I hear you scream.
These are the headlines that have imbedded in my head due to a message being lost through actions.
A Melbourne taxi driver is stabbed and left for dead by a passenger. Taxi drivers want increase safety measures to protect them. Pensioners feel that they have been overlooked in the budget and want an increase in pension payments. So what do both groups do? They protest! Which I believe is a fantastic way to get your message across and bring attention and support to your cause.
However in recent times protesting has lost its way. They very purpose of the protest is buried beneath actions bordering on the stupid side of reasoning.
A portion of the protesting cab drivers decided to remove their shirts and display a variety of “man-boobs” and “he-hooters”. Sorry, this was a protest for increased safety measures wasn’t it? So how does taking your shirt off help? Sure it will attract the media as any type of nudity is newsworthy to our tabloid dominated prime time media. Seeing the footage I totally forgot about the real issue. (hence my reason for thinking they were all very hot needed better air-conditioning). Think back to everyone you spoke to around the time of this protest. Did anyone talk about the safety concerns of cab drivers? No, we all pissed ourselves laughing at the fat angry man with a sagging chest waving his t-shirt around looking like he was reading to howl at the moon. The point was lost.
Now onto the Blue Rinse Brigade. They decided a protest on the steps of Flinders St Station was just the thing to do to get attention for their cause. It worked for the cabbies (so they thought) so why not give it a whirl. But why did they have to follow the lead of the angry cabbies and get their kit off? The news footage I saw was a whole stack of old folk in various stages of dress standing in the middle of the road. “Lost and unable to dress themselves” I thought. Sad, true, is it possible for that many people suffering dementia all to appear at once in the same place? Once again all the talk was about over 55’s in their undies. The point was lost.

We are extremely lucky to live in a country where we have the right and ability to protest. So don’t botch it up by getting your gear off and distracting all and sundry from your purpose otherwise you have done nothing more and created a pointless spectacle.