Intrepid Trip to the CBD

Today (Friday) the Man and I decided to take our lives in our hands and venture into the city. The idea was to do our fruit and vegetable shopping, and it was a good opportunity to see what all the fuss was about.

What a storm in a teacup this whole security thing is! The city was relatively deserted, and though there was an extra police presence, the atmosphere was not sinister or threatening at all. Police state - hah! Yes, Circular Quay was all closed off with this cage thing - not sure what that was for, is it bullet proof or something? - but apart from that, there was a holiday atmosphere round the city. It was FANTASTIC to have it so empty of people. Tomorrow the Man and I hope to take advantage and do a bit of tourism.

So why all the fuss? As far as I can see, it's come from the media and mainly the chief of policeman, or the police spokesman, whoever he is. You know, the guy who comes on TV talking about the water cannon and stuff. He's made the police look heaps worse than they actually were. If there is a PR course you have to take as part of his job, he obviously failed it. I guess he missed the bit where they told you 'don't openly threaten the public you serve'. He could have said stuff like, there'll be extra security to make sure everyone stays safe, and that they wanted to change the protest route to ensure that protesters stayed safe and nobody was crushed. But evidently he thought it was appropriate to thunder on about how people had better do as they told, get out of Sydney and if we step out of line, we'd better believe we'll be crushed mercilessly with the full weight of police weaponry.

Then you go into the Sydney CBD and realize that security is actually not all that unreasonable.

It makes you wonder if he's trying to make his force look like asses. I marvel at a country where the head of police doesn't get fired for posturing like Mussolini.

At the very least, his department could compensate the city's businesses for lost revenue. It was sad to see the shops so empty (sad for them, great for us!). One young Asian shop assistant timidly told us that it was bad for business, but they were afraid for tomorrow because police told them protesters might cause damage to the shop.

I think the scaremongers should compensate all the businesses. All those people who caused the mass exodus of people from Sydney, and intimidated many businesses out of opening this weekend, are probably enjoying overtime payments this weekend.

It's crazy - I've read comments on the internet from people who think it's a deliciously subversive act to go shopping in Sydney this weekend! What a trick our bastard 'leaders' have played on us!

So...tomorrow to the demo, then back to Paddy's Markets to buy some more superb Australian prawns. Watch here for the update!