STREWTH !!

I`m getting a little worried about Australians.  There are reports today of an Aussie who lost his compensation claim for racial abuse after work colleagues greeted him with `G`day, sport` and other terms of endearment including `Is your girlfriend called Sheila?`   They allegedly also made jokes about kangaroos, barbies and other stereotypical Oz icons.   All of which resulted in him taking Kent County Council to an employment tribunal after these `racial taunts` brought on his depression causing him to quit his job as a community warden in the hotbed of racial tension that is Dymchurch here on the Kent coast.

What worries me is that this episode seems light years away from the archetypal vision we have of the Australian psyche.   Their outwardly aggressive, politically incorrect, stick-it-up-`em but engagingly amusing banter is perhaps best illustrated by their `sledging` of opponents on the cricket field, which seems to encapsulate the outside world`s view of the nuggety Australian male.  

And yet, even here, they don`t always have things their own way, as witnessed by the classic encounter between Glenn McGrath and Zimbabwe`s fast medium bowler, Eddo Brandes.   Brandes was a big lad - a chicken farmer by trade - not really known for his batting and when he came in to bat, McGrath is reputed to have politely enquired, "Why are you so fat?"   To which Brandes replied, "Well, every time I make love to your wife she gives me a couple of doughnuts!"

As for our friend and his employment tribunal, it`s almost sad to report that he lost his discrimination case and his appeal against that decision was dismissed.   Maybe something in the Dymchurch air?  Or maybe after 27 years living in the UK it`s time to head back home to Adelaide?