James O'Brien

If I had a boyfriend, I would have come home tonight, opened the door at about 8.20 and would have at first, complained about the cold.

And then, as we chatted about our days, these are the three things I would have talked about.

I would have complained about the woman who I have known for a couple of years and who still can’t remember my name, and who still confuses my name for someone else’s.

I would have talked about going to the pub before Swedish class and listening in to the conversation of a nearby table. There were two blokes and a sheila. The conversation concerned “gays” and how they’re all “too obvious these days”, and yet they’re also, “too difficult to pick these days”.

And I would have talked about the bus accident that I was on this morning, caused by a “Cleveland Street runner”. “Cleveland Street runners” are those people who can’t wait for the traffic lights to change at the corner of Cleveland and Crown Streets, Surry Hills, or who can’t be bothered to walk up to the lights, preferring to cross at the nearby bus stop. A lot of the time they’re whacked of their heads on drug and alcohol, of course. Other times, it almost seems like they love the thrill of running in and out of traffic, or or stopping traffic.

I didn’t actually see this morning’s “Cleveland Street runner” who ran out in front of a 393 bus, but I saw the impact. The impact was a sudden step on the breaks by the driver which caused everyone to fall, but which sadly, knocked an older woman to the floor with a thud. She went down cold, and didn’t seem able to move. Thankfully, there were enough people on the bus with the experience to deal with such a situation, and so I’m hopeful she has recovered from the fall.

The “Cleveland Street runner” was nowhere to be seen, unfortunately. But in the unlikely opportunity that anyone who is a “Cleveland Street runner” is reading this blog, I hope this post comes as a realisation you’re not just potentially harming yourself when you run across Cleveland Street, you’re also potentially harming others.

So those are the three things that have happened in my life – aside from work today – which I would have talked about if I had a boyfriend.

But of course I don’t, so I’m sharing them here with you now.

How was your day?