I happened upon an argument on Saturday in Devonshire Street, Surry Hills.
Caroline, a stout anti-abortionist draped in confronting, string-held signage, stood outside the abortion clinic begging those who occasionally entered not to “trust the abortionists” and “save the child”. With her wincing eyes peering through her thick glasses her entire visage strangely reminded me of a cheap, plastic christmas tree crowned with a wrinkled newborn. Perhaps I wasn’t the least biased man for the job.
And then there was Steve, a thirty-something year old chap, whose dark rimmed eyes and disdainful glares indicated a come-down of some description.
The argument, whilst not deeply intellectual, seemed to be following the well-trodden rhetoric about ‘abortion being a holocaust’ and how Caroline was upsetting people in an already horrible position.
Caroline, swiftly running out of religious rants, tumbled into violence and mentioned that if she owned a gun she could shoot Steve, who replied that Caroline would probably be leaving in an ambulance. Caroline pointed out that, unlike Steve, her mind “wasn’t addled with drugs,” she “knew evil when she saw it.”
Steve campily retorted that she was simply a religious nut, so Caroline mentioned that she wasn’t all that religious (between muttering Hail-Marys).
Despite his generally dull points, I was siding with Steve on the basic premise of the situation.
That was, before the discussion got strangely abusive and childish…
Caroline mentioned that she wasn’t as obsessed with sex as Steve and that he would kill babies to satiate his sex hunger. Steve responded, recommending that Caroline “Get a cock in [her] cunt”
Steve, seeming rather pleased with his water-tight argument, followed it with “You’re a fat fucking bitch with a smelly cunt”. A gleeful little grin on his face, as if she was his teacher and he’d gotten away with it, he began repeating the ugly phase loud.
I finally understood the sadness of Caroline, her stoic resolve allowed her only a wrinkled grimace, she had obviously sustained years-worth of similar abuse.
She slowly packed up her placards and trundled off. Steve, wrapped in his blanket of tirade seemed stupidly victorious.
And in my usual way, I was left morbidly confused. I believe people have the right to choose, a few abortions could have saved this country from leagues of stupid kids. I also believe in the civic right to argue with strangers and stand up for anything you believe in. Whether that’s gay marriage, killing babies or sporting a polo with the collar popped up.
But this country’s bumbling education system left me with one belief stronger than any, the one piece of wisdom I took to heart from my moustached deputy principle… You never, ever pick on the fat bewildered kid.
Maybe Steve was home-schooled.
Rob Scattergood.
You’re clearly working for the enemy, only pretending to be one of us, one of the people. I wonder if you even know. Do you ever find it strange that you ‘happen upon’ such suspicious events? Check under the skin of your right arm and you will find an implanted tracking device. Destroy it immediately.
I stumbled upon the same ugly scene that frightful morning… Thank god my girlfriend hurried me off before the SINK cameras arrived… I could have been Steve.