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Ranting ahoy!
To the absolute MORON who got on the bus today...
Oh dear. Did I hurt your widdle feelings when I asked you (with polite words but not very polite tone) to get back off the bus and actually put out the half-burned cigarette you'd tossed on the ground? Did you feel embarrassed because somebody actually had the gall to call you on that? Aww. Wuddums.
Let me just point out a few things here.
1. This is AUSTRALIA.
2. It is SUMMER.
3. The landscape around here consists of dry grassland (flammable), eucalyptus forest (extremely flammable), and pine plantations (HOLY CRAP IT WILL BURRRRRNNNNNNN!!!!!).
4. The above three points mean that we have MASSIVE fire danger. Yes, it's been raining lately - more than usual, in fact - but we still are technically in drought, we still have a huge water shortage, and all the rain has been doing is temporarily damping things down. When/where you dropped that cigarette, things were bone dry.
5. Did you miss all the radio/TV/newspaper ads that have been nagging people to not drop cigarette butts out their car windows etc?
6. Did you miss the LARGE FIRE with EVACUATIONS less than a week ago?!
And finally,
7. When you got back on the bus and snottily informed me "It was on the dirt, not the grass, love", for one thing you were lying - and for another, "love"?! Piss off.
Lest anyone think I was overreacting... well, before 2003 I would have thought I was overreacting. In 2003, however, Canberra found out that we are not immune to bushfires; we'd just been incredibly lucky for something like 50 years. Every year there would be fires around Sydney, fires in Victoria, fires in Tasmania, you name it but Canberra did not get fires at all. Then in 2003 about three-quarters of the Australian Capital Territory burned, five HUNDRED houses were destroyed, and several people died. Have a look at the animated map on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Canberra_bushfires - it's freaking scary. I nearly lost my house, my best friends got forcibly evacuated twice, and Da Handsome Husband's garden and house were temporarily taken over by a giant flock of exhausted birds fleeing the fires.
That was nearly seven years ago. We haven't had a major fire since. That's about the right amount of time for a good fuel load to build back up.
So yeah... be thankful I didn't call the police to report you for littering and nearly causing a fire. IDIOT.
Oh dear. Did I hurt your widdle feelings when I asked you (with polite words but not very polite tone) to get back off the bus and actually put out the half-burned cigarette you'd tossed on the ground? Did you feel embarrassed because somebody actually had the gall to call you on that? Aww. Wuddums.
Let me just point out a few things here.
1. This is AUSTRALIA.
2. It is SUMMER.
3. The landscape around here consists of dry grassland (flammable), eucalyptus forest (extremely flammable), and pine plantations (HOLY CRAP IT WILL BURRRRRNNNNNNN!!!!!).
4. The above three points mean that we have MASSIVE fire danger. Yes, it's been raining lately - more than usual, in fact - but we still are technically in drought, we still have a huge water shortage, and all the rain has been doing is temporarily damping things down. When/where you dropped that cigarette, things were bone dry.
5. Did you miss all the radio/TV/newspaper ads that have been nagging people to not drop cigarette butts out their car windows etc?
6. Did you miss the LARGE FIRE with EVACUATIONS less than a week ago?!
And finally,
7. When you got back on the bus and snottily informed me "It was on the dirt, not the grass, love", for one thing you were lying - and for another, "love"?! Piss off.
Lest anyone think I was overreacting... well, before 2003 I would have thought I was overreacting. In 2003, however, Canberra found out that we are not immune to bushfires; we'd just been incredibly lucky for something like 50 years. Every year there would be fires around Sydney, fires in Victoria, fires in Tasmania, you name it but Canberra did not get fires at all. Then in 2003 about three-quarters of the Australian Capital Territory burned, five HUNDRED houses were destroyed, and several people died. Have a look at the animated map on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Canberra_bushfires - it's freaking scary. I nearly lost my house, my best friends got forcibly evacuated twice, and Da Handsome Husband's garden and house were temporarily taken over by a giant flock of exhausted birds fleeing the fires.
That was nearly seven years ago. We haven't had a major fire since. That's about the right amount of time for a good fuel load to build back up.
So yeah... be thankful I didn't call the police to report you for littering and nearly causing a fire. IDIOT.
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*fume*snarl*
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Believe it or not, you're actually more at risk of wild fires in the winter-- because the air is cooler, the water doesn't evaporate, and it's less humid. But stomping out your butts is a good idea all around.
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Yeah, my reply to him after his "it's on the dirt, LOVE" comment was a rather snarky "And it doesn't take much to change that. Thank you." [/sarcastic voice] :)
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