Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has journalists in every state and territory. Sign up here to get it by email, or here to forward it to a friend. Today's is written by ACM editor Kate Cox.
GET your boo-hiss ready.
We have a camper trailer parked outside our house.
It has been there since Easter, when we picked it up from my parents' place in Mudgee in NSW's Central West, with the intention of selling it.
Mouse damage delayed those plans and, all these months later, mould is now a concern.
And people aren't happy about it.
One man, walking past with his dog, stopped, turned, and threw a very large bag of dog faeces all over the trailer. I have so many questions about this. Had he been storing it for days? Weeks? Was it actually dog faeces? And why on earth? He did it so blatantly that our neighbours saw him.
One person, more secretly, used wire cutters to cut all the electrics - lights and brakes - so we couldn't tow it. Completely counterintuitive move if you want the thing to get out of your street.
And to the random rubbish throwers: understand that in all this rain your cups and straws will get washed onto the streets you kid yourself you care so much about or - worse - into the waterways to kill our marine life.
Two men, on separate occasions, have stopped my husband to yell at him - then calmed markedly down upon learning he was fixing it to sell it - even wishing him luck and observing it was a lovely camper trailer.
At least they spoke to us. There have been rude, scarily angry and anonymous letters containing words I can't repeat.
I just don't get it. It's directly outside our house, fully registered, in a street where parking is not at a premium. What is it that makes you so angry that you want to throw poo at it?
We have had so many special times in this wonderful camper trailer. It took our little family of four around this great nation for a year, creating moments and memories to last a lifetime. It will always have a very special place in our hearts.
And while I don't expect my suburb to treat it with such veneration, I am alarmed that they have so much hate.
It's even more ridiculous to get angry at owners of the trailers that are there for work purposes. They are being used by tradies to get a job done - our plumbing, electrics, building, emergency maintenance ... and we all know we need that more than ever right now. I've heard stories of tradies having their trailer tyres let down when they parked near a job site overnight. Really? What possesses these people to think this is some kind of righteous street justice?
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. When I was the editor of a community newspaper, boats and trailers parked in streets was one of the big-trigger issues, along with off leash dog parks and cyclists.
But maybe the NIMBYs should turn their frowns upside down and look at the boats and trailers a little differently. They are allowing hard working Aussies to get away and embrace the wonderful outdoors; or allowing hard working Aussies to make all of our lives better.
And that's something to be celebrated, not hated.
So next time you see a trailer in your 'hood, give it a little smile as you imagine all the joy it brings, and walk on by.
You may even feel a little better about life in the process.
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