Melbourne T-Shirt

You know how they say if you want to meet people, you should get a dog or a baby?  The baby and/or dog attracts attention. They're a sort of...an ice-breaker.

Well, it turns out Melbourne has the same powers.

I wore my I Heart Melbourne shirt today, and at least three people made a comment about it. One was a seemingly drunk guy who didn't impress me much. But I had a really pleasant conversation with a couple while in line for Rock-n-Roller Coaster. I enjoyed the conversation more than the ride. Then this evening, I was served vegetable soup by an Australian from Moonee Ponds. She commented on the shirt.

The other day I wore another Australian shirt, and that sparked some dialogue as well.

It's fun.

Now that I think of it, though. It's not just Australia that brings attention. The other day a mother and daughter used my pink Disney Magic Band as a conversation starter. And I had one brief conversation about my Doctor Who t-shirt.  But still...Melbourne has gotten the most attention.

In a way, I think people just want an excuse to talk to each other. Maybe we're all a bit lonely. So clothing sometimes gives us a starting point.

Although with the couple in the roller coaster line, it didn't start with Melbourne. It started with me asking whether or not they had been on the ride before. Yes, they had. Then I asked them if they liked it. We all chuckled a bit at my stupid question.  Yeah. Why would they be in line for the ride if they hadn't liked it the first time?

I didn't learn my lesson, though. When I got on the ride, I turned to my ride partner and asked him the same questions.

It was probably just nervousness that was making me ask mindless questions.

What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there 
was life after death, and 
we could easily talk to our 
dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts 



2 comments:

  1. Real Melburnians begin a conversation with "Bit warm/hot/windy/cold/cool, isn't it".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andrew,

    And how do the pretend Melburnians begin conversations?

    ReplyDelete