I guess a trip back from Perth on a 737 can often elicit some strange thinking patterns. I actually find that flying generally causes my brain to go off some tangents. The trip last week home from Perth included some reflection on my decision to travel down-under and seek to forge a life as an Australian. There were many factors in this equation but one in particular I wish to note here. Bob Hawke. Yep – that’s right. As a young man I alway perceived Australia as a progressive society with a can-do attitude to make things good for everybody. It seemed to have a culture that was more concerned with ‘who you are’ rather that ‘what you are.’ My tipping point came when I saw Bob celebrating the America’s Cup win achieved by Alan Bond and his crew. I knew I had to live in a country that had a Prime Minister who stuck up for the working people by foreshadowing massive celebrations and absenteeism at work. Bob was my kind of guy; in fact he was everybody’s kind of guy who expressed the most profound joy at the win his country had just achieved against the Yanks and particularly the NY Yacht Club. I liked his politics for the most part too. Now – imagine that happening now- in 2009. I am not sure it would be the same.
