Australia - you're standing in it
velocityjohnno wrote:Is this what shopping has become?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12564341/Woolworths-customer-sm...
"Perplex" gates - Hahahaha!!
I suppose they might confuse some people :)
Lady's got terrible style, standing too close and swinging with the arm only and no hips.
And I don't want to start rumours but she kinda looked a bit like Jodie Cooper from the back.
Seriously though, heavy duty surveillance is a big worry and it's only going in one direction.
Gone are the days when mischevious nightfillers could bowl a rockmelon down the health & beauty isle to try to trip up co-workers, the days before the cameras, the days of freedom.
Nothing says 'we value our customers' quite like this stuff
Any of you have experience in armed hold ups (not perpetrating them, being there when they happen)? I have this experience, & hostage etc, and I reckon that once the smoke appears strong likelihood of bandit panicking; if they are foolish enough to take loaded weapon in, perhaps greater likelihood of discharging it. Regular customers see it - what's the extra chance of a cardio event, as the hold ups themselves can be intense. I mean, imagine this in your local Woolies?! Also for the kleptomaniacs, a great chance to just grab as much as they can and bolt. But maybe the stats show against these musings.
(Afterward I became fascinated with security of premises, and how easy it would be to roll them. Further hold ups within my organisation and with staff I knew led me to conclude that whatever level of defence is employed, a determined perp will work out a way to overcome it.)
"the days before the cameras, the days of freedom."
Ken oath.
Only once. I walked into a Subway that was midway through being held up. Knew something was amiss when I entered the auto slide doors and twenty startled faces all turned and stared at me, plus one sawn off shotgun.
Fella was a frantic smackie so who knows what might've happened if smoke started appearing? Might've even caused people to rush in off the street and help with the 'fire' while an addict bankrolling his next fix waves a gun around.
AndyM wrote:"the days before the cameras, the days of freedom."
haha, well, you guys carry around a device that tracks you, listens to you, monitors your actions, has attached a life-long number... and you pay handsomely for the privilege! Just sayin' - I assumed you must trust the systems ; )
not only that I reckon it talks to the computer and gives me the great swellnet ads that I see
My bloke spent it all on hookers & drugs Stu, that's what I heard. I got to be star of the show when everyone else dropped to the floor, won't say too much more as it was a criminal case. I did OK on the day - in terms of saving others from going through bad stuff, that's all I'll say.
Add one more thing - it's all adrenalin when it's happening and you discover what your mettle is and if you go alright; the trauma begins afterward in the days and weeks that follow.
basesix wrote:AndyM wrote:"the days before the cameras, the days of freedom."
haha, well, you guys carry around a device that tracks you, listens to you, monitors your actions, has attached a life-long number... and you pay handsomely for the privilege! Just sayin' - I assumed you must trust the systems ; )
Fair point but we're talking about slightly different thing.
But yeah, phones and browser history are powerful tools of surveillance for all of the usual manipulators.
I've had a pistol pulled on me in Oz and a rifle pulled on me in the States.
Let's just say that I think startling a desperate/aggressive/unhinged/drugged person with a gun in their hands might not be a good idea.
velocityjohnno wrote:My bloke spent it all on hookers & drugs Stu, that's what I heard. I got to be star of the show when everyone else dropped to the floor, won't say too much more as it was a criminal case. I did OK on the day - in terms of saving others from going through bad stuff, that's all I'll say.
Don't be shy VJ, spin us a yarn.
You did the Samuel L thing from Pulp Fiction didn't you? ;)
Haha, nope, I'll tell the story if there's ever a Swellnet meet & greet.
velocityjohnno wrote:My bloke spent it all on hookers & drugs Stu, that's what I heard. I got to be star of the show when everyone else dropped to the floor, won't say too much more as it was a criminal case. I did OK on the day - in terms of saving others from going through bad stuff, that's all I'll say.
I recall walking up the street - corner of Oxford and Liverpool streets in Sydney - and having to walk around a car left parked on the kerb, thinking what inconsiderate fuckwit would do that?
Of course after the robbery was over, old mate ran straight into that car.
Crazy scene in the shop when he left. One lady filled the silence with wailing, another vomited, no-one knew how to react and no-one took charge. I also left, walked back down the street in a bit of a daze to where I was working. Told my co-workers, who said I should get back up there and tell police or whoever that I was present during the robbery.
Cops were there when I returned. I explained who I was, even told them I got the guys number plate when he drove off. The cops sniggered.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"It's not his car of course," they replied. Yeah, of course. I didn't think of that. While I was talking to them about the robbery he knocked over a car hire place down on William Street near the Cross, and they were expecting he'd do a few more before dumping the car and visiting his dealer.
Wow Stu, that's a good description of the aftermath of that kind of event. People react to it differently. The reactions tend to last a while, in the aftermath there were times when all staff me included were just a mess. I got transferred to another location for a day about 6 months later and my co-workers at the original site got done again, this time by more violent bandits. I worked out that my glorious career in this industry wasn't worth what we were going through so bailed it within 6 more months and went and mowed foam.
A friend of mine was with her 3 daughters, aged under 10, in a suburban bank branch in Brisbane. Two gun-wielding chaps entered and screamed, “Get down on the ground or we’ll blow your fkn heads off!” My friend looked around and saw the three male customers had already hit the floor with their hands behind their heads. My friend then crouched down with her daughters under a table. The gunmen kept screaming threats and proceeded to rob the bank. There was an old lady customer who just knelt on one knee.
The robbers left and within 2 minutes a couple of siren-blaring police cars arrived. My friend and her children had to stay for police interviews etc. At some stage, she spoke to the old lady customer and asked why she didn’t get down on the floor. The old lady said, “If they think I was going to lie down on THAT carpet in THIS dress…”
My friend also later thought, thank god the police didn’t arrive while the robbery was in progress.
My mother was in a bank hold up in Sydney the full on the ground thing and then a few months latter at the same bank turned up just as one had finished and they had fled..
I think she changed banks after that.
I have an obsession with bank robbery movies i cant get enough of them.
My late Uncle was head of Aust.Post in the building a guy called Frank Viktovic went on a shooting rampage in, known as the Queen St. massacre. He showed up at reception, asked for a school friend who worked there, pulled a modified carbine and started shooting, making his way up the building he killed eight and injured five before one of the injured guys got the gun off him. He fought himself free once they got hold of him and eventually broke through a window and plummeted to his death on the street below.
My uncle and his staff had nowhere to really hide and were huddled under desks the whole time with the shooting getting closer and closer to their office. After the event he said police counsellors and even priests wanted to sit them all down for a debriefing and counselling session and my uncle said "fuck that" and took them all to the pub. He said the only staff member who ever claimed compensation for the trauma was the one who wasn't at work that day.
I was living at the top end of Bourke St. at the time and happened to be riding my bike down to pick up my pay in King St and came across the scene with cops everywhere and the road blocked and a body on the footpath. People were saying it was a robbery and they were throwing hostages out the windows. No mobiles in those days so I went to a pay phone and tried to ring my uncle's office but no answer. It was heavy.
I've had a shotgun pulled on me by a crazy Portuguese upholsterer once, and been shot at by a dwarf hanging out the window of a moving taxi and got shrapnel in my leg, but that's a long story I'll tell some other time if anyone is interested.
The dwarf story sounds intriguing, tell us more. BTW, your uncle sounds like he is/was a top bloke. I remember that happening.
“ Any of you have experience in armed hold ups (not perpetrating them, being there when they happen)?”
My old man could possibly fill you in on the former
You gotta tell the dwarf story.
yeh, doesn't sound tenable, tell us more!
I'm busy at the moment, I'll try to make some time to tell the dwarf story later today for you boys, so check back later.
Spare no detail
Been thinking about how it got to that point all day...
Our next door neighbour was a branch manager of a bank somewhere in Brissy. He had a sawn off barrel pushed into his mouth.
He never worked a day since and is a shadow of a man. Sad too, because he's a really nice bloke. Used to play the pipe organ at church.
Completely understand that Zen. I was still nervous carrying cash 5 years later.
the dwarf story didn't involve groundy by any chance?
Used to play the pipe organ at church.
Yeah Udo, probs came out wrong but no other way to put it.
Organist?
still waiting for Adam12's story
Jeez I've fucken hyped this one a bit by the looks of it. Dunno if the story will match the hype, but here goes.
I put myself through Uni in the 80's working nightclub doors, mostly a famous club on King St in Melbourne which I probably shouldn't name but it wasn't the Underground, it was the other one. I wasn't a bouncer, I was called a "scrutineer" or doorman. My job was to do the talking, not the fighting, check for underage, knock back the drunks and "unsuitable", recognise and clear a path for the VIP's and regulars and so on. Working nights meant I had days free to go to Uni and piss off down for a surf. It was a dangerous job looking back now but I loved it at the time, and thought I was pretty good at it and it opened a lot of doors for me when I was in my 20's.
So anyway, this particular night we started early, we were doing the Chadwick model agency Christmas party private function before the club opened later to the public. So the joint is full of gorgeous women (and the male models), it was still daylight, summer time, and the bouncers and I are just hanging by the door goofing around, the street is pretty empty and we are not really open yet, just the model's function.
So up wanders a dwarf who I could tell was half pissed and he wants to come in, I explain it's a private function and he starts bullshitting away, he was quite amusing, he's got a real mouth on him and the banter has all the bouncers pissing themselves and telling me "Let him in" and I'm refusing and eventually one of them pushes me aside and lets him in. I say I'm not going to be responsible blah, blah, we all have a laugh and the little prick is in. Sure enough not long after the manager/owner comes out "Who let that little cunt in?", he was pinching people's drinks and standing next to models at the bar putting his hand up their dress and grabbing their arses. So we're all pointing at each other and blaming each other and the owner tells the bouncers to go get him out and they are all laughing and refusing so the owner goes in and picks him up and carries him feet first kicking and screaming out the door and dumps him on the footpath. This sets all the bouncers off and they are literally rolling on the floor laughing while the dwarf is spewing this torrent of threats and abuse which only makes them laugh more. I felt bad, it was pretty demeaning and humiliating for the guy but he was such an obnoxious little prick, anyway I told him to fuck off and eventually with much more abuse and wanting to fight me, he did.
So the night progresses and we open to the public and it's a busy night on the street probably around 10 or 11 pm and the City West Police brawler van and a couple of divvy vans pull up out the front and the cops get out and tell us the manager has called and said there's a big fight going on upstairs which there isn't and no one from here called. I knew the Sergeant pretty well and we sort it out, false alarm, fake call, no brawl here so they leave. It was weird but weird shit went down all the time so we didn't think much of it and went back to work.
Half and hour later the Fire Brigade show up, two units, lights and sirens blazing, they've had a call there's a fire inside. These guys don't give a fuck about me telling them there's no fire and it's another prank caller, they push me aside and charge in to check the place for themselves. So while they are inside we all say the same thing at the door "It's that fucking dwarf!". The fireys leave, we go back to work, the odd comment about the dwarf and what the bouncers will do to him if he shows up again but I'm actually in sort of quiet admiration of the guy, he got humiliated and he's doing a bit of pay back, fair enough.
So it's now around midnight or later, busy night, people everywhere and my job required a lot of concentrating and making quick decisions and it takes me a second or so to register there's a pop, pop sound coming down the street and I look up and see some masonry on the building next door do this little explosion and realise it's gunshots, so I hit the deck as the pops keep going and I'm watching sparks fling off the cars parked out the front and see a cab driving past and the little prick is half out the rear passenger window with both hands on a gun firing away. Fucking lunatic thing to do, people every where, could easily have killed someone.
It's over pretty quickly, the cab is gone, we are all pretty freaked, there's a bit of discussion on whether it was a gun or a starter pistol and I'm saying no it was a gun I could see sparks and bits of the building next door flying off, and the owner is out there asking what the fuck and telling everyone not to ring the cops, he doesn't want the media to get on to it, everyone is all right so just go back to work and keep your eye out for the little prick in case he comes back and a bit of discussion about what they would all do if he did (and it didn't involve handing him over to the cops.) My adrenaline is flowing and I'm buzzing and trying to get back to work and the bouncers are all still carrying on and I notice my shoe feels wet so I reach down and stick my finger in it and it comes up red with blood so I lift my pants leg and see this flap of skin in the soft tissue next to the bottom of my shin bone and there's a stream of blood going down into my sock. "Fuck I've been shot!". I didn't feel a thing, no pain (at that stage). Nothing. Don't know if it was the shock or adrenaline at realising we were under fire but I never felt it hit me. So of course the carry on starts up again, everyone buzzing, The club owner grabs me and puts me in his car and takes me to St. Vincents and the whole trip he's saying "Let me do the talking, don't say anything about being shot at" as he didn't want the cops or media involved and by that stage were pretty sure it wasn't a direct hit from a bullet that hit me because there was no hole, just like a cut flap of skin, even a .22 would have done more damage. So after waiting about four hours I get an x ray and it's a little twirl of metal that's about a centimeter long in my leg. They do a fucken hack job getting it out so I've still got a little hole in my shin forty years later. The owner told them it was from a door hinge that had been swung the wrong way and "exploded" on my leg, they bought it and that was it, just a dressing on my leg, no stitches and it fucken hurt like hell for a day or so.
It never made the news, no cops, even though the street was packed with people at the time and hundreds witnessed it. We speculated for ages what the fuck was the taxi driver thinking or doing while this dwarf was hanging out his cab firing a gun but never heard a thing.
Funny thing was about five years later I'm in a fish and chip shop in Acland St. in St. Kilda waiting for my order and who wanders in but the same dwarf with the same obnoxious half pissed attitude and mouth ordering his fish and chips. I didn't know what to do. Do I start beating the shit out of the little guy in front of the shop full of people? Do I say something? So while I'm standing there staring at him he turns and starts staring back, he goes to say something to me but stops and I can see he recognises me too, though I don't know if he knows where from. So we are eyeballing each other and I'm about to say "You're that little cunt that shot me" and my order arrives so I grab it still eyeballing him and as I'm leaving I turned to him and pointed a finger gun at him and went "Bang, bang" and this huge grin came across his face, I was pretty sure he knew who I was, and I walked out.
So that's the dwarf story, just one of many that came out of those years on King Street, most of which I couldn't tell here. Nowhere near the level of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll of a Groundy story but hope it was an ok read.
That was epic adam12, but my favourite bit has got to be when you called the dwarf “half pissed”
What a little cunt!
adam12 wrote:Jeez I've fucken hyped this one a bit by the looks of it. Dunno if the story will match the hype, but here goes.
I put myself through Uni in the 80's working nightclub doors, mostly a famous club on King St in Melbourne which I probably shouldn't name but it wasn't the Underground, it was the other one. I wasn't a bouncer, I was called a "scrutineer" or doorman. My job was to do the talking, not the fighting, check for underage, knock back the drunks and "unsuitable", recognise and clear a path for the VIP's and regulars and so on. Working nights meant I had days free to go to Uni and piss off down for a surf. It was a dangerous job looking back now but I loved it at the time, and thought I was pretty good at it and it opened a lot of doors for me when I was in my 20's.
So anyway, this particular night we started early, we were doing the Chadwick model agency Christmas party private function before the club opened later to the public. So the joint is full of gorgeous women (and the male models), it was still daylight, summer time, and the bouncers and I are just hanging by the door goofing around, the street is pretty empty and we are not really open yet, just the model's function.
So up wanders a dwarf who I could tell was half pissed and he wants to come in, I explain it's a private function and he starts bullshitting away, he was quite amusing, he's got a real mouth on him and the banter has all the bouncers pissing themselves and telling me "Let him in" and I'm refusing and eventually one of them pushes me aside and lets him in. I say I'm not going to be responsible blah, blah, we all have a laugh and the little prick is in. Sure enough not long after the manager/owner comes out "Who let that little cunt in?", he was pinching people's drinks and standing next to models at the bar putting his hand up their dress and grabbing their arses. So we're all pointing at each other and blaming each other and the owner tells the bouncers to go get him out and they are all laughing and refusing so the owner goes in and picks him up and carries him feet first kicking and screaming out the door and dumps him on the footpath. This sets all the bouncers off and they are literally rolling on the floor laughing while the dwarf is spewing this torrent of threats and abuse which only makes them laugh more. I felt bad, it was pretty demeaning and humiliating for the guy but he was such an obnoxious little prick, anyway I told him to fuck off and eventually with much more abuse and wanting to fight me, he did.
So the night progresses and we open to the public and it's a busy night on the street probably around 10 or 11 pm and the City West Police brawler van and a couple of divvy vans pull up out the front and the cops get out and tell us the manager has called and said there's a big fight going on upstairs which there isn't and no one from here called. I knew the Sergeant pretty well and we sort it out, false alarm, fake call, no brawl here so they leave. It was weird but weird shit went down all the time so we didn't think much of it and went back to work.
Half and hour later the Fire Brigade show up, two units, lights and sirens blazing, they've had a call there's a fire inside. These guys don't give a fuck about me telling them there's no fire and it's another prank caller, they push me aside and charge in to check the place for themselves. So while they are inside we all say the same thing at the door "It's that fucking dwarf!". The fireys leave, we go back to work, the odd comment about the dwarf and what the bouncers will do to him if he shows up again but I'm actually in sort of quiet admiration of the guy, he got humiliated and he's doing a bit of pay back, fair enough.
So it's now around midnight or later, busy night, people everywhere and my job required a lot of concentrating and making quick decisions and it takes me a second or so to register there's a pop, pop sound coming down the street and I look up and see some masonry on the building next door do this little explosion and realise it's gunshots, so I hit the deck as the pops keep going and I'm watching sparks fling off the cars parked out the front and see a cab driving past and the little prick is half out the rear passenger window with both hands on a gun firing away. Fucking lunatic thing to do, people every where, could easily have killed someone.
It's over pretty quickly, the cab is gone, we are all pretty freaked, there's a bit of discussion on whether it was a gun or a starter pistol and I'm saying no it was a gun I could see sparks and bits of the building next door flying off, and the owner is out there asking what the fuck and telling everyone not to ring the cops, he doesn't want the media to get on to it, everyone is all right so just go back to work and keep your eye out for the little prick in case he comes back and a bit of discussion about what they would all do if he did (and it didn't involve handing him over to the cops.) My adrenaline is flowing and I'm buzzing and trying to get back to work and the bouncers are all still carrying on and I notice my shoe feels wet so I reach down and stick my finger in it and it comes up red with blood so I lift my pants leg and see this flap of skin in the soft tissue next to the bottom of my shin bone and there's a stream of blood going down into my sock. "Fuck I've been shot!". I didn't feel a thing, no pain (at that stage). Nothing. Don't know if it was the shock or adrenaline at realising we were under fire but I never felt it hit me. So of course the carry on starts up again, everyone buzzing, The club owner grabs me and puts me in his car and takes me to St. Vincents and the whole trip he's saying "Let me do the talking, don't say anything about being shot at" as he didn't want the cops or media involved and by that stage were pretty sure it wasn't a direct hit from a bullet that hit me because there was no hole, just like a cut flap of skin, even a .22 would have done more damage. So after waiting about four hours I get an x ray and it's a little twirl of metal that's about a centimeter long in my leg. They do a fucken hack job getting it out so I've still got a little hole in my shin forty years later. The owner told them it was from a door hinge that had been swung the wrong way and "exploded" on my leg, they bought it and that was it, just a dressing on my leg, no stitches and it fucken hurt like hell for a day or so.
It never made the news, no cops, even though the street was packed with people at the time and hundreds witnessed it. We speculated for ages what the fuck was the taxi driver thinking or doing while this dwarf was hanging out his cab firing a gun but never heard a thing.
Funny thing was about five years later I'm in a fish and chip shop in Acland St. in St. Kilda waiting for my order and who wanders in but the same dwarf with the same obnoxious half pissed attitude and mouth ordering his fish and chips. I didn't know what to do. Do I start beating the shit out of the little guy in front of the shop full of people? Do I say something? So while I'm standing there staring at him he turns and starts staring back, he goes to say something to me but stops and I can see he recognises me too, though I don't know if he knows where from. So we are eyeballing each other and I'm about to say "You're that little cunt that shot me" and my order arrives so I grab it still eyeballing him and as I'm leaving I turned to him and pointed a finger gun at him and went "Bang, bang" and this huge grin came across his face, I was pretty sure he knew who I was, and I walked out.
So that's the dwarf story, just one of many that came out of those years on King Street, most of which I couldn't tell here. Nowhere near the level of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll of a Groundy story but hope it was an ok read.
That's classic!!
Nice one, worth the wait. Fun times.
Solid story. Cracked me up
Awesome yarn!!
haha. Epic.
Couldn't help but think of Davey Coopers character 'Johnno' in the 'Houso's' series.
Mate that was gold!
Good yarn.
I think I’ve met you
ha ha
Luved it
Maybe they could post these signs in other languages as well . https://fb.watch/nlvwzZhD9W/?mibextid=v7YzmG and jeezus andy mc has been in a good paddock.
Supafreak wrote:Maybe they could post these signs in other languages as well . https://fb.watch/nlvwzZhD9W/?mibextid=v7YzmG and jeezus andy mc has been in a good paddock.
Does anyone really think it's lack of signage causing the mayhem?
Adam12 that was worth the weight, absolute gold. I wonder if the dwarf ever settled down? Worked nightclubs at uni so I can relate but it was less interesting that what you saw.
I can see where the humour comes from: that time you freely gave 'your' address to Blowin to come down for a fight & it was actually the local chapter of a motorcycle enthusiasts organisation was one of the funniest things I've read here.
"Does anyone really think it's lack of signage causing the mayhem?"
God no.
In any case, rules, regulations and recommendations apply to other people, not me.
I'm special.
That was interesting hearing Rabbit call for an increase in wave amenity to mitigate the thousands of new surfers.
If it happens, it'll happen first on the Gold Coast.
Rosco had signs like these in the Margs area in the 90s - with cooler artwork.
That's a pretty tall story Adam. Loved it!
Haha, Adam! Yess, what a yarn. Gold.
More on the man who cannot be named. ……. High-profile man charged with rape granted order to prevent publication of identity. A high-profile man accused of rape has successfully applied for a court order to prevent his identity being published on Tuesday, the day changes to Queensland laws would have revealed his name publicly.
The man, who was charged in January this year, faces two charges of rape of a woman in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in October 2021. Changes to Queensland’s Sexual Offences Act, coming into effect on Tuesday, would mean media outlets would have had the capacity to publish his identity.
The case attracted widespread media attention as it progressed through the Toowoomba Magistrates Court, and his defence team on Friday morning applied to the Supreme Court in Brisbane regarding the publication of his identity. Justice Peter Applegarth granted a temporary order.
“The applicant seeks a temporary order from this court to preserve the status quo until his application for an interim order in the Magistrates Court can be heard and determined,” the decision read.
“Without such a temporary order, reports identifying him as the defendant in the committal proceeding could be published at any time after midnight on Monday.”
The decision said the Queensland Police Service did not oppose an interim injunction being made.
“Given the publicity that the committal proceeding has attracted, there is a substantial risk that, unless a temporary order is made, media reports identifying the applicant as the defendant in the committal proceeding will be published as early at Tuesday, 3 October, 2023,” the decision read. This month in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court, prosecutors sought more time to examine 19 months of phone data from the complainant from before and after the alleged offence. The case remained ongoing.
The accused man has never appeared for any of his court mentions, and in earlier proceedings this year, the court was told he was in Tasmania and could not be present for medical reasons.
Under existing Queensland laws, anyone charged with offences including rape, attempted rape, assault with intent to commit rape, and sexual assault, cannot be named until their case is committed to trial, or a court orders otherwise. The identification laws are similar in the Northern Territory.
But following a widespread probe into Queensland’s justice system, the state’s Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce recommended the Sexual Offences 1978 act be amended to bring Queensland in line with other states, allowing for those accused to be named.
State Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath was hopeful the modernisation of the laws would encourage more victims to come forward. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/high-profile-man-ch...
The "I can't believe it's not politics" thread.