A well known blogger recently said on national television that, as bloggers, we have to have thick skins in order to deal with trolls and other nasty travellers on the information superhighway. Right now, my skin is paper thin. Look at me sideways and I'm likely to burst into tears. This is one of the reasons I've been avoiding my blog.
I want to write about the election like any of the other bloggers who shared their opinion with their readers but I'm scared. You see I sit on the other side of the fence to what feels like 100% of the Aussie mummy blogosphere. And going by some of the posts I've briefly scanned I'm a fucking uneducated idiot for being there.
Maybe my current depression is blindly throwing me on a blog suicide mission but what the hell. I voted for Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party team and I'm overwhelmed with joy that they won. Yep, I cried as Tony made his victory speech and they were tears of joy. Six long years of living through one of the most wasteful, shambolic and vindictive (and that was just to each other) governments finally came to an end on Saturday and I applaud the Australian people for making it happen.
I don't agree with all of Abbott's values particularly marriage equality. I believe love is love whether you're gay, straight, bi, transgender. I would march side by side with Labor voters, Green voters, anyone for the law to change and make marriage equal.
Anyway, I'm not going to nitpick over every single policy that I agree with or don't agree with. I'm not going to try and sway you (if any of you read this far down the page) to agree with what I believe. But I did just have to write and publish this. Because I'm entitled to my opinion too.
I'll leave you with this little note I typed up on my iPhone while catching the ferry to Manly a couple of weeks ago. Noo and I were sitting up the top of the ferry inside right at the front. I overheard two men unknown to one another talk about the upcoming election. This is a little of what they said:
"Australia is a great country", said the Chinese man to the bloke sitting next to him who later explained he was from Sri Lanka.
They don't know each other, they are just having a friendly chat while taking the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly on a stunning Spring day.
"We can call Kevin an idiot and it's ok. Not get in trouble like in China. We have freedom here."
"Yes, everyone wants freedom", replied the Sri Lankan.
Says it all really: You have the freedom to be pissed off at the change in government. I have the freedom to be stoked about it.
Let's agree to disagree and be happy neither one of us will be shot for saying what we believe.
V.
