Please Don't Get Me Wrong

[thestoryteller]

PLEASE DON’T GET ME WRONG

It was just about a month ago I visited a mate
whom I’d shared my schoolboy days with and I can proudly state
that from head to toe he’s Aussie and I’m even chuffed to say
Smithy sings Waltzing Matilda when he showers every day.
But I noticed that first morning when the old mate’s day began
he was woken by his beside clock, that said … made in Japan.
Too the razor that he shaved with it was made in old Hong Kong
but believe me he’s Australian, so please don’t get me wrong.

Still his coffee pot was Chinese and the clothing that he wore
was a dress shirt from Shri Lanka and some jeans from Singapore.
His white sneakers were Korean whilst his watch was Taiwanese
and the skillet he cooked brekky with was English … as you please.
I had noticed too the CD that he then went on to play
was a pirated edition he’d bought from the U.S.A.
Yes our Smithy loves his music and enjoys a country song
but believe me he’s Australian, so please don’t get me wrong.

He then went to check on e bay on his laptop that was made
in the islands of the Philippines to see if he had paid
for the DVD’s he purchased on the net the day before
from some bloke in Indonesia and be blowed he bought twelve more.
Then that afternoon we drove around in his flash, red sports car,
an imported job from Germany, and hadn’t driven far
when he stopped and brought some French wine, whose aroma was quite strong,
but believe me he’s Australian, so please don’t get me wrong.

After tea we watched his tele, that was made in Italy,
but the pragramme agitated him as he then said to me
“It’s no wonder I can’t find a job that pays well anymore!”
But he reckons that the Government will help him out for sure.
Yes a Government whose carbon tax his Leader proudly hails,
but correct me if I’m wrong at all. Was she not made in Wales?
Hey it’s mates like good old Smithy that make up our Aussie throng.
but believe me they’re Australian, so please don’t get me wrong.

[r.magnay]

Yeah I know where you are coming from Merv, I wonder how much longer it will take for people to realise that we will never be able to compete with overseas countries while we expect to get paid so much for doing so little...what other country gives you six weeks of holidays, per annum, pays you to be sick, pays you more to be on holiday than to be at work, pays you to have time off to have a baby....or for your wife to have a baby, pays you a bonus because they gave you a job for 7 years and a bigger bonus the longer you stay, pays into your savings for your retirement because you won't do it yourself....the list goes on.....

[Neville Briggs]

Maybe you can add some verses Merv about all the imported food ! we now have on our grocery shelves. It's a wonder we don't have imported eucalyptus oil, or do we

[manfredvijars]

Merv, please put it back. The members' responses were to one of the replies. I've moved the post to General Poetry Discussion where it can be further debated there ...

[manfredvijars]

Yeah I know where you are coming from Merv, I wonder how much longer it will take for people to realise that we will never be able to compete with overseas countries while we expect to get paid so much for doing so little...what other country gives you six weeks of holidays, per annum, pays you to be sick, pays you more to be on holiday than to be at work, pays you to have time off to have a baby....or for your wife to have a baby, pays you a bonus because they gave you a job for 7 years and a bigger bonus the longer you stay, pays into your savings for your retirement because you won't do it yourself....the list goes on.....

A number of European countries do (include the above). In fact I'm pretty sure it's eight weeks annual leave in Germany ...

[r.magnay]

...OK manfred, if that is the case...why then can't we compete?....

Maybe they actually do something while they are there!..

[manfredvijars]

I think they actually do Mate ... they're even carrying the Euro ...

[warooa]

The German's are clever . . unless the silly Italians making bloody TV's

[Maureen K Clifford]

Love the poem Merv - so true - and we can't compete because we are up against countries whose people have a work ethic like the one shown in this video clip and people who appreciate that to have a job is a privilege and are happy to work to keep it - something that over the generations we seem to have lost out here sadly where we are more concerned with rates of pay, work place perks, public holidays etc etc. Could you imagine anything other than perhaps a garden shed being erected here in Oz in 15 days??? I don't think so.

http://www.crazyengineers.com/30-storey ... ideo-1628/

[manfredvijars]

Are you suggesting that Australians don't have a good work 'ethic' ???

Name me FIVE so we can flog the rotten sods ...