Excitement- with extra fizzle...
Well, last night looked like it was going to be the MOST EXCITING NIGHT in Marine pde ever. We're into our last week of living there, so the timing could not have been better.
2:30am: Rachel wakes me as there is a disturbance coming from outside/downstairs. Now, we have some charming French lads (by charming I just mean "French" and by French I mean "bloody annoying, messy lads who leave their shopping trolley in the street every week...") living on the ground floor and they were up loud an' raucous when the Frogs beat the 'Zilians the other night. In my sleepy state, I just assumed that they were up watching yet another World Cup game. WRONG!
2:32 I take a look outside the window- there's a taxi, a bunch of lads and they are all yelling madly. It's NOT the French boys- methinks it's Bogans from Frankston who've come up short on the fare calculation/spewed down the taxi drivers vest.
2:33 The yelling intensifies, with a call of "break the window!" thrown in. Rachel sees (as I move to a new pozzie for a look) one of the Bogans throw three punches at the Taxi driver. Taxi driver (being a sensible chap) retires to the confines of his cab as a fat guy arrives with a metal bar to "interrogate" the driver Guantanamo style.
2:34 Driver takes off in the taxi with the (Indian accented) war cry of "I have your wallet, I have your wallet", not quite Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" but it seemed to piss the Bogan lads off. There's another taxi right behind the first. We didn't see the second taxi as it was obscured by a tree or two. The Bogan boys take off across the road to the reserve/park near the marina.
2:36 I watch the norty lads for a bit, they look like lions pacing at a zoo- though where lions seem to be looking for a way out, these lads appeared to be looking for a way IN. So I decide: call the cops. Now, I am not your paranoid type- so I decide to call St Kilda police station as this is hardly worth a "000" (emergency 911) call.
2:38 I get through (looking up the number took a bit) and The Copper is immediately onto it, he puts the phone to one side and radios a car. Gets my name, confirms minor details and we hang up.
2:45-ish. COPS. FREAKIN'. EVERYWHERE. At least four marked cars and one unmarked turn up (no lights or sirens). The cops pour into the area- drive on the footpath- they cover the logical escape routes. We can't see the Bogans- they seem to have disappeared near the lighthouse/beacon area of the marina. Torch beams flicker in the rocky area near the point.
2:50 Phone rings. They ask if I'm watching. I feel like an artillery spotter calling in the troops/shells. I tell them the exact spot that we last saw them. I "reckon" that they must have gone over the fence and are hiding somewhere inside the marina.
We sit, we watch, we go back to bed.
3:00am Another call. I confirm to (a new copper) the earlier details. He tells me that there is no report about the incident we witnessed with the Taxi driver. I tell him it could have been a "mutual" situation, give the Taxi driver's call of "I have your wallet". He agrees, terminates call.
sometime after 3am The FREAKING DOG SQUAD ARRIVES. Rachel is at this time calling me a "a public nuisance" and infers that I will be arrested for making a false report. I tell her that I will take her down WITH ME and she shuts the hell up.
3:15-ish I wake Kat Riley- she might have work (she does- and it's an early shift) but I decide that she might be annoyed at being woken, but will be MIGHTILY pissed if she misses out on the "Puppy Squad" (as the girls call it). The cops have now brought in a MINIBUS with "Response Squad" on the side. I begin to think maybe I will get arrested- or at least the bill will be sent to me. A security guard turns up and opens the padlock on the car park. No more driving on the footpath to get in and around the gates. We watch non stop for the next half hour. The police dog is clearly off leash in a leashed area. We decide against telling the council- on account of our precarious position having reported an incident that looks rather hoax-ish at 3:20am.
4:00 I finally get to bed . I wonder how my mum might have handled it and tell Rachel- "She'd have done the same, but would almost certainly have put the kettle on" She puts her cold feet on me to shut me up. I give her a Dutch oven and we (sortof) sleep.
So, while there was some excitement- in the end there were no arrests and no reports in the paper that I know of
SORRY FOR THE ANTI CLIMAX!!
2:30am: Rachel wakes me as there is a disturbance coming from outside/downstairs. Now, we have some charming French lads (by charming I just mean "French" and by French I mean "bloody annoying, messy lads who leave their shopping trolley in the street every week...") living on the ground floor and they were up loud an' raucous when the Frogs beat the 'Zilians the other night. In my sleepy state, I just assumed that they were up watching yet another World Cup game. WRONG!
2:32 I take a look outside the window- there's a taxi, a bunch of lads and they are all yelling madly. It's NOT the French boys- methinks it's Bogans from Frankston who've come up short on the fare calculation/spewed down the taxi drivers vest.
2:33 The yelling intensifies, with a call of "break the window!" thrown in. Rachel sees (as I move to a new pozzie for a look) one of the Bogans throw three punches at the Taxi driver. Taxi driver (being a sensible chap) retires to the confines of his cab as a fat guy arrives with a metal bar to "interrogate" the driver Guantanamo style.
2:34 Driver takes off in the taxi with the (Indian accented) war cry of "I have your wallet, I have your wallet", not quite Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" but it seemed to piss the Bogan lads off. There's another taxi right behind the first. We didn't see the second taxi as it was obscured by a tree or two. The Bogan boys take off across the road to the reserve/park near the marina.
2:36 I watch the norty lads for a bit, they look like lions pacing at a zoo- though where lions seem to be looking for a way out, these lads appeared to be looking for a way IN. So I decide: call the cops. Now, I am not your paranoid type- so I decide to call St Kilda police station as this is hardly worth a "000" (emergency 911) call.
2:38 I get through (looking up the number took a bit) and The Copper is immediately onto it, he puts the phone to one side and radios a car. Gets my name, confirms minor details and we hang up.
2:45-ish. COPS. FREAKIN'. EVERYWHERE. At least four marked cars and one unmarked turn up (no lights or sirens). The cops pour into the area- drive on the footpath- they cover the logical escape routes. We can't see the Bogans- they seem to have disappeared near the lighthouse/beacon area of the marina. Torch beams flicker in the rocky area near the point.
2:50 Phone rings. They ask if I'm watching. I feel like an artillery spotter calling in the troops/shells. I tell them the exact spot that we last saw them. I "reckon" that they must have gone over the fence and are hiding somewhere inside the marina.
We sit, we watch, we go back to bed.
3:00am Another call. I confirm to (a new copper) the earlier details. He tells me that there is no report about the incident we witnessed with the Taxi driver. I tell him it could have been a "mutual" situation, give the Taxi driver's call of "I have your wallet". He agrees, terminates call.
sometime after 3am The FREAKING DOG SQUAD ARRIVES. Rachel is at this time calling me a "a public nuisance" and infers that I will be arrested for making a false report. I tell her that I will take her down WITH ME and she shuts the hell up.
3:15-ish I wake Kat Riley- she might have work (she does- and it's an early shift) but I decide that she might be annoyed at being woken, but will be MIGHTILY pissed if she misses out on the "Puppy Squad" (as the girls call it). The cops have now brought in a MINIBUS with "Response Squad" on the side. I begin to think maybe I will get arrested- or at least the bill will be sent to me. A security guard turns up and opens the padlock on the car park. No more driving on the footpath to get in and around the gates. We watch non stop for the next half hour. The police dog is clearly off leash in a leashed area. We decide against telling the council- on account of our precarious position having reported an incident that looks rather hoax-ish at 3:20am.
4:00 I finally get to bed . I wonder how my mum might have handled it and tell Rachel- "She'd have done the same, but would almost certainly have put the kettle on" She puts her cold feet on me to shut me up. I give her a Dutch oven and we (sortof) sleep.
So, while there was some excitement- in the end there were no arrests and no reports in the paper that I know of
SORRY FOR THE ANTI CLIMAX!!
2 Comments:
Hehe ... the story was exciting, though. And it's not all about the destination -- more time is spent on the journey anyway. :)
(How deep of me.)
It might sound paranoid and "workin' for The Man" of me, but you did the right thing by calling the cops.
If you hadn't, people could have been hurt/killed and help would have arrived too late (and that potentially includes yourself and the lovely Rachel). Or at the very least, the Bogans could have started smashing up houses and stuff (again, potentially including yours).
You didn't get to sleep until much later, but at least you were able to sleep soundly and safely.
(Do you suppose I'm prepping myself for my impending fatherhood?)
How could you leave Marine Parade with free entertainment such as that. Next week it will be cars aqua-planing across the road.
Miss my room
Duncan
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