Ride a Tram - Part 2

Riding on Melbourne trams is a great way to watch Melbournians in their natural habitat, and spy the endlessly entertaining parade of people go by. Here's a sample of what you may notice on any given day...

A thin 20-something Muslim girl wearing a black Jellabah, which has leopard print piping, and under which you could see her acid-wash jeans and sneakers.

The business man in his brown business suit, listening to his iPod Nano.

The business womand on the tram, wearing a business suit and cradling her toddler in her lap. She was feeding her baby a banana.

The 30-something man with spiky black hair and designer eyewear, and a tattooed arm.

The Jenny-Kee look alike, falling asleep on the Camberwell line.

The African lady in a bold African print (red and yellow) dress. Her hair braided into many tiniy braids that sticked out from her scalp lie a forest of miniature palm trees.

The Asian student reading "The Foodies' Secret Guide".

The homeless man in a woollen pinstripe suit, whose scent of gutter and rotting cardboard wafted through the tram.

On the sidewalk I watch a walking cliché: a suited woman wearing sneakers, she carries a foam cup of take-away skinny-soya-chino. She power-walks past all the tasteless women who team their office outfits with rubber thongs.

Amongst the anonymous crowd: a familiar face. Anthony J., my University lecturer in multimedia. His placid Buddah-like face floats above the nameless morning crowd of pedestrians.

At the Flinders Street tram stop, an Indian lady is wearing a saffron-coloured sari.

The posse of Indigenous Australians, homeless men and street kids, who camp on the benches at the feet of St. Paul's Cathedral, form a corroboree of cigarette butts and plastic cups of beer.

A group of cricket fans raids the tram. They are dressed in Green and Gold, and shout hymns from the Bamy Army song book.

Opposite me, a man with an elephant-print tie puts down his book, stares out the window, sighs uncontrollably and shakes his head as if a great weight might be crushing him. Maybe it's those elephans...