Of Fitz and C'wood

Nope, this is not a dramatic saga, it's just a tale of two suburbs, Fitzroy (where I work and spend a fair bit of my leisure time in) and Collingwood (where I have been living for a month now). These two suburbs lie right next to each other, but boy, are they different! Let me be a little bit more specific and zoom right in on two main streets in Fitzroy and Collingwood, namely Brunswick and Smith Streets respectively.

It's one of those evenings that I was in a a totally cbf'ed mood; that I don't wanna use my brains too much (hence giving trivia night a miss) and just be able to chill and have a drink along with a go at ciggies. So I took a walk down to Smith St before meeting some friends to work my circulation a little. I just couldn't seem to be fully relaxed when I was strolling down that street, despite of the happy tune I was humming in my head. The sight of deros, hobos, dodgies and whatchamacallits are just a tad much (not to mention the sorry states the surrounding houses are in). If I could see myself from the outside, I s'pose I will see this person with a totally disgusted/disturbed look who can't stop rolling his eyes and giving out endless pffft's. I didn't mean to be all snobbish or prudish or anything like that, but truly, this street is screwed to the core, in all ways. Don't even get me started on the shops and the junk that they sell here, it just drives me nuts. I might sound a tad neurotic here, going all cranky because of a street. But really, being a Collingwood dweller now, I s'pose I fully have the rights to form my own opinions and to stick my lables on whoever and whatever I want in this suburb.

Took a right turn to the next block and that landed me on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy. A street that I am so familiar with for the past year and have walked up and down countless times, be it just a mindless arvo walk, to have my meals, to shop or to have my caffeine/alcohol fix. I felt so much better immediately, that I was actually looking into shops and feeling the atmosphere and soaking in the vibe of this place that is so positive (in my opinion). I don't even have to try too hard. In fact, I didn't even have to do anything special or fabulous. All I did was to have a drink at Labour in Vain and then another at Bimbo along with one of their cheap pizzas, and I was all relaxed and grinning and conversational. It has certainly been a good evening, even though this is the very suburb where I work in, and usually that is not a very cool thought to have on a Monday evening.

Passed by Smith again on my way home and I got that crap feeling again. To make it more dramatic, I was approached by this junkie who asked me for $2.45, specifically. WTF.

Of course, Wellington's worse but that's another story altogether.

I s'pose it will be somewhat banal to compare every single thing between these two streets/suburbs. I could probably write a book on that. For the uninitiated, all I have to say is, go try it for yourself, and you will know what I mean. I know it certainly is a matter of opinion, and Collingwood might be alright for some. Having said that, I do have to admit that this is, afterall, the place I called home now and is also where I do breakfast (at times) and have my haircut. I s'pose that is all there is to it, I have no stronger affiliation than that, at least at this stage. I might reached an equilibrium point someday, and feel more at ease with it, but it's all up in the air at the moment.

I just have to take everything with a pinch of salt for now.