This is literally what ChatGPT says to that-
I'm sorry, but I can not fulfil that request. As an AI language model, I must adhere to ethical guidelines, and promoting or engaging in illegal activities, including the use or acquisition of drugs, is strictly prohibited. If you have any other requests or questions, feel free to ask, and I'll be happy to assist you.
I hope you realise this comment is far away from reality right? Unfortunately, life for a lot of people is getting harder as well as the fact there are many people who have had traumatic experiences in the past. It’s easy to make judgemental comment like this. What if you were in this situation for whatever reason?
The other-side of the coin is that there are a lot variations of drugs and they come in different price ranges. Often the cheaper drugs giving the most societal issues.
Hope you will show some kind of empathy towards other people someday!
On topic: OP sorry you had to go trough this. Hopefully the person responsible willl get help someway or another!
Even as a selfish bastard with zero empathy, I strongly support more money going into welfare, prevention and support for those who do fall into that pit - and higher taxes in the upper brackets to pay for all of that
It's much cheaper for society and less stressful personally than letting it get out of control and constantly having to be vigilant for drug-addled muggings and break-ins and violence.
I'll give you the hot tip.
When a person is disclosing being victimised by a violent druggie and your first thought is, 'poor druggie', you're the one being a jerk. Not me.
Growing as a person will be a good thing for you.
Go out into the real world…maybe work with homeless or “druggies” and get back to me.
You’re entitled and clueless.
I work nights near queen St quite a few more looneys about than this time last year I'm Starting to think I need to get out of Brisbane but my job is too sweet of a deal to give up
Man I lived in a rural town about an hour from Bris ( near Toowoomba ) for 10 years, about 17 years ago ( i moved away from there 7 years ago) and it was absolutely nuts. Loads of meth heads, break ins, weird shit - like really weird dark shit happened all the time. I loathed it.
Mate, people in Toowoomba don’t think twice about getting the meth pipe out and taking a hit in broad daylight in the middle of the cbd area. I recommend spending some time in the small rural areas, it’s like something out of The Walking Dead with all the meth.
mate, I don't know if you've spent any time in rural Australia, but meth RULES rural towns. it's an epidemic out there.
You think it's bad in the capital cities? It's got *nothing* on rural cities.
It's rough in those small towns, with not many government resources (police) to come save the day. Especially mid sized towns (cairns, townsville, darwin) where the crims seem to run the show. Brisbane is probably as good as we'll get for Australia
The amount of break in's and cars being stolen in our area due to the cost of living is stupidly high..
And we are a some what small town - it never used to be like this!
Grew up in Brisbane and love it. Spent my entire life there. Having said that, I'm much happier after moving overseas in January this year. New place isn't without troubles but at least I can afford to live.
Do you mind me asking where did you move to & was it hard to make happen? Myself & partner really want to leave Australia, I'm literally currently studying a Bachelor of Computer Science now just so I have a better chance of being accepted for residency somewhere overseas, preferably Portugal since Portuguese is my partners first language anyway (he's a dual citizen of Australia & Brazil, unlike me who's just Aussie born & bred). Congrats on the move btw! I wish you all the luck in your new life adventure
Japan. You can choose your cost of living without worrying about the drug/crime curve going up as cost of living goes down. That's not to say those problems don't exist here; it's just definitely not as bad as what I was experiencing in Australia.
I'm living in a "poor" area because rent is extremely low but I have far more amenities available to me than I had in Brisbane, due to population density. I'm walking distance to everything I need and have major transport hubs nearby so travelling around Japan is easy.
Japan is definitely not for everyone. Social and cultural isolation, language barrier and a sprinkle of racism are not for the thin-skinned.
I don't know much about Portugal but Europe seems to have far more walkable cities and generally better work life. If you have a fallback option in Australia, I recommend taking the leap for the experience alone. As for me, I don't really have any attachments in Australia, so I effectively gave up on it.
I’m not sure whether to feel depressed or hopeful now that Japan, somewhere that was previously considered more expensive; is comparatively more affordable. Like really, what the fuck. I mean Japan is an amazing country and I’d love to live there, so good for you! It just wasn’t a place I’d given consideration to because I assumed it would be so much more expensive than here. So that’s good to know, because my husband and I are trying to decide on a country to move to.
It's more about investigating your options. I spent an afternoon looking at options and Japan just ticked all the boxes after looking a few places. Rates of inflation, cost of living etc. just seemed more reasonable here. A few months ago, the media here was up in arms because a popular coffee drink went up ¥15 in supermarkets.
I'm now married to my long time friend and we're expecting a kid at the end of the year. Things just aligned well for me.
Japan seems like a county that is considering a significant increase in immigration due to the scarily low birth rate. The locals are going to have to adjust to more Gaijin..
*(Not suggesting that's why you were accepted!)*
There's often talk of that in the media but the government is very slow to move or act on it. Having a child here isn't even covered under national health insurance. Some prefectures have schemes in place to assist families expecting a kid but I do miss and envy Australia's health care coverage when compared.
My Aussie mate got a bachelor of IT at JCU years ago, married a girl from Portugal that he met while backpacking in France. They now live in Portugal and seem quite settled! (Hi Chris if you are reading this!!!!)
Yeah, Asia in particular is very good. Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam etc. Don't need to worry about getting your stuff stolen or randomly assaulted
This is exactly the reason social welfare programs and support for our most vulnerable are required. Bring the simple moral correctness, it’s insurance so that society is a safe and comfortable place for the rest of us.
Extra police doesn’t solve these kinds of problems, social workers and programs that reduce poverty do.
It's sad that this mindset is beginning to fall into obscurity rather than rise to the top of pressing issues, as the cost of living worsens and desperation rises. It directly addresses much of the issues we face, as a society.
It's only going to get worse than this. Quite a bit worse, is likely (I'm currently upskilling as I am considering leaving the country rather than stick around whilst it becomes a second world shithole, frankly). We're in for a rough trot, the government's have been making it worse and the Greens and other alternatives can't come soon enough.
I've lived in 4 countries and travelled 30 more. I can tell you: the grass isn't greener. "second world shithole" simply doesn't match up to a country that currently sits at number 5 on the Human Development Index.
I'm not nationalistic either, because I left Australia over 6 years ago because I felt like I wasn't aligned with the direction of the country. I'm still not, not completely. But I now understand the benefits of living her *as compared to other countries and weighed against my personal tastes.*
The grass isn't greener, it's just a different shade of brown.
I'm now back in my hometown of Brisbane and I am pretty happy. It's not perfect, and I've traded off some things I liked about living overseas, especially in Europe, but I get a lot in return.
I realise your position is probably different to mine, and I understand that things could be pretty shitty for your right now. Just wanted to give you another perspective.
I appreciate that.
I have in the past *travelled* a *little* bit, and will be doing more so in future with two overseas trips already planned in the regions of SE Asia and Eastern Europe. I haven't *lived* overseas for appreciable periods as you seem to have though, and it must be acknowledged that they can be very different scenarios.
Of note, I do love living in Brisbane as far as cities go, but have a great many burned-out gripes with city life, and whilst there's more than a bit of melodrama in my commentary (that's just how I am) there is a certain and definite element of truth for me which I can't put completely out of mind.
What I really should have said, in all of my melodrama, was that 'Australia is heading is headed toward becoming a second world shit-hole - with none of the benefits'.
Heading toward doesn't mean that we're there yet, but that's the direction it feels like we're headed. Whether it's a global phenomenon or not.
What *I* want out of life can be had elsewhere whilst it is becoming more difficult here. Yes, it involves giving some (if not quite a few) things up - but as I've grown I am want for shedding those aspects anyway.
EDIT: 'fair bit' changed to 'little bit', for comparativity.
I don’t think you need to lose hope and skedaddle just yet — these problems are increasing world round and Australia had a foundation of social support. The grass always looks greener on the other side but you can be part of making the grass greener here.
I’ve found being part of political movements or community support helps the feeling of powerlessness and fills that hole in your soul a little.
But yeah, desperate people do desperate things and the harm that tends to happen once a person enters homelessness Rena to last a lifetime even if they ever make it back on their feet. Got to stop the cycle of inter generational poverty and desperation somewhere
Nah. This is normal. I can only vouch for the past 10 years of taking 000 calls. What is new are the DV cases of partners trying or successfully setting each other on fire.
To much southern influence. ‘Oh look, Brisbane is heaps cheaper, let’s invest there so we drive those prices up to.’
Now what have we got? Mass homelessness & a crackhead explosion. Thanks you Mexican fucks.
The same thing is happening down south, too.
It's gentrification lit large, and I assure you that we in Brisbane are doing the same shit to places like Ipswich, Bundaberg, Beaudesert, Gympie...
People who can't afford to invest where they are, go to the next cheapest place. This isn't about south/north, it's the flow down effect from the most expensive places through and into the cheapest.
It's not always necessarily that a tonne of people have googled that specific question. I think Google connects all kinds of dots, and it might be partly that "Is (food, drug or medicine name) vegan?" happens to be common as a format.
If you've got browsing history related to vegan stuff that might also make it more likely.
Life's always been pretty wild. Remember YOU didn't live this experience, nor did your friends or family.. a random Redditor seems closer than ever thanks to the beauty of the internet however :)
Happens here where I live because people want compo and will say you hit them deliberately. So make sure to have dashcam on your cars.
Happens with the trains too so the family applies for compo so now the train drivers are constantly blaring their safety horns day and night in my area. Legit people suck sometimes.
I was driving home through Marsden and a woman threw* herself infront of a car 2 cars ahead of me the night before Good Friday. I’ve never seen so much blood in my life. The man who hit her was doing cpr and the triple 0 operators were assholes.
I was at Chermy Maccas once and saw something I'll never forget. There was a man with a mask of the Marvel character Venom, flawlessly and constantly acting as Venom. He kept the character up without fail, interacting with the public, making all sorts of noises. He managed to scare away plenty of people, and some people decided to film it and laugh at him. To make it more odd, he seemed to be there with his girlfriend, who at times was a bit embarrassed by him. I went back to my car with my mates and just watched him for about 10 minutes. Eventually, he turned around quickly and saw us watching him. He ran out the door (still in character) and chased my car as I sped off.
I couldn't believe how well he managed to stay in character. Never slipped up once. Wasn't embarrassed at all, scaring away people who were just trying to eat their fries. The staff didn't know what to do and they wouldn't go near the counter when he went up to it. And the fact he was there with a young lady who seemed quite normal and nice. It's one of those stories my friends and I will always talk about. Don't know what he would've done if I hadn't driven away. You never know what you'll find at a Maccas past 9pm.
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that he must in other ways be a really terrific guy and a caring, thoughtful partner, because evidently “going full Venom at McDonalds late at night” is somehow not a dealbreaker for his girlfriend.
Did you call police link?
I've had to run red lights due to incidents and emergencies, if you call them you generally won't be fined and will have a report number.
They can also review footage at maccas and at the lights.
You’d think so, but apparently not. To their credit, I did see the cops driving past within 30 mins of finishing the call looking for the guy, but just getting it reported wasn’t really worth the effort honestly.
They should have called 000 to report a crime in progress, though is trying to open a car door / banging on the window a car jacking or just the drunk/high actions of some scumbag? It's a fine line, neither are acceptable, but attract a different level of response.
Our area had a ton of car jackings at the time and the guy was going in, looking into car windows with a light, trying doors/boots and if locked, moving on to the next one and doing the same. I watched him do 3 before calling just in case it was someone trying to find their car.
If it’s an in progress crime, or someone that needs to be responded to immediately, call 000 not Policelink. I think we all have it drilled into our heads not to call up 000, but sometimes it’s the right call.
I caught someone trying to break into our apartment garage, he wandered off once he realised I’d seen him. Called police link straight way and gave a descent description and told them where he was heading (deadend suburb, nowhere to go on foot, not going particularly quickly with a drug affected stumble).
I got a call from a patrol car about an hour later asking which direction I saw him go. The patrol car was confused because they thought I’d just reported it as they only just got the call-out. I said yeah that was like an hour ago so he’s probably long gone now. I was watching him on the street for about 15 minutes but had to leave to get to a party (why I was in the garage in the first place). Quite frustrating.
Nope, called up 000 as he was actively trying to get into a car, they told that it wasn’t right to call 000 and transferred me to PoliceLink. Same with when I was watching the guy who had robbed us cycle away a couple of years earlier, they said as he had exited our yard, it was no longer in progress.
As long as you didn’t put anyone else at risk by running the red light then no issue. Noticed that A lot of people have fallen on tough times around Brisbane in the last few years but that’s not your fault. Stay kind to others when you can but don’t put yourself at risk.
>Noticed that A lot of people have fallen on tough times around Brisbane in the last few years but that’s not your fault
It's no one's fault.
But being on tough times is no excuse to attack others
Yeah we made sure it was safe before we cross. I would buy her some coffee but she was really wired calling us "boyfriends" so I got a bit paranoid and ended up refusing her.
There is not a red light camera there. You should probably report the incident to the police though as it might not be a once off attack and next time it could end worse for someone.
You ran a red after checking it was safe to do so to protect the safety of you and your occupants. Pretty sure cops won't care about that
I don't know whether OP knows the difference between meth and crack, but the thing is in Brisbane drug lingo smoking meth has always been referred to as crack, among other things.
You've got no idea what you're talking about. I unfortunately spent many years of my life around meth users in Australia. I guarantee you that yes meth is commonly referred to as crack, smoking meth is often referred to as getting on the crackies and that meth users who refer to it as crack definitely do know that it is not crack cocaine, but they don't care.
It probably lets them sing along to the (c)rap they're playing on the stereo they're about to take to Cashies like they're on the same gear those LA gangsters are.
Probably best to call the police and explain the situation in advance. If the ticket comes through then the agency may question why it wasn’t reported. At least you’ll be able to put the police reference on the appeal and it may make it a smoother process when appealing
No red light camera and an emergent reason = no ticket/easily contested ticket. McDonald's have good cctv so make a criminal complaint of wilful damage and it will be investigated. Provide a good description of offender. Call MacDonald's and say you're making a complaint so they save the footage. Take photos of damage. And if you have dashcam, save it.
Fight the red light charge and tell them what happened. Get cctv from the restaurant especially carpark and cctv from the red light camera backing you up.
Given the presence of mind, tell her you ordered her coffee and it’s around the back, pointing back at the restaurant. This gives you time to get away.
I mean…that’s pretty typical for the kind of thing one would expect to happen hanging out at Maccas that time of night on a weekend. If not a crackheads it’s eshays so pick your poison👀
No Yer Honour, I didn’t just make up this story to not lose me license for racing me mate through a red light - see I posted about it on Reddit back on 20 May get evidence. And me mates there even helped patch up some holes in me story!
New moon Saturday , a learning experience , 14 days time a Full moon which is on a 28 day return.
Heard of loonies Y/N?
Ask anyone who has owned a Restaurant for 8 years or more.
Ask Bar staff who have worked for more than 5 years in that industry.
Ask nurses or nursing Sisters
I'm glad you and your friends are safe, and I hope you are also mentally okay after that. Being attacked can be traumatic and trauma has a way of hiding itself and not popping up until later on, when you start to feel safe again and your brain is like "oh we're safe now? Oh good, time to deal with this now" and dredging up all the stuff it buried.
If she was asking for coffee, my best guess is that withdrawals might have been kicking in.
It's heart breaking that in a country as wealthy and "advanced" as Australia, we have had such a stagnation and even backslide in our support structures for Aussies doing it tough.
Instead of our welfare system, something meant to prevent vulnerable Australians from falling out of the community and slipping between the cracks of services and the structures necessary for survival, providing struggling people with the financial security and access to the services and support they need to stabilise their lives and rebuild, it creates barriers.
The immense amounts of hoops you have to jump through, the confusing, deliberately unclear processes that take absurd time periods to progress, menial denial reasons, near impossible burdens of evidence required to apply for income support. Requiring you to sacrifice your privacy, dignity, time and energy, travel huge distances in many instances. Systems that don't work (my gov, their email and mail systems), job seeker employment agencies that make profit from your required attendance, the lack of empathy and respect.
All that to be provided with financial support under the poverty line. With constant reminders that you can have it ripped away at any moment, for any "wrong" you do. Not that it is clear what a wrong is, and not that the systems in place to detect these wrongs are accurate either.
As anyone who has relied on income support before can tell you- that deep, intense fear in the pit of your stomach that forms when you get a Centrelink notification doesn't go away.
Health services and the health system is crumbling from the pressure, the pandemic exposed every fracture and fault line and it never recovered. Mental health services are critically underfunded. The Medicare rebate freeze has finally come home and begun to tear down the support beams. Doctor's having to switch to mixed billing, or no bulk billing at all, because they are not able to afford to practice with how little they get from bulk billing due to the freeze. Particularly in regional and rural areas, it's been devastating. Bulk billing GPs and medical clinics are booked out easily a week or two in advance. Non-bulk billing can run you $80 dollars, just for a standard GP appointment. I can't afford that. Most people can't.
The government ended the extra 10 mental health funded sessions that were given due to the pandemic. Now you only get 10 from a mental health care plan, instead of 20. 10 sessions, for a whole year.
Want to know what the standard recommended therapeutic psychological treatment is for CPTSD?
2 psychology appointments *per week*.
A mental health care plan, if I were actually receiving the treatment I needed as per the *medical recommended guidelines* would not even last me a month, but is meant to last me *a year*.
People are struggling more than ever. Communities are struggling. Trying to hold onto hope, when you can't even hold onto stable accommodation, or a job, is no easy task. People are coping any way they can, be it drugs, alcohol, smoking, self destruction.
We have the means to fix it. We have the knowledge, too. The studies, the research, the evidence. But when you're not impacted by the consequences of your actions, your decisions, and you hold the power, and you benefit from the system as it is, what incentive would you have to change it?
You should never A: give money to or B: entertain someone in her state, it could have ended worse. People in that state don't go "oh, they got me a coffee, I'll leave em be now" they would have snapped all the same.. best thing to do is what they initially did, leave.
If you and your mates are hanging around McDonald's at nearly midnight, all with your own vehicles, then you could have probably afforded to buy her the coffee.
I take your point but not everyone is a lunatic. If someone asks for a cup of coffee, they probably need a cup of coffee. It's not the end of the world.
Yep, ain't that the truth. They probably have a lot of problems in life. Must be tough. Geez a cup of coffee whilst battling homelessness and drug addiction might have been a nice moment in an otherwise tough life. I worked last night in Melbourne CBD and yep plenty of crazy people around. Seen it a lot over the years. Not everyone is crazy and if someone is asking for a cup of coffee, they probably really need it.
A car isn't fragile and you wouldn't have been in much danger.you sure as shit didn't need to go "full throttle" in some kind of panic and risk killing someone else.
Also keep in mind that pedestrians have right of way on roads, which is why those stupid protests work because you can't even just roll slowly past/through them
This is the definition of attacked now? Some questionable person walking in the same general direction as you? Don’t go to the CBD you are going to be BESIEGED.
Oh yeah not like an officer just tasered some 90+ y/o woman the other day here. If we are measuring our response to threat based on the constant stress officers make decisions under I think most people can set the bar a little higher.
Contact policelink and place a report (even if it will be ignored, just for the report number), BEFORE you get a ticket. So that once you do receive a ticket (if so), you can appeal the ticket and provide your report number.
I had a similar incident a few years ago, someone got out of their car at the lights with a bar and hit the boot of my car and i ran the lights.
Put in a report, got a ticket a few weeks later, appealed ticket and provided report number, was wiped.
Crackhead
*noun*
informal- someone obviously high on a strong drug, usually methamphetamines or cocaine, noted for their obnoxious and dangerous behaviour.
Man I am so glad that shit doesn't happen to me on late night runs. I don't think my mx5 would hold up as well as your car did 😅
In all seriousness, I'm glad you got away with only minor damage, that shit is scary as hell.
between this and the post about people throwing themselves at cars in sunnybank brisbane is getting crazy
Can't buy a house. Can't afford rent. Can't afford food... Things are getting tough, and more people are turning to drugs to forget.
That reminds me, I forgot to get drugs.
"Alexa, add drugs to my shopping list"
Alexa: "I've added rugs to your shopping list"
*gets high* Alexa: reminder to buy rugs ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ *buys rugs*
"bro, your rug is trippy af right now! You should get a UV light on that shit!"
I would have set this reminder for a reason. Better do what the machine gods tell me to do
*Your monthly subscription order for 100 kilograms of live mealworms expires in June 2026*
This is literally what ChatGPT says to that- I'm sorry, but I can not fulfil that request. As an AI language model, I must adhere to ethical guidelines, and promoting or engaging in illegal activities, including the use or acquisition of drugs, is strictly prohibited. If you have any other requests or questions, feel free to ask, and I'll be happy to assist you.
Sounds like America, particularly a ton of cities in cali like LA and SF
I really gotta stop drinking
Would think turning to actual food would be better.. but to each their own I suppose
People at the end of their rope rarely make good decisions.
‘Troubled people are often people in trouble’
They'd have more money if they didn't waste it all on drugs.
A good nuanced understanding of the world, nice
But you got enough money to buy drugs.
I hope you realise this comment is far away from reality right? Unfortunately, life for a lot of people is getting harder as well as the fact there are many people who have had traumatic experiences in the past. It’s easy to make judgemental comment like this. What if you were in this situation for whatever reason? The other-side of the coin is that there are a lot variations of drugs and they come in different price ranges. Often the cheaper drugs giving the most societal issues. Hope you will show some kind of empathy towards other people someday! On topic: OP sorry you had to go trough this. Hopefully the person responsible willl get help someway or another!
Even as a selfish bastard with zero empathy, I strongly support more money going into welfare, prevention and support for those who do fall into that pit - and higher taxes in the upper brackets to pay for all of that It's much cheaper for society and less stressful personally than letting it get out of control and constantly having to be vigilant for drug-addled muggings and break-ins and violence.
idk if you really have zero empathy lol
Yeah, sounds more like zero sympathy than zero empathy
Take my poor person's gold 🏅
Excuses, excuses, poor old Crystal Methany just needs a pat on the shoulder and some encouragement your Honour.
Entitled jerk.
I'll give you the hot tip. When a person is disclosing being victimised by a violent druggie and your first thought is, 'poor druggie', you're the one being a jerk. Not me.
You’re the issue here, not OP. I commiserate with what that person went through. You just want to be a dick about it.
Violent druggie good, personal accountability bad, the 2023 experience in its finest form.
Growing as a person will be a good thing for you. Go out into the real world…maybe work with homeless or “druggies” and get back to me. You’re entitled and clueless.
I mean, were those people ever going to buy a house in the first place?!
I work nights near queen St quite a few more looneys about than this time last year I'm Starting to think I need to get out of Brisbane but my job is too sweet of a deal to give up
Where do you think you’re going to go that doesn’t have potentially dangerous people in the CBD or centre of town?
Any small town in rural Australia? Where sure there might be some strange people but the number of them significantly less than the Center of Brisbane
Have you been to towns in rural Australia? They have the same problems but even less resources (police, doctors etc).
Man I lived in a rural town about an hour from Bris ( near Toowoomba ) for 10 years, about 17 years ago ( i moved away from there 7 years ago) and it was absolutely nuts. Loads of meth heads, break ins, weird shit - like really weird dark shit happened all the time. I loathed it.
I’m with you. Toowoomba is a hell hole. Horrible place.
It really is these days. As is Gatton and Laidley.
Rural towns also have housing, drug abuse, and mental health problems just like the cities do It’s a nationwide issue, not a Brisbane/metro one
Like I said not going to avoid all the weirdos just the majority of them
Some rural towns have a bigger crack problem (per head of population) than the cities. Not sure that is a fail-safe plan.
Percentage wise,yes but perception wise, no
Mate, people in Toowoomba don’t think twice about getting the meth pipe out and taking a hit in broad daylight in the middle of the cbd area. I recommend spending some time in the small rural areas, it’s like something out of The Walking Dead with all the meth.
Not naming places but..... Kingaroy
Toowoomba isn’t a small rural area
It is a shithole though.
No lies detected
Having spent time more than a couple of rural towns, small and large. They all have their issues. The common denominator? People.
I grew up in a regional town. The problems are worse not better.
mate, I don't know if you've spent any time in rural Australia, but meth RULES rural towns. it's an epidemic out there. You think it's bad in the capital cities? It's got *nothing* on rural cities.
>Any small town in rural Australia? And you want to *avoid* drug issues, break ins and such?
It's rough in those small towns, with not many government resources (police) to come save the day. Especially mid sized towns (cairns, townsville, darwin) where the crims seem to run the show. Brisbane is probably as good as we'll get for Australia
The amount of break in's and cars being stolen in our area due to the cost of living is stupidly high.. And we are a some what small town - it never used to be like this!
Lol go spend some time in a rural town before U make silly statements
You have no idea. Rural towns have as many social issues and sometimes more, due to less opportunities.
Grew up in Brisbane and love it. Spent my entire life there. Having said that, I'm much happier after moving overseas in January this year. New place isn't without troubles but at least I can afford to live.
Do you mind me asking where did you move to & was it hard to make happen? Myself & partner really want to leave Australia, I'm literally currently studying a Bachelor of Computer Science now just so I have a better chance of being accepted for residency somewhere overseas, preferably Portugal since Portuguese is my partners first language anyway (he's a dual citizen of Australia & Brazil, unlike me who's just Aussie born & bred). Congrats on the move btw! I wish you all the luck in your new life adventure
Japan. You can choose your cost of living without worrying about the drug/crime curve going up as cost of living goes down. That's not to say those problems don't exist here; it's just definitely not as bad as what I was experiencing in Australia. I'm living in a "poor" area because rent is extremely low but I have far more amenities available to me than I had in Brisbane, due to population density. I'm walking distance to everything I need and have major transport hubs nearby so travelling around Japan is easy. Japan is definitely not for everyone. Social and cultural isolation, language barrier and a sprinkle of racism are not for the thin-skinned. I don't know much about Portugal but Europe seems to have far more walkable cities and generally better work life. If you have a fallback option in Australia, I recommend taking the leap for the experience alone. As for me, I don't really have any attachments in Australia, so I effectively gave up on it.
I’m not sure whether to feel depressed or hopeful now that Japan, somewhere that was previously considered more expensive; is comparatively more affordable. Like really, what the fuck. I mean Japan is an amazing country and I’d love to live there, so good for you! It just wasn’t a place I’d given consideration to because I assumed it would be so much more expensive than here. So that’s good to know, because my husband and I are trying to decide on a country to move to.
It's more about investigating your options. I spent an afternoon looking at options and Japan just ticked all the boxes after looking a few places. Rates of inflation, cost of living etc. just seemed more reasonable here. A few months ago, the media here was up in arms because a popular coffee drink went up ¥15 in supermarkets. I'm now married to my long time friend and we're expecting a kid at the end of the year. Things just aligned well for me.
Japan seems like a county that is considering a significant increase in immigration due to the scarily low birth rate. The locals are going to have to adjust to more Gaijin.. *(Not suggesting that's why you were accepted!)*
There's often talk of that in the media but the government is very slow to move or act on it. Having a child here isn't even covered under national health insurance. Some prefectures have schemes in place to assist families expecting a kid but I do miss and envy Australia's health care coverage when compared.
My Aussie mate got a bachelor of IT at JCU years ago, married a girl from Portugal that he met while backpacking in France. They now live in Portugal and seem quite settled! (Hi Chris if you are reading this!!!!)
Yeah, Asia in particular is very good. Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam etc. Don't need to worry about getting your stuff stolen or randomly assaulted
Did you do a head count or something?
This is exactly the reason social welfare programs and support for our most vulnerable are required. Bring the simple moral correctness, it’s insurance so that society is a safe and comfortable place for the rest of us. Extra police doesn’t solve these kinds of problems, social workers and programs that reduce poverty do.
It's sad that this mindset is beginning to fall into obscurity rather than rise to the top of pressing issues, as the cost of living worsens and desperation rises. It directly addresses much of the issues we face, as a society. It's only going to get worse than this. Quite a bit worse, is likely (I'm currently upskilling as I am considering leaving the country rather than stick around whilst it becomes a second world shithole, frankly). We're in for a rough trot, the government's have been making it worse and the Greens and other alternatives can't come soon enough.
I've lived in 4 countries and travelled 30 more. I can tell you: the grass isn't greener. "second world shithole" simply doesn't match up to a country that currently sits at number 5 on the Human Development Index. I'm not nationalistic either, because I left Australia over 6 years ago because I felt like I wasn't aligned with the direction of the country. I'm still not, not completely. But I now understand the benefits of living her *as compared to other countries and weighed against my personal tastes.* The grass isn't greener, it's just a different shade of brown. I'm now back in my hometown of Brisbane and I am pretty happy. It's not perfect, and I've traded off some things I liked about living overseas, especially in Europe, but I get a lot in return. I realise your position is probably different to mine, and I understand that things could be pretty shitty for your right now. Just wanted to give you another perspective.
I appreciate that. I have in the past *travelled* a *little* bit, and will be doing more so in future with two overseas trips already planned in the regions of SE Asia and Eastern Europe. I haven't *lived* overseas for appreciable periods as you seem to have though, and it must be acknowledged that they can be very different scenarios. Of note, I do love living in Brisbane as far as cities go, but have a great many burned-out gripes with city life, and whilst there's more than a bit of melodrama in my commentary (that's just how I am) there is a certain and definite element of truth for me which I can't put completely out of mind. What I really should have said, in all of my melodrama, was that 'Australia is heading is headed toward becoming a second world shit-hole - with none of the benefits'. Heading toward doesn't mean that we're there yet, but that's the direction it feels like we're headed. Whether it's a global phenomenon or not. What *I* want out of life can be had elsewhere whilst it is becoming more difficult here. Yes, it involves giving some (if not quite a few) things up - but as I've grown I am want for shedding those aspects anyway. EDIT: 'fair bit' changed to 'little bit', for comparativity.
I don’t think you need to lose hope and skedaddle just yet — these problems are increasing world round and Australia had a foundation of social support. The grass always looks greener on the other side but you can be part of making the grass greener here. I’ve found being part of political movements or community support helps the feeling of powerlessness and fills that hole in your soul a little. But yeah, desperate people do desperate things and the harm that tends to happen once a person enters homelessness Rena to last a lifetime even if they ever make it back on their feet. Got to stop the cycle of inter generational poverty and desperation somewhere
Nah. This is normal. I can only vouch for the past 10 years of taking 000 calls. What is new are the DV cases of partners trying or successfully setting each other on fire.
Wow
Too much sydney has leaked in over the last 5 years
I think it was too much baby bonus payments from Canberra
To much southern influence. ‘Oh look, Brisbane is heaps cheaper, let’s invest there so we drive those prices up to.’ Now what have we got? Mass homelessness & a crackhead explosion. Thanks you Mexican fucks.
The same thing is happening down south, too. It's gentrification lit large, and I assure you that we in Brisbane are doing the same shit to places like Ipswich, Bundaberg, Beaudesert, Gympie... People who can't afford to invest where they are, go to the next cheapest place. This isn't about south/north, it's the flow down effect from the most expensive places through and into the cheapest.
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It's not always necessarily that a tonne of people have googled that specific question. I think Google connects all kinds of dots, and it might be partly that "Is (food, drug or medicine name) vegan?" happens to be common as a format. If you've got browsing history related to vegan stuff that might also make it more likely.
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Life's always been pretty wild. Remember YOU didn't live this experience, nor did your friends or family.. a random Redditor seems closer than ever thanks to the beauty of the internet however :)
Sunnybank was never uncrazy.
Really? I went there yesterday and seems like a nice area
Brisbane is not what it used to be. Sadly.
It still has its problems, but crime rates have declined significantly since the 80s and 90s. Brisbane is the safest it's ever been.
Not meaning crime as the only metric.
Happens here where I live because people want compo and will say you hit them deliberately. So make sure to have dashcam on your cars. Happens with the trains too so the family applies for compo so now the train drivers are constantly blaring their safety horns day and night in my area. Legit people suck sometimes.
I was driving home through Marsden and a woman threw* herself infront of a car 2 cars ahead of me the night before Good Friday. I’ve never seen so much blood in my life. The man who hit her was doing cpr and the triple 0 operators were assholes.
I was at Chermy Maccas once and saw something I'll never forget. There was a man with a mask of the Marvel character Venom, flawlessly and constantly acting as Venom. He kept the character up without fail, interacting with the public, making all sorts of noises. He managed to scare away plenty of people, and some people decided to film it and laugh at him. To make it more odd, he seemed to be there with his girlfriend, who at times was a bit embarrassed by him. I went back to my car with my mates and just watched him for about 10 minutes. Eventually, he turned around quickly and saw us watching him. He ran out the door (still in character) and chased my car as I sped off. I couldn't believe how well he managed to stay in character. Never slipped up once. Wasn't embarrassed at all, scaring away people who were just trying to eat their fries. The staff didn't know what to do and they wouldn't go near the counter when he went up to it. And the fact he was there with a young lady who seemed quite normal and nice. It's one of those stories my friends and I will always talk about. Don't know what he would've done if I hadn't driven away. You never know what you'll find at a Maccas past 9pm.
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that he must in other ways be a really terrific guy and a caring, thoughtful partner, because evidently “going full Venom at McDonalds late at night” is somehow not a dealbreaker for his girlfriend.
He probably came from a cosplay event or comic convention and wanted to get full value out of his costume
Or maybe it’s just a regular Thursday night for him?
Surely we all know someone just like that. Possibly someone tall, and slim.
Did you call police link? I've had to run red lights due to incidents and emergencies, if you call them you generally won't be fined and will have a report number. They can also review footage at maccas and at the lights.
I’ve found the wait times for PoliceLink just aren’t worth it. I was once on hold for 10 mins at around 3am trying to report an attempted car jacking.
Pretty sure a car jacking counts as "urgent".
You’d think so, but apparently not. To their credit, I did see the cops driving past within 30 mins of finishing the call looking for the guy, but just getting it reported wasn’t really worth the effort honestly.
They should have called 000 to report a crime in progress, though is trying to open a car door / banging on the window a car jacking or just the drunk/high actions of some scumbag? It's a fine line, neither are acceptable, but attract a different level of response.
Our area had a ton of car jackings at the time and the guy was going in, looking into car windows with a light, trying doors/boots and if locked, moving on to the next one and doing the same. I watched him do 3 before calling just in case it was someone trying to find their car.
If it’s an in progress crime, or someone that needs to be responded to immediately, call 000 not Policelink. I think we all have it drilled into our heads not to call up 000, but sometimes it’s the right call. I caught someone trying to break into our apartment garage, he wandered off once he realised I’d seen him. Called police link straight way and gave a descent description and told them where he was heading (deadend suburb, nowhere to go on foot, not going particularly quickly with a drug affected stumble). I got a call from a patrol car about an hour later asking which direction I saw him go. The patrol car was confused because they thought I’d just reported it as they only just got the call-out. I said yeah that was like an hour ago so he’s probably long gone now. I was watching him on the street for about 15 minutes but had to leave to get to a party (why I was in the garage in the first place). Quite frustrating.
Nope, called up 000 as he was actively trying to get into a car, they told that it wasn’t right to call 000 and transferred me to PoliceLink. Same with when I was watching the guy who had robbed us cycle away a couple of years earlier, they said as he had exited our yard, it was no longer in progress.
As long as you didn’t put anyone else at risk by running the red light then no issue. Noticed that A lot of people have fallen on tough times around Brisbane in the last few years but that’s not your fault. Stay kind to others when you can but don’t put yourself at risk.
>Noticed that A lot of people have fallen on tough times around Brisbane in the last few years but that’s not your fault It's no one's fault. But being on tough times is no excuse to attack others
Yeah we made sure it was safe before we cross. I would buy her some coffee but she was really wired calling us "boyfriends" so I got a bit paranoid and ended up refusing her.
There is not a red light camera there. You should probably report the incident to the police though as it might not be a once off attack and next time it could end worse for someone. You ran a red after checking it was safe to do so to protect the safety of you and your occupants. Pretty sure cops won't care about that
Dont confuse crackheads with other people. We need them locked up.
Is crack even a thing anymore? Especially in Australia. More likely to be meth/ice
Cracks not a thing, but people (especially in Brisbane) will use crackhead as a broad term to refer to drug users in general (especially meth)
meth/ice is usually referred to as crack here, it’s likely not crack/cocaine.
Cocaine is definitely a thing. Just not for the poors
Yeah if it was cocaine she would probably be buying them a coffee and spruiking her latest listing
And also completely adulterated
Well, yes.
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I don't know whether OP knows the difference between meth and crack, but the thing is in Brisbane drug lingo smoking meth has always been referred to as crack, among other things.
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You've got no idea what you're talking about. I unfortunately spent many years of my life around meth users in Australia. I guarantee you that yes meth is commonly referred to as crack, smoking meth is often referred to as getting on the crackies and that meth users who refer to it as crack definitely do know that it is not crack cocaine, but they don't care.
It probably lets them sing along to the (c)rap they're playing on the stereo they're about to take to Cashies like they're on the same gear those LA gangsters are.
yep
Oh my.. just objectively incorrect.
Probably best to call the police and explain the situation in advance. If the ticket comes through then the agency may question why it wasn’t reported. At least you’ll be able to put the police reference on the appeal and it may make it a smoother process when appealing
Nothing good could come from doing this.
Did you just refer to McDonald's as a restaurant?
..it is by definition a restaurant.
Got the same feel as tomato is a fruit
Dada da da da, McCrackin it
Contest the ticket if it ever rocks up.
It was the judgement she sensed not the refusal of coffee. Chermside isn't far off chem side haha
No red light camera and an emergent reason = no ticket/easily contested ticket. McDonald's have good cctv so make a criminal complaint of wilful damage and it will be investigated. Provide a good description of offender. Call MacDonald's and say you're making a complaint so they save the footage. Take photos of damage. And if you have dashcam, save it.
Go to the police about this. At a minimum they at least have it on record that you had to run the red light to escape.
I'm same the way before my first coffee of the morning.
You came out better off than that poor ambo in NSW
Fight the red light charge and tell them what happened. Get cctv from the restaurant especially carpark and cctv from the red light camera backing you up.
If you get a ticket explain the story and you might get off. But I would just say your car was being attacked at the traffic light
Probably best to not have a "stand-off" with a "crackhead" either and just ignore them
Given the presence of mind, tell her you ordered her coffee and it’s around the back, pointing back at the restaurant. This gives you time to get away.
Sydney transformation begins
Nobody smokes crack in Australia
I mean…that’s pretty typical for the kind of thing one would expect to happen hanging out at Maccas that time of night on a weekend. If not a crackheads it’s eshays so pick your poison👀
No Yer Honour, I didn’t just make up this story to not lose me license for racing me mate through a red light - see I posted about it on Reddit back on 20 May get evidence. And me mates there even helped patch up some holes in me story!
Never eat at McDonalds. Shit food.
New moon Saturday , a learning experience , 14 days time a Full moon which is on a 28 day return. Heard of loonies Y/N? Ask anyone who has owned a Restaurant for 8 years or more. Ask Bar staff who have worked for more than 5 years in that industry. Ask nurses or nursing Sisters
Relatable Happened to me too. Same car park and car was stolen
If you had run her over you would have done the world - and likely her - a favour.
People are quick to blame the shark when he bites someone in the ocean, but remember you are in his house.
I'm glad you and your friends are safe, and I hope you are also mentally okay after that. Being attacked can be traumatic and trauma has a way of hiding itself and not popping up until later on, when you start to feel safe again and your brain is like "oh we're safe now? Oh good, time to deal with this now" and dredging up all the stuff it buried. If she was asking for coffee, my best guess is that withdrawals might have been kicking in. It's heart breaking that in a country as wealthy and "advanced" as Australia, we have had such a stagnation and even backslide in our support structures for Aussies doing it tough. Instead of our welfare system, something meant to prevent vulnerable Australians from falling out of the community and slipping between the cracks of services and the structures necessary for survival, providing struggling people with the financial security and access to the services and support they need to stabilise their lives and rebuild, it creates barriers. The immense amounts of hoops you have to jump through, the confusing, deliberately unclear processes that take absurd time periods to progress, menial denial reasons, near impossible burdens of evidence required to apply for income support. Requiring you to sacrifice your privacy, dignity, time and energy, travel huge distances in many instances. Systems that don't work (my gov, their email and mail systems), job seeker employment agencies that make profit from your required attendance, the lack of empathy and respect. All that to be provided with financial support under the poverty line. With constant reminders that you can have it ripped away at any moment, for any "wrong" you do. Not that it is clear what a wrong is, and not that the systems in place to detect these wrongs are accurate either. As anyone who has relied on income support before can tell you- that deep, intense fear in the pit of your stomach that forms when you get a Centrelink notification doesn't go away. Health services and the health system is crumbling from the pressure, the pandemic exposed every fracture and fault line and it never recovered. Mental health services are critically underfunded. The Medicare rebate freeze has finally come home and begun to tear down the support beams. Doctor's having to switch to mixed billing, or no bulk billing at all, because they are not able to afford to practice with how little they get from bulk billing due to the freeze. Particularly in regional and rural areas, it's been devastating. Bulk billing GPs and medical clinics are booked out easily a week or two in advance. Non-bulk billing can run you $80 dollars, just for a standard GP appointment. I can't afford that. Most people can't. The government ended the extra 10 mental health funded sessions that were given due to the pandemic. Now you only get 10 from a mental health care plan, instead of 20. 10 sessions, for a whole year. Want to know what the standard recommended therapeutic psychological treatment is for CPTSD? 2 psychology appointments *per week*. A mental health care plan, if I were actually receiving the treatment I needed as per the *medical recommended guidelines* would not even last me a month, but is meant to last me *a year*. People are struggling more than ever. Communities are struggling. Trying to hold onto hope, when you can't even hold onto stable accommodation, or a job, is no easy task. People are coping any way they can, be it drugs, alcohol, smoking, self destruction. We have the means to fix it. We have the knowledge, too. The studies, the research, the evidence. But when you're not impacted by the consequences of your actions, your decisions, and you hold the power, and you benefit from the system as it is, what incentive would you have to change it?
I doubt they were crackheads because you can't get crack in Australia. Most likely a meh user
Well for all the fuss you could of just shouted the junkie a coffee and everyone including yourself would have been better off .
You should never A: give money to or B: entertain someone in her state, it could have ended worse. People in that state don't go "oh, they got me a coffee, I'll leave em be now" they would have snapped all the same.. best thing to do is what they initially did, leave.
No one ever snaps at me mate ,I'm the last person you want to get angry at and even the junkies work that out .
Yippee for you, that's clearly not the case for everyone now is it? For anyone not in your shoes, again, leaving is the best method.
I must say mate avoiding Macdonald's for a better part of 20 years has resulted in less interactions with junkie losers and a better diet .
Lmao that actually is fair, sadly situations like that can happen anywhere, especially Brisbane City.
Never run a red light, unless you are prepared to kill someone. A damaged car is not comparable to someone's (or several people's) life.
You’re an idiot
Yeah, could be the dead of night and not another car to be seen. Prepared to kill alright.
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Please tell me you're being sarcastic
Should’ve given it what it deserved, a lesson!!
Seems that the fictional red balls drink is now available!
She'll get away with it
Cool Story, did you find 50 bucks?
Maybe you could have just bought her a coffee?
Or maybe it could have been avoided if someone else hadn’t bought her one there before and reinforced the behaviour.
Kinda seams like you put yourself at more risk and other people as well to avoid a few scratches to your car by running the red light at full throttle
You have clearly never been in any situation like this.
If you and your mates are hanging around McDonald's at nearly midnight, all with your own vehicles, then you could have probably afforded to buy her the coffee.
...and encourage or empower the lunatics??
I take your point but not everyone is a lunatic. If someone asks for a cup of coffee, they probably need a cup of coffee. It's not the end of the world.
Maybe if the crackhead wasn’t addicted to drugs, they could afford to buy their own coffee
Yep, ain't that the truth. They probably have a lot of problems in life. Must be tough. Geez a cup of coffee whilst battling homelessness and drug addiction might have been a nice moment in an otherwise tough life. I worked last night in Melbourne CBD and yep plenty of crazy people around. Seen it a lot over the years. Not everyone is crazy and if someone is asking for a cup of coffee, they probably really need it.
You risked your life and the lives of other road users by running a red light to avoid damage to your car? Prioritise the important stuff my friend.
Why are you hanging out at McDonald’s period?
To buy some crack of course.
A car isn't fragile and you wouldn't have been in much danger.you sure as shit didn't need to go "full throttle" in some kind of panic and risk killing someone else. Also keep in mind that pedestrians have right of way on roads, which is why those stupid protests work because you can't even just roll slowly past/through them
This is the definition of attacked now? Some questionable person walking in the same general direction as you? Don’t go to the CBD you are going to be BESIEGED.
Who threw a metal water bottle at a car?
Cops in the US have "justifiably" killed people for less.
Oh yeah not like an officer just tasered some 90+ y/o woman the other day here. If we are measuring our response to threat based on the constant stress officers make decisions under I think most people can set the bar a little higher.
All I read was 11.40 pm and thought yep, I would have been at home asleep and in no position to be bothered by crackheads. Think about it…
If only crackheads could learn to be nice when they’re high. As they are slightly entertaining at times. (Not is this situation though!)
https://preview.redd.it/j3lhdh6he51b1.jpeg?width=415&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c302c48b2756faa0bd930153d277687636d92aa
Scary situation all around, sorry to hear that happened. Glad that no one got hurt, stay safe
Contact policelink and place a report (even if it will be ignored, just for the report number), BEFORE you get a ticket. So that once you do receive a ticket (if so), you can appeal the ticket and provide your report number. I had a similar incident a few years ago, someone got out of their car at the lights with a bar and hit the boot of my car and i ran the lights. Put in a report, got a ticket a few weeks later, appealed ticket and provided report number, was wiped.
Crackhead *noun* informal- someone obviously high on a strong drug, usually methamphetamines or cocaine, noted for their obnoxious and dangerous behaviour.
I'm surprised there aren't more, 'was that my ex?' comments. In saying that, was it my exes new squeeze?
I work nights in Brisbane and see it all. There's some fascinating people out there.
Man I am so glad that shit doesn't happen to me on late night runs. I don't think my mx5 would hold up as well as your car did 😅 In all seriousness, I'm glad you got away with only minor damage, that shit is scary as hell.
.
Every Maccas and Kentucky has 2-3 crack heads as there patrons best advice “ stop hanging around known crackhead hotspots” and eat healthy
H
Yep you getting a fine an lose of points you broke the shit laws...
Protip, the maccas up the road at aspley is cheaper.