Forgotten people in paradise

Luckily, I spotted a female security guard crossing the street who I insisted walk with me to the helpless woman to lend a hand. At first the security guard appeared reluctant, but after assertive persuasion eventually relented. She didn’t waste any time in telling me I shouldn’t fuss about these people as they make a habit of falling down drunk, anywhere, and sleep. She said they all did it so the cops would pick them up and take them to the watch house where there was a comfortable bed.

For the next hour, after she radioed police for help, I was given a history lesson of public drunkenness: they revert to their uncivilised ways when drunk and bash each other with whatever they can get their hands on; most of them you don’t touch without protective gloves because they have hepatitis B and some have HIV; this one’s okay but most of them are not very lady like when they sleep as they don’t have any underwear; the next day she’ll be back in the park again looking for her next drink and will probably be bashed up again by other drunks.

And on and on it went.

What I did observe, during her incoherent spiel, were several cop cars driving past without showing any interest in assisting; locals not blinking an eyelid at the predicament and simply walking around or stepping over the woman: and those who did stop to help were tourists, mainly middle aged and white.

I found it quite interesting that recent ABS figures revealed up to 35 per cent of Indigenous men do not drink alcohol compared with 12 per cent of non-Indigenous men; up to 80 per cent of Indigenous women do not drink alcohol compared with up to 25 per cent of non-Indigenous women and in the Northern Territory, 75 per cent of Aboriginal people do not drink alcohol at all.

But do you think these statistics would have changed the view of that security guard on that busy Saturday night in Darwin’s tourist precinct?

I doubt it.

And perhaps Seneca got it right when he said "Drunkenness doesn’t create vices, but it brings them to the fore".