Ross MacPherson of Seaforth has “worked out that if you just stand still, world trends eventually come back to you. After living through the return of something I thought I’d never see again – vinyl records – I saw an advertisement in the Herald for a Kodak camera using 35mm film! What’s the next product to reappear? Carbon paper?” For Granny, copy-girl memories would make that a solid “no”.
“Referring to Sarah Moaney (C8) as the ‘new kid on the block’ (C8) does no credit to Mike Carlton, who I’m sure was the first to refer to Ms Moaney decades ago, about the time of the Sydney Olympics and probably in this paper,” claims Frank McGrath of Bulli. He’s right, but it goes back further than Sydney 2000. The Carlton kid’s first Moaney mention was in 1994, when he said: “Not counting Cathy Freeman and her Aboriginal flag, the best moment of the Commonwealth Games was right there at the opening Sarah Moaney, as the TV commentators pronounce it.”
“Sarah Moaney belongs with the immortals,” declares George Manojlovic of Mangerton. “Also, for years we’ve all wondered whether Bill Posters was finally prosecuted and where you could get free Hess. Could someone now tell me who Max Clearance is? Apparently he’s very tall and hangs around bridges and parking lots.”
“I was impressed with Annandale, Russ Couch (C8),” says Richard French of McCullys Gap. “But it made me recall a patient whose name was Pat McInerney. I always wondered if she were one of a set of triplets.”
Kerrie Wehbe of Blacktown thinks that “some male C8-ers may be surprised at Lenette Allen’s fond memories of toast served in a maternity unit (C8) but we women get it. After nine months of having horrific heartburn every day, the first thing I asked for after giving birth was toast. Deo gratias indeed.”
A number of contributors claim the removal of hospital toasters was a case of ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fines’. One of them is Steve Hulbert of West Kempsey, who says: “Previously in my hospital finance role on the NSW Mid North Coast I processed too many invoices from NSW Fire Services for false alarms caused by toasters at $1300 per visit by the friendly Fire Brigade officers. This raises a related question, based on recent stunned observations of cafe breakfast menus: what’s the most expensive toast seen by readers?”
Column8@smh.com.au
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