October 15th, 2021Kyle’s Rant

“ALL welcome, no judgement” is the sign above the doors and in the social media of a few local businesses in the Central Highlands.
At first thought my deliberations went to, well, there has been a lot of anxiety and division in the community, so it is nice to see some good vibes and lightness around the place.
However my next cognition drew a different conclusion that perhaps “All welcome, no judgement” was in reference to the vaccination and the wearing of masks at premises. If it is referring to the latter, there is no way I would or will be frequenting an establishment that doesn’t cover me in terms of my safety.

The last thing I would put up with is an open-masked earth mother or father, for that matter earth-person, walking around an eatery because of their rights. This battle has been too long, too wearing and with too much heartache to let the minority have no judgement in terms of vaccine choices and mask wearing.
On the other hand, I might have the whole statement upside down. Does it mean when I enter your establishment under the “All welcome, no judgement” banner I am able to flash-up a cigarette 70’s style or better yet clip and cut my Cuban before sharing that rich fruity aroma with the other patrons? Or would I still have no judgement thrust upon me as I didn’t quite make it to the ablutions, squeezing one out on the floor, kicking it aside and asking the help to “take care of that for me love” in an East End accent?
We have rules and laws that have been developed over the ages and embraced by most in society that separate us from the jungle animals and these commandments have to be followed if you want to move around in a world with the other seven billion individuals.
For instance, the rule for mandatory seatbelts had a bit of backlash, nowadays it is the first thing you do before setting sail and if you don’t, most vehicles will make loud abusive noises until you have rectified the offending behaviour.
Here at TL HQ, all our contributors, contractors and staff are fully vaccinated and if they weren’t there would be no more dealings with The Local, as we are in and out of places reporting on the goings on of the whole community including the vulnerable.
We want to have a clear conscience that, as a result of reporting the news, we haven’t made the news by starting a super-spreader event, destroying livelihoods by shutting down venues or killing people because of our selfishness.
Anyway I do hope that the “All welcome, no judgement” statement simply refers to loving all the people in the world what ever colour, sexuality or religious leanings you have.
Great judgement rant over…