Following last Wednesday's 650 essay on plastic bag taxes, I've now got a letter in the Sydney Morning Herald. It's in response to yesterday's Heckler, which was about the two types of people on escalators - those who stand and those who climb. Obviously, I'm one of the latter. Here's a link to the letters (mine's some way down - search for "climber"), though that link will be out of date after today, so here's the letter:
Steps ahead of the upwardly mobile
I recognise myself as one of Janine Harrison's escalator "climbers" (Heckler, May 14). She claims we are of a more primitive mindset than our laggard companions - the cruisers.
I've often looked at this dull, motionless lot with pity. They must, I imagine, be so exhausted from sitting on a train that, having travelled a good 30 metres from their seat, they need a rest. Perhaps their lives are so futile that they know that it doesn't matter a jot when they reach their destination, since no one will notice their presence.
The climbers bound up the stairway with joy in every step. "Hurrah - a new day has begun. All rejoice with me," we seem to be singing as we skip gaily up.
Like Janine, I've chosen my team. May the more nimble win.
Stephen Taylor, Darlinghurst, May 14.