Rodriguan immigration to Australia peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This story, from the early 1970s, revolves around a newly arrived young man in Melbourne. Being new to Melbourne, the young man arranged to meet a friend of his who had been living in Melbourne for a couple of years so he could be showed the sights. The two friends didn’t own cars and lived in different suburbs so they both arranged to catch a train to the city and meet outside St Paul’s Cathedral. For those that don’t know Melbourne, St Paul’s is located right opposite the main train station (Flinders Street Station) in Melbourne.
On the appointed day the newly arrived man got off the train at Flinders St Train station and proceeded to St Paul’s Cathedral. His friend arrived a little bit late and also proceeded to St Paul’s Cathedral. As he exited the station he noticed his friend sitting on the footpath outside St Paul’s Cathedral. He found this strange as the footpath was a major thoroughfare and was crowded with pedestrians at the time. Although he was sitting on the very edge of the footpath and not in the middle he was still disrupting pedestrians because it was crowded.
The friend, a little bit embarrassed, approached and asked him, “What are you doing? You can’t sit on the footpath and disrupt all these people. Couldn’t you stand on the corner and wait for me?” His friend got up and replied, “I had no choice, I had to wait for you sitting down”. He then proceeded to show his friend the street sign that stated in bold writing “NO STANDING ANYTIME”.
This story almost sounds like a joke but it’s apparently true. Why would a sign relating to cars advise them not to stand, it should just state “NO PARKING ANYTIME”.
