Public Transport for all sorts

Recently was on public transport and was listening to the way young people speak today - overhearing snippets of conversations such as when you have 'wrapped that up', 'no biggy' (meaning - no big deal - not exactly a favourite of mine),  'I'll buzz you later' ... etc. 

Us greenies are slowly reconciling ourselves to the new lingo - one syllable, web friendly words are in, and being verbose is most certainly out. I speak a lot about the way we express ourselves as environmentalists, in my book Green Spin (Or) Promoting the Green Message. 

These were my thoughts as I was bumping along on the tram noticing how the majority of the people on the tram, from a younger generation than I, were communicating. And as I rode along, I overheard some people who were saying that they were off to see the Sea Shepherd boats moored in Williamstown, Melbourne. 

I don't recall whether these people used any especially contemporary jargon, but I made a note in my diary that my son and I would be visiting the Sea Shepherd boats (which assist in saving untold numbers of whales, other mammals each year) 'toute de suite'!

Being on public transport brings many benefits including overhearing interesting events about town (the other week I learned that the Open House weekend was on for free visits to buildings all over Melbourne), giving you a fantastic opportunity to learn a new language (dw i'n dysgu cmyraig - that's welsh for I'm learning this beautiful, ancient language), chat to people you wouldn't normally ever engage with, and of course help reduce oil consumption and carbon emissions.  Then there is the running for the tram which keeps you fit. (Unquestionably, it's meant to be ideal for losing weight, as there are bursts of walking, running, resting which keep your metabolism fired up.) Of course, public transport reduces the gridlock overall, which helps keep the economy fired up as well. 

So there really is no end to the benefits of public transport. To cap it off I will post a photo of myself in front of one of the Sea Shepherd boats - possibly the Bobby Barker (now that we have visited - I appear solo as my teenage son prefers not to be visible on this blog!). Catching a ride with one of these boats might be one of the next trips I take.