Stall 16 was buzzing. There must have been 15 people waiting to buy a zine. Dom was at Stall 17 and glancing at the crowd beside him while he tidied his pile of untouched zines.
Usually one of the perks of zines is the lack of rivalry, but the Zine Fair 2009 was a competitive event. Set up in a large hall at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art were zinesters drawn together in a busy environment battling for readers.
The Zine Fair was just one of the many events of the Sydney Writers Festival. And, like every other event, the Zine Fair was an opportunity for artists to sell their latest products to consumers old and new.
I was one of the new. I was welcomed in the foyer of the MCA by a table of women handing out the fair program. On the first page was a handy definition for new comers like myself, ‘A ‘Zine’ (an abbreviation of the word ‘magazine’; pronounced ‘zeen’) is most commonly a small circulation, non-commercial publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work or minority interest.’ I had heard of zine’s before, but this was the first time I had seen them for myself. They are usually found in independent art, record, book, comic, video or clothing stores.
When I entered, the hall was packed with hundreds of people squeezing their way around the stalls. There were 52 stalls all together and couple of last minute entrants set up on the floor. Usually 2 people –the producers of the zine - were seated at each stall. Every time I picked up a zine I could feel their eyes on me waiting to see if they had another fan. Some of the zines were professionally made boasting of glossy paper and seamless magazine binding. Others were back to basics, printed on A4 paper in black and white and stapled to open like booklets.
Most of the producers were laid back. If they were anxious to make a sale it hardly showed. Some on the other hand, had decorated their stalls and even themselves for attention. My friend's graphic design zine called Burrow had a very edgy and elaborate stall complete with a rabbit hatch filled with hay and their zines for which you had to burrow, and a girl in pink bunny ears giving instructions from behind the table.
There were lots of fanzines, graphic design zines, and personal journal zines around. I ended up buying two: Emma Davidson’s ‘Fairytales in the Supermarket’ which is a list of Davidson’s pet hates about work, and also ‘Just Like Candy’ - a zine that discusses current fashion, music, and art. Burrow gave their zine away free of charge on the condition we literally burrow for the zine in their display or sign it as a symbol of support. My self conscious nature got the better of me, and I chose to sign.
Zine writers seem to be at the bottom of the heap when it comes to writers. They put in their time and money to produce a zine that may never be bought, and even when it is, they often only make a humble 3 bucks. But, for most people making zines is a hobby more than anything, even though the Zine Fair paints a different picture. On the way out, I passed by lonely Dom at stall 17. I found out Dom was a newbie zine producer. He was surprised at how competitive the fair was, too. He hoped to sell upwards of 5 copies. But so far, not so good.
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to look “middle-eastern” during the 9/11 attacks? Or what it was like to be big boned in an era of obesity? Me neither. Until I was forced to.
For two weeks, I was treated like an outcast as a result of the media’s latest fear frenzy – the swine flu pandemic. My runny nose, coughing and sneezing was as threatening to the people around me as a man with a machine gun.
It all started on the 28th of April 2009. That’s when my sneezing began. I palmed it off as a case of hay fever, and went about my day: 9AM breakfast with Mel; 10AM lecture; 3PM lunch with friends; 7PM dinner with the family. By this time, my sneezing had turned into a runny nose. We were about half way through dinner when mum raced to the television.
'There’s a special report on the swine flu.'
She changed the channel to A Current Affair where Tracey Grimshaw was interviewing a New Zealand family outside their house. A husband, his wife and son answered questions from a window on the second floor. They all wore masks. ‘You know five people in Australia were quarantined too,’ mum said. ‘Four live in Sydney. It was in the Telegraph today.’ I left the kitchen table to grab a tissue. ‘Are you sick?’ mum asked me. ‘It’s not swine flu - if that’s what you’re thinking.'
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S, ‘swine flu’ or the A(H1F1) virus, is a composite virus made up of two genes from flu viruses normally found in pigs in Europe and Asia, and also contains avian genes, and human genes. The swine flu is as contagious as the common flu. But, the swine flu has proven to be deadly to humans in several cases in Mexico. The World Health Organisation has also confirmed 79 cases of the disease world wide, and fear there are many more to come.
When I walked downstairs the following morning, I saw a small jar of vitamin C tablets, and packet of Lemsip on the kitchen table. Mum’s always made an effort to watch A Current Affair. It’s all her workmates talk about on their lunch break. I left the cold and flu treatments untouched on the table, and headed into the city.
My nose had become worse since yesterday. I pulled about twenty tissues from a box at home, and I needed more by the time I reached central station. I walked into the railway square pharmacy, grabbed a pack of tissues, and stood behind a man talking to the pharmacist at the counter.
‘Do you have any medical masks?’ ‘Nah, sorry. We’ve sold out.’ The man sighed. ‘I’ve been to about six other pharmacies in the city, and they’re all sold out too. Well, thanks anyway.’ I handed over my tissues, and asked the girl how long had she had been sold out of masks. ‘About a week, now. You can’t get masks anywhere in the city at the moment. We’ve got access to two wholesales, and both of them are completely sold out.’ ‘Has anyone come in that you thought might have the swine flu?’ ‘No, it’s mostly travelers asking for them.’
There was no one left in the store, so I continued to chat to her.
‘I was watching some news programme the other day, and they said there’s already a drug for the swine flu, called Tamiflu.’ ‘Yeah, it’s old. It’s an anti-viral drug that can treat the swine flu. But, it’s not a cure. We’ve also heard that some news programmes have been saying Tamiflu is a vaccination for the swine flu, but that’s wrong. It’s been such a big deal that we were even sent an email by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia on how to deal with customers that have been given incorrect information by the media’ ‘Do you stock it?’ ‘Yeah, we do. We usually have heaps in stock. But, not anymore. What we had we sold, and I think now there’s been some arrangement by the government with wholesalers to control the sale of the drug.’
According to ABC news, about 10 000 courses of Tamiflu is sold in Australia’s normal flu season. But, 120 000 courses of the drug were sold over the past seven days. Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, has stated to the public that the Federal Government is concerned some doctors may be mis-prescribing Tamiflu. Now, hospitals and doctors will have to approach the manufacturer, Roche, to access the drug for patients diagnosed with the swine influenza.
Later that evening, when I returned home mum asked if I had taken the vitamin C and Lemsip. She noticed my new cough.
‘No, I was in a rush. What are you watching?’ ‘What’s good for you,’ mum said. ‘There’s a special on how to protect yourself from the swine flu’
…The people we’re most concerned about are the ones that fall into a very specific criteria at the moment. Those people are the ones with an influenza-like illness, and when I say that I mean fever, cough, fatigue…
‘Do you have a fever?'
‘No. Mum, I’m fine.’ ‘You look tired.’ ‘I got called into work at six o’clock this morning!’
...shortness of breath, chest pain and those people also must have traveled to the United States or Mexico in the last seven days…
‘See, Mum? I can’t have the swine flu. I haven’t traveled to the US or Mexico. Not in the last seven years, anyway.’ ‘But, how do you know you haven’t caught this flu from someone who has been to America and Mexico?’
I tried to tell mum that all these stories were rubbish; that the media was just fear mongering, and that producers incorporate stories like these in their shows because they get fantastic ratings.
‘You just shouldn’t watch all this stuff, mum.’ But, she just ignored me. ‘Julia, it’s true. We have to protect ourselves from this flu. I only wish I knew these tips earlier. I mean, look what’s happened to you.’ I couldn’t argue and headed up stairs to sleep. I really was feeling tired.
Morning came, and I had one more symptom than the day before - a sore throat. I turned on the news: ‘Swine flu pandemic ‘imminent’. I couldn’t escape it. Karl Stefanovic proceeded to tell me what I needed to know about the swine flu “situation” that morning: The Red Cross were mobilising sixty million volunteers across the world to deal with the disease; 114 Australian’s were still waiting for tests to confirm whether they had the virus; thermal imaging scanners were being used at international airports to identify passengers that might have a fever; and farmers were insisting pork was safe to eat.
I gave my illness few days, but the symptoms weren’t going away. Neither was the news about the swine flu. There were reports from Mexico on almost every channel.
Maybe I had bumped into some with the swine flu. I remember someone on the train coughing behind me. I saw my Mexican friend, Lorena recently. She hasn’t been to Mexico for years, but she is Mexican. Or maybe it was that retail assistant. She definitely had something. She had a red nose and a pale, clammy face.
It was time. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to see a doctor.
‘So, what can I do for you?'
‘Well, I’ve had a runny nose, and I’ve been coughing for about a week. And, I’ve had a sore throat for a few days now too.’ ‘Let’s have a look.’ First, the doctor felt around my throat. ‘Well, the larynx are not too swollen.’ He then put a thermometer in my ear. ‘All normal.’ Then the doctor put on his stethoscope. ‘Deep breaths in… and out… in… and out… are you using your Ventolin?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do have refills?’ ‘No, I think I’m all out.’ He began writing a prescription for Ventolin refills. ‘So, is that it?’ ‘You’re having a bit of asthma, and you’ve got a cold. Just rest up.’ ‘So, I don’t have the swine flu?’ ‘What makes you think that?’
I couldn’t say it. It was too embarrassing. The news. The news made me think I had the swine flu.
Over the past two weeks, news and television programmes have swamped viewers with stories about the swine flu. In truth, swine flu is a very real problem for the people of Mexico. But, here on the other side of the world, media outlets were only too ready to give Australians a sense of the swine flu’s imminent arrival to our shores - along with an idea of the carnage to expect.
Swine flu joins a long list of virus’s to fear. Remember SARS in 2003? SARS barely registers a blip in the annual body count caused by infectious disease. Experts agree that SARS warranted a vigorous reaction, but questions remain about the way in which the threat was communicated to the public. And, what about bird flu in 2006? Although there were 115 cases of bird flu in nine countries around the world, the number of deaths caused by the virus was a comparatively small 79.
I was sucked in to the media to join their latest fear frenzy. But, this time I was on the other side. Where people look at you like you need to be destroyed.
According to the International Weekly Journal of Science experts agree that it is better to be accused of overreacting than of allowing the disease to run out of control. And, that if a similar fuss had erupted in the early days of AIDS, maybe HIV would not now be killing three million people each year.
So, perhaps the hype will not be in vain. The news worked to my advantage in some instances. For example, I did get more space on the train then usual. Though overall, I think I’ll practice a little more caution the next time a big news story comes my way. I’ll have to remember a few things: a current affair is great entertainment – nothing more; avoid headlines with ‘imminent’; don’t let TV presenters decide ‘what’s good for you’; and, I don’t need anchormen to brief you on the latest “situation” - I can experience it first hand.
Tony has driven the food van every Tuesday night for the past six and a half years. He and the other volunteers set up on the corner of Yurong parkway and St Mary’s road in Sydney’s CBD. A line of 200 people usually await their arrival. But, Tony has noticed something new.
Over the past six months, the food line has grown longer with people that don’t look homeless.
The number of homeless people identified in the national census grew 4.8% from 2001 to 2006. And this was before talk of the global financial crisis. In the December quarter 2008, the ABS reported that unemployment rates rose 0.4%, housing prices rose 0.7%, and food prices rose by 2%.
When Tony began volunteering he was surprised, and at times angry, by the people that came through looking clean and tidy. He has never seen this category of homelessness - known as secondary and tertiary - in large numbers.
‘When I started volunteering it was hard. I didn’t think much of these people. But, then I started chatting to them…’
It’s a thirty minute drive from the kitchen in Callan Park to the city. In that time Tony usually prays. But, tonight he considered all the newly homeless joining the queue.
‘Well, there are influxes of people. I mean, you would say some things are seasonal. But definitely this year, the numbers have been bigger. And, a lot of them look like you or me. Some of them even look like they’ve just been at work as a labourer of some sort.’
Tony pulls up onto the curb and another van carrying the hot food pulls in behind him. They are met by a line of people stretched out about 100 metres. Around the queue, more people are sitting on a low retaining wall, hunched over on the ground, or under some trees. More volunteers are waiting for the vans and help unload when they arrive.
Tony likes to walk up and down the queue handing out muffins, serviettes, and cutlery for their hot food.
‘Some of the usuals like to chat. I guess the longer that you go, the more they know your face and open up. Most new people are closed off. But, then again, some people don’t just come for food. They come for socialising and to talk to somebody.’ Like Chris.
Chris joined the line in October after he lost his job sewing t-shirt hems at a Sydney clothing factory. He was evicted from his home in December, just after his thirty-second birthday, and has been staying with his parents since. Chris fits into the category of secondary homeless. He is temporarily residing within another household because he has no accommodation of his own. In the 2006 census, 44% of Australia’s homeless were recorded as living temporarily with family or friends - just like Chris.
‘There are some people that are just on the poverty line.’ Tony says. ‘You get so many people who look reasonably well dressed. It’s because, possibly, they haven’t really had to live on the street yet, but they’ve lost a job and this is a means of holding on to whatever little they have to pay their rent.’
People live in poverty when they do not have the means to meet their basic needs like food and housing. Homelessness Australia estimated that in 2006 one in every ten Australians was living in poverty. Since the global financial crisis, the numbers appear to be growing. In March of this year, the Sydney council’s homeless information centre reported that callers who were unable to meet rent or loan repayments and had become homeless because of crisis eviction in 2008 rose 52%. Homeless people who were alcoholics or drug addicts dropped by 14% and those with mental illness fell 9%. There was also a 49% increase in people blaming family breakdown for the cause of their homelessness. These breakdowns were brought about by arguments over money.
Tony lives in Sydney’s north-west with his family in a stylish, two-story home. He counts his blessings everyday, especially after seeing the homeless on his volunteer night. But, sometimes he can’t help worrying about the effects of the global financial crisis on his jewelry business at the local shopping centre, and on his mortgage.
Housing stress and poverty can contribute to the reasons people become homeless. Homelessness Australia found that Australia’s poverty rate increases to 15% if they factor housing costs into their estimation of poverty. They have reported that one in three people requests financial assistance or material aid from homeless assistance services. And more than eight out of ten people who use those services are on a government payment. Like David.
Tony noticed David about four months ago. He sits next to the van from eight thirty and waits. By his side are a cane and an empty Peter’s ice cream container for any extra food he can bring home. He can’t make the long walk to the van too often. He left his job in June 2008 when he was diagnosed with Leukemia. But, David considers himself lucky. He still has shelter in a boarding house in Surry Hills and is on the pension. Homelessness Australia reported that 9% of people in homeless assistance services have no source of income at all. David is classified as a person living in tertiary homelessness. It refers to people living in boarding houses on a medium to long term basis.
Tony gets ready to drive back to the kitchen in Callan Park after an hour and a half when the line has disappeared.
Tonight, one man approached Tony when he finished loading the van and asked if there were any blankets.
‘Sorry, not tonight. We usually wait a little bit longer before we give out blankets. When it’s a bit colder.’
Winter is already here. Fortunately the new people on the line still have a roof over their heads – at least for now.
Susie Matthews, manager of social policy and programs for the City of Sydney, has reported to the ABC that there are not enough places in crisis accommodation centres for this influx of newly homeless people. Matthews stated that there is an increasing amount of pressure on homeless accommodation services and that the city will be seeing a more visible presence of homeless people on the streets of Sydney.
On the way home, Tony noticed a lot of people roaming the streets. People walking past shops and bars; people in crumpled suits walking into train stations and apartment buildings.
‘Any one of them could be homeless. They may not look it, but anyone of them could be homeless.’
Tony has met a lot of people throughout the years he’s been volunteering. But, he remembered one encounter with a homeless man that taught him about the complexities of homelessness.
‘He was a guy who came out from Italy. He had a small business over there but came thinking he could start something. But, his English was pretty poor. He was out here on his own, and things didn’t work out. So, he was trying to study, trying to learn a bit more English. He tried getting a little bit of work as a waiter, but still things weren’t working. So, by coming out and getting a plate of food it meant that he didn’t have to go home and cook and that’d save ten dollars. And that ten dollars meant that he could message his mum or pay for emails or phone calls or try to save. I mean, he did want to get back home sooner or later. And it meant that he could also go out and buy some clothes and start looking for work. So, I realised then that homeless didn’t mean they had to be people on the street. Like, there are some that are just on the poverty line. So, then I sort of decided that I couldn’t say ‘Mate, you look clean and tidy and you shouldn’t be here and this is for the homeless’. If they were willing to wait in line and get food then they got food.'
'Whether society’s doing the right thing for them, I’m not sure. Does feeding them solve their problems? No. But, if they can face the next day a lot easier if they’re not hungry, and it makes their day or their night… at least it makes them feel like they’re worthy of something. Or they can feel the next day ‘cause they’re not hungry. Their mind’s not thinking of just of food. They can feel a little positive. Hopefully that’s what it does.’
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