Platinum Rock Stars

In the fields that H and I work in, it’s not uncommon for us, our friends and our colleagues to rack up a lot of frequent flier miles.  Frequent flyer ‘status’ was absolutely not on our radar for discussion topics prior to moving to Australia.  But in Perth it’s a totally different story.  In our offices, where nearly every person is a Qantas platinum frequent flier, people flaunt their platinum luggage identification tags like they’re the next Hope Diamond.  Laptop bags are unnecessarily toted around the office so platinum status can be broadcast throughout the office common areas and elevators.  Qantas domestic lounge culinary offerings are discussed as intently as a degustation menu at a new Michelin starred restaurant.  Very angry discourse occurs on a regular basis regarding how alcohol isn’t offered in the lounge until 11:00 AM.  It’s nearly impossible for me to keep a straight face when I see and hear all of this.  Firstly, almost anything is more interesting to talk about.  Secondly, the Perth Qantas lounge is nothing special.  Lastly, everybody here has platinum status.

I had to travel up north last week with a handful of people from work and one of them very excitedly invited me to join him in the Qantas lounge for breakfast pre-flight.  I stopped by a few minutes before boarding to say hello and grab some water and was greeted by a lounge full of people in high visibility work wear and steel toed boots, many of whom were familiar to me from my office and those of our competitors.  What can I say; we all must be rock stars with our platinum status?  Especially when it’s acquired from short haul flights to exciting places like Karratha, Exmouth, Darwin, Paraburdoo, Broome and Geraldton, where the majority of passengers are wearing high visibility work wear in various degrees of filth.

While my Qantas lounge breakfast date invitation cracked me up, the icing on the cake came when an Anonymous Colleague came into the office one morning extremely disappointed.  He had gone to the airport the night before to pick up a friend and when he saw that the flight was delayed, decided to head to the Qantas lounge for a beer and burger.  Despite his platinum card, he was told that he couldn’t enter without a boarding pass.  Shocked and disappointed, he went to wait outside the lounge in mere mortal territory.  Would you ever have guessed that you can’t just pop into the lounge for free food and alcohol whenever you feel like it?  If there was unlimited Qantas lounge access, the bar there would be the most happening place in Perth.

Australian Headlines

Every week at work we have a meeting that starts with a series of safety shares.  Through these I have learned about some of Australia's deadliest animals, including snakes, spiders and sharks.  Some safety shares are about the latest beach to be closed from a shark spotting while others talk about the latest deadly insect that they've been seeing an abundance of in their gardens.  One share involved my manager telling everybody how he had steered slightly out of his way to run over a snake in the road.  He thought he was doing his town a favor, since he was driving by a playground.  A lengthy discussion ensued as to whether or not he had helped or harmed the community as other snakes might fight over the new territory and become more aggressive.

Stories like these aren't uncommon, as evidenced by some of the latest local headlines:

• A Darwin schoolgirl reached into her backpack to find a snake, luckily a non-venomous variety.
•  A man working on his computer at home, barefoot, was bitten on his toe by a western brown snake and killed.

No wonder we see signs like these everywhere: 

That photograph was taken during my recent visit to Cape Leeuwin, a lighthouse on the most south-westerly point of Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean.  After paying admission for the grounds, the groundsman pulled out a series of photographs of snakes that can be found on the property, including the deadliest snake in Australia.  Great way to kick-off the visit!