I was watching the news earlier tonight and saw what has to be the first truly balanced story I can ever recall seeing. The report was about a northern suburbs woman who was fed up with a group of younger people who congregate in their cars, ruin the roads, and create chaos and disruption by doing burnouts late at night.
Last night, she called the police, and apparently PolAir was sent in, which eventually led to a 17-year-old man losing his license for 12 months and having his car impounded.
The story included interviews with a few residents who spoke about the constant disruption, but then 7 News did something unusual — they interviewed a young man they described as “not part of the group,” though he sounded very much like he was. He defended what was happening and said they were “just having fun.”
I later found an article on The Advertiser about the news report, and this young resident said the following:
“We do the best we can to be responsible and safe about it. Sometimes it gets out of hand.”
“I am sorry for how late it comes sometimes, but honestly, we’re having fun.”
“I accept everyone’s wrongs for being a bit unsafe with skids, but, you know, besides that part, send it because you only live once.”
I couldn’t believe it. I thought this young man sounded completely ridiculous, and his lack of respect for the local residents was offensive. But — I actually liked that the news interviewed him.
I was watching with Mum, and when we heard what he said, we both looked at each other in total shock. And honestly? That, to me, is the sort of journalism I’d like to see more of — letting people reveal themselves and showing both sides, even when one side sounds absurd.
Another story that caught my attention tonight was something I read in The Advertiser online about Kerry Jordan, a dance teacher at Mitcham Girls High School. Kerry was paralysed from the chest down on May 21 when Singapore Airlines flight SQ321, travelling from London to Singapore, was caught in extreme turbulence over Myanmar.
I was really struck by this woman’s strength. She has been dealt the ultimate blow, yet she seems to be handling it with such courage and grace. I have so much admiration for her. What are the chances of something like that happening to you? You’d have to be one of the unluckiest people in the world.
After I finished reading Kerry’s story, another article popped up at the bottom of the page — this one about an 18-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man falling in love. I clicked on it and ended up reading the whole piece. It was a story about three relationships between younger women and older men, and it reminded me of the Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, the President and First Lady of France.
It reminded me of that because the three main couples in the article were all younger women with older men. There wasn’t a single mention of an older woman with a younger man. Emmanuel Macron is 46 and Brigitte is 71. There is a 24-year age difference between them.
The first relationship this article talked about was between a 25-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man. They met when she was 18 and he was 40, making it a 21-year age gap. This was the couple the title of the article referred to.
The second relationship was between a 38-year-old woman and a 57-year-old man, with a 19-year difference between them. The last one involved a 24-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man, with a 17-year age gap.
The article also mentioned several celebrities and public figures who have younger wives or partners, but the one that surprised me most was Paul Keating. He’s 80 years old, and his new girlfriend is a Polish waitress in her 30s.
In the article, the women in these couples all mentioned that the age difference doesn’t matter to them — and honestly, it wouldn’t mean anything to me either. I actually think a man would have more of a problem with it than a woman. What I mean by that is, being with a much younger woman has the potential to make a man feel old if someone mistakes him for her father.
But then I look at Paul Keating, and he’s clearly got the arrogance and confidence to dismiss that kind of thing completely.
Ultimately, what I’m getting at after reading this article is that any issues that arise from an age gap must be a million times worse for an older woman with a younger man.
And I think about the majority of men in the world who scramble to get their hands on a much younger woman — and then there’s Emmanuel Macron, who isn’t fazed by Brigitte’s age in the slightest. He simply loves her.
