Week One is over. I
have to say thank heavens for that. Day
One was of course introductory, with the obligatory round robin of “my name is
and I’m here because” in the first session, which is as much for the benefit of
the instructor as for any of the students.
I know these programs are primarily for school-leavers, but I do get
weary of the presumption that I need to know the names of everyone in every
class on Day One. I prefer to meet and
absorb over a period of time. But hey,
that’s just me.
Straight into Art, and an entire day given over to visiting
galleries in the city. Splendid stuff,
although I ended the day crippled, and now know I can only ever do one gallery
at a time. I’m talking here about actual
feet, but there is the other over-kill of too much information: hard to remember all I saw, even with
note-taking which rather destroys my enjoyment of wandering through art-filled
rooms and just inhaling.
“Life Drawing” and “Drawing” sessions were the highlights of
the week, and made up for the non-productive sessions at almost all the other
classes. I know, I know, we have to be
familiarised with the studios, the equipment, the OH&S issues, but Oh Lord
it is frustrating.
What did I like? The
campus. I love strolling in the sunshine
through the squares and open spaces to the library, to the cafe, to the
gymnasium. Break between sessions are
generous, with time to find a cup of coffee or tea, read the paper, continue
the crossword, chat to classmates. So
far I am impressed with the teachers: their enthusiasm, their patience, their
little kindnesses and thoughtfulness.
Haven’t met them all yet but my expectations are now very high.
What irritated me?
Students who turned up late for the class. It’s so rude!
And it’s the same ones each time.
Instructors have completed roll-call and are well into their spiel on requirements,
assessments, etc, and in stroll the half-dozen missing students; they may or may not be those who arrived without
any equipment! Perhaps this is because they haven’t completed their enrolment
yet. The college has been taking enrolments
since late January, so I’m surprised by how many wait for the first week to
even think about enrolment. And I’m not
sure how long tutors will be willing to lend equipment; can you get through a whole semester without
buying charcoal?
Anyway I had heaps of time to rage internally about the Big
Four Banks. Driving to and from school,
the radio was full of the anger about banks increasing their lending rates, and
their paltry excuses and justification.
It made me think.
Back when I started working, we were all paid in cash. Weekly, fortnightly, even monthly, the pay
envelope was delivered by the Paymaster in cash, including coins. Sometime in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s, the
unions and banks made a deal that we could CHOOSE to be paid in cash, or have
our wages and salaries paid directly into a bank account. Before long, as I remember, wages would
continue to be paid in cash but salaries could be deposited overnight the
evening before they were due, so that funds were available on the actual pay
day.
Gradually the arrangement changed to include wages as well. Some companies even specified which bank
workers had to deal with, at least to the point of having an account with the
company’s nominated bank , in order to to receive payment for our services. Another erosion of freedom of choice.
The banks loved this.
And in no time at all, they began charging fees for withdrawing our
wages and salaries! We could hardly
believe it. We’d lost our choice of
receiving cash OR bank deposit, and now we had to pay to access our own money!
About this time the banks began to realise they could make a
fortune in fees for doing nothing, and that’s what they continue to do. I personally do all my own banking via the
internet (for which I pay monthly fees) and rarely step inside a bank these
days. Of course, I have to have a card
in order to use a hole-in-the-wall, and for that I am charged a monthly
fee. If I withdraw too many times in a
month – too many being an arbitrary figure devised by the bank – I am charged
inflated fees. Too many cheques this
month? Too many EFTPOS transactions? Fees for ‘em all. I never overdraw because the fee for that is
sheer robbery, and I used to have a savings account but the interest was
negligible.
So I don’t want to hear any more from the bank johnnies
about how much it is costing them to borrow overseas for mortgage lending. The extra costs are countered by the profits
from fees and charges. The latest
trick? We have one credit card which
charges an annual fee. When the fee is
taken, the bank immediately starts charging interest on it, because it is
regarded as a “purchase”, not as a fee.
And yet, it is clearly named “annual fee”. Excuse me?
