We moved to this small(ish) coastal town almost a year ago. When people ask me 'why' I usually reply that the last town we lived in had become busy, full of people with too much disposable income and bad traffic manners. When I moved to that then much smaller town in 1992 it was different, it still had the feel of a large country town but has since unfortunately been discovered by the rest of Australia. The city dwellers with their neurotic sensibilities and anxieties have moved in.
I re-injured my foot on Thursday - worse this time because it had not healed properly anyway. These things usually happen towards the weekend and you know it is going to be a long frustrating weekend before you can see someone on Monday. But because they know me at the doctor's surgery, they squeezed me in on the Friday. I got the referral and struggled the 50 metres on crutches to see Brad the physio. He wasn't there - he had left early to take his kids to the annual country show. I didn't expect to get in anyway at 3.00 pm on a Friday, just make an appointment. Out of the adjoining surgery emerged the podiatrist. I explained what the injury was and what I was after, he advised me to leave a message on Brad's message bank then added: I can strap it up for you if you like. Rob was an avid surfer and probably sympathised with my obvious frustration - we swapped surfing stories while he efficiently taped up my foot. He wouldn't let me pay him.
Further up the street we met a couple of old friends of Robin's. One was a physiotherapist. She had an appointment to get to but instructed Robin to get to the chemist ASAP and buy some special strapping tape. She acknowledged that Rob the Podiatrist had done an excellent job but that I had sprained the ankle as well and it also needed some support. She sat me down on one of the chairs of the sidewalk cafe, lifted my rather sweaty foot onto her knee and proceeded to strap my ankle and heel (bending down to tear the tape with her teeth as she had no scissors) before racing off to her next client. I tried to apologise for being an inconvenience and she quickly dismissed my protestations: don't even consider it.
The experience was quite overwhelming. It is so difficult for me to accept that people really do just care for other people. It is even harder to accept that they care for me. Extraordinary.... but it is why I live in a small town. People in a small town still know each other enough to care - they don't see their neighbours as 'strangers' but as real people. It is why I moved here.
