MY OPINION
SECOND CHANCES
TAKING A NEW VIEW
We all stumble, some of us even fall, writes Jane Stephens, so it’s a good thing we often get a chance to redeem ourselves and do better.
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drug trafficking. His life was a shambles. But he wasn’t going to stay down. He gave up drugs, alcohol and social media and moved to the Sunshine Coast in late 2020. He clawed his way back and, at age 34, had a serious crack at returning to the game thanks to the Sunshine Coast Falcons. Even after that dream was cut short by injury, he is dedicated to mentoring the young and the talented to help keep them from heading down the dark and wasteful path. Society is structured to almost always allow for second chances. We teach our young to apologise and allow them to reset after making amends. Our justice system does everything to offer an offender a chance to straighten up rather than chuck them in the clink straight up. On stage as host of the 2022 Billboard Music Awards last week, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs announced not only that he was back, but that we all were. He said a so-called post-pandemic society meant everyone has a second chance at doing life. “Let’s do it bigger,” the rapper suggested. Indeed. Whether it be in love, sport or career, if you are still breathing, you have a second chance.
econd chances give us a shot at being stronger, better and more together. Some come after mistakes or missteps, others after cruel blows that were not of our making. So it is with swimmer Shayna Jack, who was reduced to grateful tears last week after she scorched a personal best time to book a spot on the national team for the world championships and Commonwealth Games. Ms Jack, 23, had been away from competition for almost three years after serving a 24-month suspension for ingesting a banned substance. She has always said she would never knowingly take a banned drug, and her joy at such a convincing return was palpable. Another who turned scars into stars is Jarrod Mullen, who told Sunshine Coast News recently that his transformation from fractured to fulfilled is complete. He was an Australian schoolboy rep and played 211 games at the Newcastle Knights’ top echelon before his dramatic fall. He was banned in 2017 by the NRL’s peak body for using performance-enhancing drugs. A year later he overdosed on the illicit kind. A year after that pleaded guilty to
Jane Stephens is a USC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer.
Ashley Robinson reckons the Loo with a View is far from iconic, but if the council takes his advice, it certainly could be.
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he Olympics in 2032 are heading our way and there are massive discussions about infrastructure benefits leading up to it and after. So I am sure there will be some robust debate and differing opinions on what we need, which is great. In among it all we have heard rumblings about Mooloolaba’s Loo with a View about whether it should be relocated or refurbished again with differing views. Now I have heard the word ‘iconic’ used about the loo, which to me is a mass exaggeration – I cannot see anything iconic about it. For a start it is a tired old toilet block on prime real estate, with no view apart from the deck, which is fine but I for one am not eating my fish and chips on that deck – not with the battle between sea breezes and someone’s bowels battling out for victory. The only people on that deck are either waiting to go, waiting for someone in there or are up here for a conference for the smell-impaired because I can’t imagine why anyone else would be there. If those who want to keep it are so passionate, here’s an idea – make it a
proper loo with a view so you can actually see from where you are doing your business. They should take a leaf out of the Kiwi’s and South Australian councils’ books where the dunny plays music and it is all quiet soothing. Maybe if Moooloolaba wants to be known for something, they could knock over that smelly eyesore and build a proper Loo with a View. If it were me designing, no deck would be required; just colourful outhouses all lined up side by side with a toilet and a shower in each one, a credit card for entry and security camera on the outside of the door so you get your photo taken on the way in to stop vandalism. The door would have a one-way glass panel so whatever you were doing you could see the golden sands of Mooloolaba Beach. View and Poo, See and Pee, Scenic and Shower could be part of the tourism campaign. Build it and they will flock to Mooloolaba like seagulls on a chip. Now that would be iconic and we certainly would be remembered for something. Then again, you could just knock the thing down.
Ashley Robinson is the manager of Alex Surf Club and the chairman of the Sunshine Coast Falcons.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors. These are not the views of My Weekly Preview publishers.
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