Personal interview at Smith Street

Personal interview at Smith Street

Reflects Melbourne’s alterative kind of livability, which contradicts with how it is depicted by city rankings studies. Through this impromptu interview, I gained a perspective looking from grass root level. My interview subject is my lady boss, Linda, who has migrated over from Vietnam for twenty years.

I had an informal interview with Linda regarding the customer whom we named “Mr. Salute old man”. He is our regular local customer that comes weekly for household grocery shopping. In his wallet, there is always a small handwritten note that records the items purchased from our shop. Every visit, he will pay two dollars to five dollars and then we will cross out the amount paid. Out of curiosity, I asked Linda and she said that he is the only exception. Of course, from business perspective, she cannot allow everyone else such paying methods but she explains that gray areas do exist for people in Smith Street especially. This might not have direct link with my topic, but I find it quite interesting and wanted to share. There are things that Australian government subsidy program and City of Melbourne cannot provide for the disadvantaged such as compassion among its people. Lady boss told me that once in a while, the old man brings in a few fruits to share. Personally, I find this discovery quite comforting. It is good to witness people try their best to accommodate the less fortunate, along with government’s effort. I will discuss more in the next post “MacroMelbourne” on creating a liveable city.

In a forum on Smith Street’s website, a discussion thread regarding a proposed nine-storey shopping mall development was met with various objections. The replies for the question includes “The traders in this strip all cater for low income earners who need the valuable services supplied by the current Smith Street traders” and “I think it's of great concern, and hope the council can recognize what it currently has in this area. It's something money can't buy.” This further shows the importance of Smith Street to its local residents, where further developments are not welcomed, and show the mutual dependency of traders and residents.

References:

Smith, S 2004, Monster Development. SmithStreet blog. Weblog [Online] 16th Aug. Available from: http://www.smithstreet.org/your_view/the_monster_development.php.v[Accessed 08/10/10].