Stories from Australia in the 1980's

Austin And The Art Of A Texta: Where there’s a will, there’s always a way!

In the mid 1980’s in Australia, the pub rock scene was king. In Perth, it was so big that the main local newspaper printed a weekly gig guide and it was a must read. For myself and many of my university friends, our weeks were filled with bands to see and gigs to attend nearly every night of the week. These were essential and unmissable social soirees for young adults recently welcomed into the fraternity of legal drinkers.

Many of us, like my good friend Austin, didn’t have a lot of money. Therefore, as typical students, we looked for the cheap bars with cheap drink deals and regularly tried to come up with ideas and methods to make our nights more affordable.

Austin’s family were quite well off and from the upper echelons of Perth society. They lived in a very large house in a well to do neighbourhood and enjoyed all the trappings one experiences from living such an existence. However, Austin’s father, was not even remotely a generous type and he was determined to impress on his son the value of money and self reliance. Therefore, Austin’s weekly allowance he received from his parents was a pitiful $1 a week. If he needed or wanted anymore, he would have to earn it. When years later his allowance remained at $1, Austin protested to his father that…