TRACEY BENDINGER | Culture | Contact
Deciding to cool off today at Betoota’s lesser-known waterparks, the old Mansfield Quarry, Betoota Heights man, Jason Pane (32), experienced what can only be described as the most inconsiderate and sadistic act known to any beach loving Australian — shaking one’s towel near other beachgoers.
The old Mansfield Quarry was opened to Betootanese people from all walks of life last year after the Shire Council had 40 tonnes of pristine white sand trucked in from Southbank, on Brisbane’s trendy southside.
For Jason, it wasn’t just the hundreds of loose disintegrated rocks and shells that blew into his eyes and mouth that shocked him, it was the fact that the person in question did it repeatedly — despite the less than subtle passive aggressive comments coming from Jason and the rest of his party.
“Oh yeah, no worries mate, just chuck sand all over me,”
According to Jason, this first comment was largely ineffective, because within another 15 seconds another sandstorm hit.
“Are you fucking serious?” spat Jason, loud enough for his friends to hear, but not for the offender.
The Advocate caught up with Des Capote, a lifeguard at Quarry, who informed us that the number sand-in-eye cases has increased dramatically in recent years, as a result of the Quarry becoming a popular alternative to the now completely gentrified areas surrounding the Betoota Sailing Club.
“Yeah, people reckon you’ve got to worry about yabbies latching onto a toe but in my opinion, it’s these people who just don’t know basic beach etiquette that you really need to monitor.”
With population growth and migration an inevitable part of life, it seems, albeit unfortunate, that we will be seeing a lot more of these types of cases in the future.
More to come.
