ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
TUCKING INTO A HEARTY BOWL of Fruit Loops before heading off to his full-time night job maintaining electronic DVD rental carousels around northwestern Brisbane, Gavin Grogan always makes sure to double knot his hi-top Converse before heading out.
The 37-year-old part-time-stay-at-home-son says not even his parents take him seriously when he tells them he wants to be a stand-up comedian – but that’s his dream.
From Strathpine down to Mitchelton, Grogan’s run takes him to some of the greatest jewels on offer in West Brisbane, but everywhere he goes, people never seem to take him seriously.
“I don’t know what it is,” he said.
“Whenever I try to tell somebody how to use one of the machines, they’re just like, ‘Righto mate, I think I’ll manage,’ It’s very rude,”
“It’s like people treat me like a child.” he said.
Gavin says it might be his fashion sense that results in him being treated like a goofball, but he’s not willing to listen to anyone’s fashion suggestions in 2018.
“Sorry I wear boot cut jeans and connies bro” he says, while cracking himself a V energy drink.
“Sorry should I put on a little bit of ASAP Rocky and drink white wine”
“Music today is so lame. They don’t make bands like Sublime anymore”
Refusing to echo his son’s sentiments, father Rob agrees nobody takes him seriously because he wears shoes meant for children and women who want a comfortable, yet stylish alternative.
Made famous by basketballers in the 1950s, Converse sneakers quickly became outdated as they’re hideously uncomfortable and close to three times more expensive than the Dunlop Volley.
“Look, if the bloke was kicking around in a pair of Volleys, people might start treating him like an adult. Instead, he wears those fucking kids shoes and eats Fruit Loops for dinner,” he said.
“And he’s 37-years-old. The missus and I are still feeding him. When I was his age, I had two kids under the roof and a mortgage. He drives around in a fucking van all night stacking videos in vending machines and playing early 90s southern Californian ska punk”
“But I’m confident he can turn his life around if he shaves off that hair and buys himself a pair of RMs or something. That’s what all the kids are wearing in Brisbane these days.”
