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Letter of the Week

Out of line

After attending a great Emirates Stakes day with friends, it was time to head home — that’s when the fun came to a screeching halt.
My friends and I waited in line for a cab at the cab rank that is within the confines of Flemington racecourse. As we waited patiently like hundreds of others, it was more than a little annoying to see both men and women jump the queue or hail cabs as they drove past them, irrespective of their place in the queue.
After witnessing several racegoers flouting the laws of common courtesy, a few in the queue told the security officers that they were there to ensure that this type of queue-jumping did not take place.
Unfortunately the security personnel I witnessed preferred to turn a blind eye to this blatant disregard for the rules and actually seemed intimidated by those wanting to jump into a cab without lining up.
The VRC needs to address this. I witnessed several heated exchanges between racegoers fall just short of physical violence. I’m sure that the VRC understands that after a long, hot day in which copious amounts of alcohol had been consumed some are more than a little impatient and want to get home ASAP.
Maybe the VRC could erect temporary cyclone fencing along the outside of the roses that line the boulevard of Melbourne Cup winners. This would stop those with inflated opinions of themselves from wandering out on to the road and jumping the queue.
Also, a number of young patrons I spoke to wanted to head off to the casino. Surely it would be in Crown’s interests to supply a couple of courtesy buses.
As I stated, it was a great Emirates Stakes day. Unfortunately it was spoiled by several people who wanted to flout the rules.
Thankfully this time nobody decided to take their frustration and angst to another level, but should the VRC choose to ignore the issue I can see it turning very, very ugly.
We did finally get a cab — waiting time 55 minutes, thanks to the queue jumpers.

Charlie Bugeja
Newport (Vic)
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