Il Papa, don't preach ...

[blamebrampton]

I survived World Youth Day* Super Thursday!

Though I was nearly knocked to the ground by a nun running for her train. Never get between a nun and an open train door. She was travelling en masse with her fellow sisters, and one of them stopped to check I was all right. It's as I've always known, there are nice nuns and evil nuns!

Once on my connecting train, I took a calming breath. Which lasted until the next station when some hundred pilgrims from the US and Central America barrelled into my carriage. And their leader proceeded to shout the rosary over his megaphone. I'm all for freedom of religion, but not at earsplitting volume. The non-pilgrims were politely silent but gave pained looks, and one of the teenaged pilgrims muttered to the leader, who turned his volume right down to bearable before he repeated the rosary in Spanish. Bless that teenaged pilgrim!

I had a lovely brief chat with a nice pilgrim from New Jersey who had been on planes for some 24 hours before arriving in Sydney this morning. She was looking forward to a shower and some sleep, and then some native wildlife. I told her how to find possums and fruit bats, and not to be afraid of the latter. She seemed to think that praying on public transport was quite normal. Perhaps it is in New Jersey. In Sydney and London we have traditionally prayed for public transport, but that's not quite the same.

In Bishop Fisher news, some of his colleagues have defended him and called him a lovely man. Here's a tip: we godless heathens will be more likely to spot your loveliness if you don't sneer at the families of abuse victims.

ETA: The Pope officially had  Boatacade today. Is it wrong that I can only call it Pope on a Boat?

*Total misnomer, it's at least a week.

Comments

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Very pleased to hear you have not yet succumbed to pilgrim-related death! From your descriptions I'm a little impressed that no pilgrims have had to suffer a Brammers-related death either.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I did kick a nun once, but she hit me first and I was eight. I am a much calmer person these days.

Shouty man might have been in for a word, except for the embarrassed muttered responses from his flock, which grew quieter and more embarrassed with every Hail Mary, thus guaranteeing my sympathy. Poor kids!

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Shouty man would have infuriated me beyond reason, and the cynic in me would not have any sympathy for kids who had brought it on themselves by going with him in the first place. It is good for everyone that I'm not currently in Sydney. :)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Most of them had been on planes for over twenty hours, their spirits were crushed.

I have to say that everyone is being Terribly Polite, it's like being in New Zealand, or Kent.

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

I believe I"m still being held responsible for a nun going into a psychiatric facility. Then again, she did try and teach a room full of impressionable 15 year old catholic virgins that oral sex was when a boy put his tongue in your ear. I may have sniggered... a lot. >.>

ps. ok, I may have at that time been a virgin, and technically catholic (if you count unwilling baptism), but I was never that impressionable. I was an outcast. I didn't go weak in the knees and make oooh noises when shown films of the process of foetus development in the womb.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh dear ... well, maybe aural sex ...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I thought lj had eaten my comment, but then there it was! Deleted the double ...

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

Hang in there, honey! Although I still think you have grounds for refugeeing to Melb - we are Pilgrim free, and planning to stay that way. :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh they are coming, Mere, they are coming! They are all planning to stay for weeks!

[pushdragon.livejournal.com]

Good thing they struck down those regulations. Otherwise you could have been charged with annoyance - that poor nun could have stubbed her toe on you.

Don't spose there's been any sign of an actual god yet? Just checking.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

The woman in front of me moaned "God!!!!!" when they started the rosary, does that count?

[pushdragon.livejournal.com]

Hmm ... you never know, maybe she'd just at that moment spotted him stepping off the escalator.

It occurs to me only now, I assume the Chaser boys will dress up as god at some point and try to scam their way into the celebrations.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

The Sydney Star Observer has a lovely letter from a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence who had a lovely walk through the pilgrim zone!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

I am killing myself laughing at the image of you knocked aside by one nun and checked on by the other. Be assured that on the train the nice nun will be praying for your good health while the evil nun will be saying 10 rosaries on her knees in contrition.

*g*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

You're half right. The good nun will be praying, but the evil nun will be saying: "Oh shush, anyone could tell she was a protestant atheist."

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

LMAO.

Oh... you know us so well! :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I briefly attended Catholic school during my travels with Dad, it's where I developed my theory that Dr Jekyll was a Catholic. But the embroideries are MAGNIFICENT!

[deensey.livejournal.com]

WE COULD SEE THE BOATERCADE FROM THE WINDOWS OF MY WORK!

Damn nuns! Only, not.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

POPE ON A BOAT!! (I had a Pope on a Rope soap, but an ex-boyfriend used it until it stopped looking like a pope and looked like a carrot.

[deensey.livejournal.com]

I just like saying boatercade. :D

Are you sure it looked like a carrot?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I was being respectful.

[deensey.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! Respectful!

<.

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

In all my time passing through New Jersey on public transport, I've never come across anyone praying.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I would have been surprised ;-)

[suttonwriter.livejournal.com]

In all my time passing through New Jersey on public transport, I've never come across anyone praying.

Neither have I, and I've been riding it to work for two years. There's probably a lot more praying done when people drive in New Jersey. Either prayer, or very creative blasphemy. :)

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

LOL!!! I can believe that!

[sarcasticpixie.livejournal.com]

She seemed to think that praying on public transport was quite normal. Perhaps it is in New Jersey. In Sydney and London we have traditionally prayed for public transport, but that's not quite the same.

Um, SNORT.

If any of these pilgrims get shirty, I'd suggest this. Or anything on Miss Poppy's site, actually. (Made for killer Christmas gifts this year, and my mother is still proudly displaying her rubber duck nativity in July.)

[leela-cat.livejournal.com]

Folks pray on public transit in the US. They, however, do so very very quietly and privately in the hopes of not being roundly abused by one of the insane homeless (or, perhaps, even merely angry homed folks).

I love these posts, fyi. They get read aloud to my partner so we can both laugh.

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

The only people who pray on public transport here are homeless or crazy. One avoids them. :x

[jadzialove.livejournal.com]

Praying on public transport, at top volume no less, would get you odd looks even here, I think. I hope.

In other news.... I've heard a tale of a Koala bear who might be related to you.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

DO TELL!

And yes, I think it's behaviour that only passes for normal in Texas. Oops, lunch is over ... happy moving!

[jadzialove.livejournal.com]

They're calling him "Lucky"...

I don't know about 'happy' moving. You'll likely not see me tomorrow, but if all goes well, I'll be happily typing away in my new place by Saturday evening.