{"id":288,"date":"2014-11-13T10:44:49","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T23:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=288"},"modified":"2014-11-13T10:44:49","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T23:44:49","slug":"the-iceman-cometh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=288","title":{"rendered":"The Iceman Cometh"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"Imaged<\/a>
Imaged pinched from the ABC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

While working in the booking office at the junction, I met this week\u2019s Customer of the Week.\u00a0 A vague cheerful heavyset man, he stood at the window searching though his wallet.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d lost something valuable, he told us.<\/p>\n

My friendly workmate pointed out his credit card was sticking out of his shopping bag \u2013 a bag that also contained nappies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that,\u201d he said, though he was glad to have it found.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you lost your Myki train pass?\u201d she asked<\/p>\n

He kept on searching.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Something much more valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it must be drugs,\u201d joked my workmate.<\/p>\n

Funny how when making a risky joke, you sometimes get the right answer without meaning to. A moment later the man had pulled a little packet of Ice Crystals and was showing it to us with all the nonchalance of a man showing a new sim card. Apparently he should have had two packets and could only find one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s 800 dollars gone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So there we were examining this tiny packet of highly illegal substance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like shards of glass,\u201d said my co-worker politely. Hard to know the etiquette of such moments, but politeness seemed the best policy at that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s very pure,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll cut it.\u00a0 Perhaps I left the other packet where I was before. I\u2019ll go and look.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sounds like a good idea,\u201d I said<\/p>\n

Always good to make helpful noises when unsure of etiquette.<\/p>\n

Tucking the packet back in his wallet he moved away from the counter before turning back to correct any possible misconceptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot that I use it you understand.\u00a0 This is just business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apparently that was supposed to be better.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t blame you if you didn\u2019t believe this station story.\u00a0 We aren\u2019t sure we believe it either.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    While working in the booking office at the junction, I met this week\u2019s Customer of the Week.\u00a0 A vague cheerful heavyset man, he stood at the window searching though his wallet. He\u2019d lost something valuable, he told us. My friendly workmate pointed out his credit card was sticking out of his shopping bag …<\/p>\n

The Iceman Cometh<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,33,6,34,19],"class_list":["post-288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stationstories","tag-fantasy-writer","tag-ice","tag-jane-routley","tag-methamphetamine","tag-station-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Iceman Cometh — Jane Routley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=288\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Iceman Cometh — Jane Routley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    While working in the booking office at the junction, I met this week\u2019s Customer of the Week.\u00a0 A vague cheerful heavyset man, he stood at the window searching though his wallet. 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