A Burger with a Peace Rally, and a Watch on the Side

By Greg

Palm Sunday, 27 March 1988

Here is a special bonus post, because it is Palm Sunday today. Neither Trenna nor I were religious, but there is a story related to this day that Trenna and I always remembered.

Setting The Scene

I got together with Trenna at the very start of 1988, so our relationship was very young. I’m pretty sure by that stage we hadn’t said the word LOVE in a sentence to each other.

The Cold War was very real and very present. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States, and I can tell you, not all that many people in Australia (or the rest of the world) trusted him NOT to push the button.

Also, feminism was a BIG issue in 1988.

The Cold War

It is hard to imagine these days but there was a very real belief that at any time a world destroying nuclear war could start. And it wouldn’t necessarily be after a long escalation of tensions – the tensions were there every day.

In Australia, over many years the Palm Sunday Peace Rally and march, held in each capital city had become a focus point for activists.

An article which talks about the Cold War and Palm Sunday Rallies, but which also draws on the music and movies of the era is here.

Greg’s Background

In 1988 I had been politically active for quite while. I had a degree in politics and sociology and I worked for the student’s union (the Student Guild) at Curtin University. Part of my job role was to organise political actions.

I was also a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) but had stopped being actively involved with them when the Hawke government reintroduced university fees. VERY naughty John Dawkins.

I had been to LOTS of protest rallies and had even organised quite a few.

Trenna’s Background

In contrast Trenna really hadn’t been politically active in any way. I had already figured out that she had a great understanding of human rights and social justice.

But I wasn’t sure that she was the sort of person who would want to go to a rally in support of People for Nuclear Disarmament.

The Day

Palm Sunday in 1988 was a lovely Autumn day in Perth, fine, fairly warm weather. I’m not sure how it came about but Trenna had indicated she was keen to attend, and I was very keen to be seen with her.

I remember she was wearing a very short mini skirt which had a leopard print, and a black tank top. She probably had on some plastic sandals she wore in those days, or white sandshoes that had little pencils printed all over them. I loved the look.

I can’t imagine I was wearing anything but blue Levis, a tee shirt and joggers – probably Adidas Hurricanes (the blue ones with white stripes).

My memory of 34 years ago tells me that we probably got into Perth city at about 9:45 am for the start at 10 am.

There were thousands of people there as there were every Palm Sunday in that era. My adrenaline was up – I love a good successful rally.

Trenna and I waded into the crowd looking for someone, anyone, I knew. It only took me a few minutes before I spotted my friend Kathy Munro. I thought she’d be there.

Kathy hadn’t met Trenna so she was interested to know who I had hooked up with. Introductions were done.

Kathy was there with a bunch of other women. “This is convenient“, my adrenaline pumped brain thought, “I’ll just leave Trenna here with Kathy and I’ll be able to make quicker progress weaving through the crowd spotting people I know and making sure I am seen by others (to improve my activist cred)” I thought.

Eventually I got back to Trenna, and she didn’t look all that happy. Whoops!

I don’t remember all that much more about the actual rally. No doubt it involved listening to a bunch of speeches from a podium somewhere, and then probably a march to somewhere else (maybe the Supreme Court Gardens) with lots of shouting and chants involved.

At about noon it was declared a tremendous success and we all went our own ways.

Hungry Jack’s

By this stage Trenna’s mood appeared to have improved somewhat from earlier on, which I was relieved to see. She had really enjoyed being part of a mass movement for a worthwhile cause.

She suggested we walk up Barrack Street and have lunch at Hungry Jack’s. I’m pretty sure it would have been Trenna who suggested that as I would have been too stingy to offer to buy her lunch!

We arrived at the store, which was on the West side of Barrack Street.

Then, something that probably changed my life happened…

Trenna bought me the Whopper and Hungry Jack’s Watch offer (I’m guessing it would have been for $4.95). I think there may have even been a serve of chips included.

This is the woman of my dreams. Buying me a burger, AND giving me a cool watch!

She in a simple action changed the focus of the day from Mutually Assured Destruction of the world, to a fun lunch between two people who were inching inevitably towards that L word.

She lit up my day.

However, I wasn’t about to get out of it scot free…

It turns out that when I left Trenna with Kathy, Trenna was not at all comfortable. Trenna had quickly determined that Kathy’s friends were all or mainly lesbians, and they were all feminists.

one of the real take home messages for Trenna from the whole experience was that lots of women didn’t shave their armpits!

Trenna had absolutely no problem with lesbians, in the past she had shared a couple of houses with gay women. She also considered herself to be (and was) a feminist.

It was just that I had dumped her, with people she didn’t know and she was wearing her extra short mini skirt. She just didn’t feel at all like she fitted in, and of course, I didn’t blame her for a moment for thinking that.

I apologised and she graciously and immediately forgave me. Although ….. she did mention it many, many times in the future.

Interestingly, one of the real take home messages for Trenna from the whole experience was that lots of women didn’t shave their armpits!

Apparently that wasn’t an option for Trenna’s friends up to that point, or for her many female coworkers at the Hospital Benefit Fund (HBF).

You don’t need to know about the rest of the day, but it was a memorable day that we often mentioned in future years.

Trenna kept on shaving her armpits for a few years more, but eventually saw the light and stopped.

She remained a proud feminist all her life.

---