Blasted again in the lane by the advertising meteor on the side of the truck. The sudden blaze made one wince and shield the eyes. There was a strip show on offer a few blocks away, if one so desired. Others seemed to sit unflinching. (Other days the giant construction vehicles creaked by, with the worry of a disaffected driver at the wheel. There were Innumerable reasons for disaffection just now.) The Asian girls entering the cafe were far more alluring than whatever that dimly glimpsed image showed on the truck; even in the case of fashionably dressed girls, whose inner beauty was sometimes masked. Later in the evening on Swanston one of the older homeless ladies had gathered a strange circle of three young Asian lads each with their girl. A Christian group perhaps; there had been many examples of street missionary activity of that kind up on the Equator. The group sat in a semicircle around the woman, who had her back against the wall of the shop. The lady was addressing them, while they sat quietly listening. Earlier on the lane at the usual outdoor table a long piece on ABC had reported the Pentagon propaganda against the Chinese during the roll out of the vax, which had resulted in an unknown number of deaths, in the Philippines in particular. That central stretch of Swanston from Victoria down to Bourke and even Collins Streets had in latter years become heavily Chinese; a recent feature were the buskers drawing an audience for Mandarin lounge numbers. It might become difficult now to co-opt expats, even with the most sophisticated disinformation.
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