THE SULLIVANS
By Dave Roberts
Luke Sullivan is a veritable icon
in Bunbury. The guy probably makes more people smile
in the morning than just about anyone, and in the
scheme of things that’s not a bad outcome from
your day’s labour.
| Having found myself in a
place where I had to go along Spencer Street
(Bunbury) in the morning, I found that there
was this crossing guard there who apart
from helping little people across the road,
made it his business to wave at and communicate
with as many road users as he could. Not
only does he wave, but he calls out, sends
messages and generally sends good cheer
as hard as he can.
When you produce something like South
West Life, you get a reason to try and
find out what is going on with a guy like
Luke. Luke lives with his mum and dad,
so while I’m talking to Luke, I make
normal small talk and ask what she does
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| for a living. Guess what?
Catherine Sullivan is a traffic warden too. |
The Sullivans are crossing guards,
or even lollypop men/ladies, but their contract
says they are traffic wardens. They are employed
for only one hour in the morning and one hour in
the afternoon on school days.
They are employed by the WA police
department, and if I may venture an opinion, collectively
they are a living treasure for WA. Luke is, according
to some informal research I’ve conducted, universally
known by people who use the CBD in Bunbury. More
than that, my sample all responded the same way
to him, they love that someone just focuses on sending
them a wave and a smile. The woman on Holden Road
in Roleystone with the bright red flower on her
hat and the really bright lipstick is a treasure
there too, we seem to be getting quite some community
service from this crew.
Luke is 23, and Catherine is old enough
to be his mother. They live with Ken (Luke’s
dad) and their dog in a house kind of between where
they have their traffic warden jobs, in Bunbury
and in Eaton. I visited Catherine to watch her at
work and though she doesn’t have to face the
same traffic volume that Luke does, she waves to
all of them just the same. By stopping and watching
I realised something else, she knows the kids by
name. As far as I can tell, that’s all of them,
and if mum walks them home she knows mum’s
name too.
I’m watching Catherine waving
to cars, caring for little kids, saying hello to
mums, and up rides Bailey on his bike. I reckon
Bailey is four, but I didn’t check at the time.
Pleasantries are exchanged, smiles are enjoyed all
round, including one for the Internet journalist,
and then Bailey rides off the way he came. That’s
right, kids don’t even have to cross the road,
they just like it that a grown up has a moment for
them.
Luke has been doing this for almost
five years, so it’s something he’s done
all his adult life. He enjoys the children. Mostly
he enjoys that they like him being there. Over the
last four years he’s watched a great many of
them grow to twice their size, and need him less,
or change what they need from him. They get to talk
to him, or to Catherine, about all of the bumps
and scrapes of life, and let me tell you the Police
Department is getting more than they pay for, but
it’s the rest of this stuff that they do for
free that the traffic wardens seem to thrive on.
The job delivers lots of positive
feedback. Little people offer many gifts just to
show their appreciation, and in a hard society like
the one we are developing, it’s nice to say
that the community actually makes offerings to show
that they LOVE Luke and Catherine. Hot chocolate
on a rainy day turns up, and pictures like the one
by Coco below (aged 4) turn up from time to time.
It’s nice that all these things are treasured.
Luke and Catherine are a fantastic
part of the community that we like to live in, and
it really wouldn’t be the same without them.
They get things like the mayoral award, and they
get feathers and hugs from very short people, but
we’ll all be doing ourselves a favour if we
take a leaf from their book and offer them a wave
and a toot next time we go past.
"Luke" by Coco
(Aged 4) |
|
Catherine Sullivan |
April 2004
