RICK
BEN
SHABBILY-DRESSED MAN
SHABBILY-DRESSED WOMAN
MOTHER
FOUR CHILDREN
MAN WITH RICE SACK
THIRD WORLD PEOPLE

(Rick and Ben, wearing good casual clothes, enter from either side of the stage, and meet at the front and to one side.)

RICK Gidday Ben, how's it goin' Mate?  Hey, dig the new shoes!

BEN Oh, man, don't rub it in.  You know I wanted to get the Air Jordan pair, but I had to settle for this standard Nike pair.  I suppose that goes hand in hand with being in a family on the poverty line.

RICK Poverty line?  Aren't your Mum and Dad both working?

BEN Yeah, but Mum and Dad are always going on about Medibank bills, day care fees, rates...  You name it, it just seems to eat the cash...and what do we end up with?

(Shabbily-dressed man enters, walking over to rubbish bin.  He rummages through the bin, and finds something and walks away with a gleam in his eye.)

RICK Yeah, I know what you mean, Mate. Times are tough...  It's really hard to be a teenager these days.  All the things you need to do cost money.  Did you know Timezone is twelve bucks a game now?

BEN Fair go...You know, I can only go to the pickies once a month these days.  Just think of all the great movies I'm missing out on.  And when they come out on video, there's not much point watching it, 'cos everyone's told me the story line.

RICK Oh, Mate, goin' to the movies once a month's a bit rough.  I wouldn't've thought your old man would crack down on that...I mean there's not much else in entertainment here in Townsville...We only get a good rock band in every few months.

BEN Don't remind me.  When INXS came, I had to get one of the seats up the back with the grannies...It's no better with the basketball.  We couldn't get season tickets, 'cos we had to pay the rates and the car insurance that month.

(Shabbily-dressed woman walks across the stage shivering.  Somebody comes from behind, places a rug over her shoulders and helps her on her way.)

RICK You wonder where it's going to end, hey.  Our lifestyle is getting severely limited.  Maybe we should get out there and get a part-time job?

BEN No way, man.  Once the homework and the socializing done, I haven't got time to scratch myself!

RICK Wouldn't it be great to just rock up to the local music shop and buy the latest CD without having to ask Mum for the money.

BEN Yeah, or have take-aways more than once a week, instead of all the healthy stuff Mum dishes up to us.

(Mother with four children, all bare-footed and shabbily- dressed, walk past.)

CHILD Mum, can't we have any bread today?

MOTHER No, I told you, the money doesn't come in 'til tomorrow.  Come on, we'll go and see what Aunty Jean's got.

RICK Well, I guess that's just the way it is.  There's not much we can do about it.

(Man walks in with sack of rice.  As he places it on the ground, a group of third world people race up with bowls in their hands, and after filling them with rice, walk away gratefully.  While this is happening, one of the group runs up to the man who brought the sack in, and grabs him by the arms.)

3RD WORLD PERSON You will never understand what this means to  us. Thank you.  (Both people freeze in this position.)

BEN I guess we'd better get home to our 3 bedroom hovels and do a bit of study.

RICK Yeah, life can be really unfair. (They walk off  together.)