Sure the Civic "Garbage Bin" was alive but you usually didn't make it there until after midnight after preliminary drinks, usually in Manuka, or extremely late drinks in Woden on your way home. The most desperate drinking hole was the Elbow Room.

The Franklin Street Manuka area created its own all night alcohol haven however the party usually started on Thursday night at East Rugby Club's (demolished years ago) "Dollar Night" when every drink was one dollar (A bang for your buck).

To try and drive home after an episode at Easts was an exercise in pure skill. Political correctness was considered being able to keep your vehicle on the road.

To get to work hopefully sometime the next day was always considered a human rights violation.

The Marine Bar (next to the Kingston Oval) every second Friday night was extremely demanding even for the seasoned drinker. A five dollar ticket got you all you could drink as it was duty free.

The only thing you could be certain of was that there was no such thing as a single shot.

At the Manuka Club, before it burnt down, it was so dark on the dance floor you never knew what you were drinking, who you were talking to or who you were dancing with (probably nobody).

Who can forget Brassey House Barton where upstairs there was a huge gaming room with roulette wheels and the whole works. Of course it never existed.

In Civic refreshments were available at politically correct "Greazy Louis'" burger and chips shop in Lonsdale Street.

What a peculiarly Canberra phenomenon to shun conversation on public transport ("Light rail etiquette, don't talk on the tram, please", May 23, p17).

It highlights both an unwillingness to engage with people whose views may differ from one's own, as well as a broader incomprehension that such views exist at all. Greg Fraser's letter (Letters, May 23) is another prime example of the monocultural way some Canberrans see the world.

Instead of trying to understand why so many people voted differently to him, he instead seeks to label his fellow Australians as an ignorant and greedy lot.

Have we really reached a place where we cling so tightly to our our ideological strongholds that we never venture to listen or engage in public discourse?

I have had lots of spirited conversations on buses and trains around the world; often with strangers whose views were very different to my own.

In most cases, it enriched my understanding of people's belief-systems and experiences.

It also changed many of my own comfortably-held views.

It is a universal maxim that everyone is hurting and everyone believes they are right.

It is through respectful discussion though, that we get closer to agreement and healing.

It's not April 1, so interpreting S Evans's article as a joke proved wrong. ("Light rail etiquette: don't talk on the tram, please", May 23, p17).

For some, their primary socialisation is on buses or trams. Some spontaneous conversations with a familiar stranger may be awkward; others are cheerful and rewarding.

Re: " ... adhere to Rule 1 of Tram Etiquette: do not attempt to have a conversation with a familiar stranger. Maybe a weak smile to show an absence of hostility but that's it".

If that's what we Canberrans want as our norm, then maybe it's time I leave Canberra.

It was interesting to read Steve Evans information on tram travel etiquette.

It affirms my intention to remain a member of the bus brigade rather than join the light rail losers.

It must be so embarrassing to be seen riding the tram.

Following on from Steve Evans great take on tram etiquette a few more suggestions:

Rule 5: It is your right to be serious and miserable or you will never make it in this politically correct gig economy we now live in.

Rule 6: Don't sit in those cheap atrocious uncomfortable seats that don't flip backwards or forwards and are so close you must confront the poor soul opposite you.

Rule 8: Why can't we sit on the tram roof and enjoy the breeze like they do in some other countries? Be very invigorating and bracing in Canberra winters.

Rule 9: What was the rationale in deciding that the huge work area of Mitchell didn't exist?

Canberrans were promised a better public transport system, with more services, more often.

What an appalling system we now have. Commuters must travel in conditions akin to livestock transport, with many standing up most of the journey, which takes appreciably longer than it used to. Instead of expresses many commuters are forced to take two buses to get to the city.

Instead of a better public transport system as promised, we have been given an absolute lemon and at great cost. The 12 kilometres of light rail was constructed for a small percentage of total users. Even they are not receiving a superior service. Congestion is a major issue.

Would this abomination of a transport system have been instituted, let along maintained, if the Transport Canberra bureaucrats and minister responsible were to use it on a daily basis, rather than have taxpayer provided cars for their privileged use?

As larger houses get squeezed onto ever smaller blocks of land many more cars, trailers, boats, caravans and even trampolines are being parked or stored on the public verges.

Strictly speaking, this is illegal. However, parking officers in the ACT are able to exercise discretion in their response to an offence where the impact is low.

In other words, they take a risk or harm approach. An example of such is given in the Parking Operations: Compliance Framework of motorists parking on the nature strip but not blocking line of sight and not damaging street trees.

So, while such practices may be creating an eyesore and/or creating damage by compacting the soil, the reality is this is now an acceptable practice. The once public nature strip has effectively been resumed into the privately owned adjoining block.

Maybe real estate agents should now be including nature strips when advertising the block size of the properties they are selling.

I cannot help but notice the glacial pace at which major works progress in the seemingly forgotten south of Canberra. The much needed Ashley Drive duplication often looked like a protracted and Herculean task for a couple of blokes with a steamroller.

But now it's the ''upgrading'' of Anketell Street. The heart of the Tuggeranong precinct has been dug up and fenced off and not much else has happened since January.

We were told the works were due for completion ''mid year'', a goal looking less and less likely.

Apart from being an eyesore and causing inconvenience to those who frequent the area, I feel for the traders, in particular the restaurateurs relying not just on foot traffic, but on takeaway patrons for whom proximity to the restaurants is paramount to pickup their orders. It has been very quiet down there in the evenings lately.

With so much money, time and effort expended on the tram, so few MLAs living in Tuggeranong, and the south of Canberra being traditionally less supportive of ACT Labor than the north, I have my suspicions Tuggeranong is out of sight, out of mind for this government.

The treatment of Folau shows free speech and religious freedom do not exist in Australia. How can a clause in any contract which curtails these fundamental human rights have any legal validity?

We all deserve better than this.

It is with great disappointment that, after having been connected to the NBN following considerable pressure from my network provider, I am now without a landline for "at least two weeks" until my new modem arrives in the mail.

This is an appalling situation in a so-called first world country. I am now without my usual methods of communication for an extended period. This is not good for an elderly person such as myself.

There seems to be an unacceptable nonchalance about the need to provide good and personalised service.

The PC mob are in knots over what advertising is socially acceptable. ("Signs of stoush over 'sexist campaigns'", May 24, p8). If you show a male its sexist, if a female you're a misogynist. Might as well do away with all advertising.

After six years of squeezing bulk billing rates I hear of elderly people skipping appointments they can't afford.

It is time public health advisories about the benefits of flu vaccinations were placed on our crowded light rail vehicles and buses, on rail platforms, and at bus interchanges.

Relatively few people had even heard of franking credits before the election campaign. Now all of Australia knows. What will the likely outcome be?

Hell hath no fury like a Labor voter scorned.

I picked my last outdoor, sun ripened tomato on Thursday. Is that another miracle?

Queensland: Short-sighted one day, an environmental wasteland the next.

Now free travel on ACT public transport has ended the true popularity of the tram will be able to be tested. I suggest the "90,000 boardings" will end up being significantly less once the cost kicks in.

Why isn't Folau grateful for the loss of his $4 million contract. Doesn't his bible say "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God"?

Barr has decided to do us a favour and contest the next ACT election. Can he also ensure we don't have the second lowest proportion of elective surgery patients admitted in the clinically recommended time and the lowest percentage seen on time by emergency departments?

Some of the bus changes have been a boon for me. The R2 that replaced the 200 and the R6 that replaced the Green Rapid 6 have provided me with 15 minute services to Barton, Parkes and the city (R2) and Woden via Kingston and Manuka (R6).

Your editorial "Challenges mounting for light rail" (May 23, p14) fails to ask "Is stage two really needed?"

How can the Reserve Bank be talking about lowering interest rates now and not two-and-half weeks ago? What has changed? I smell a rat.