You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.

Theme Thursday yet again, and today the theme is LIMO.

One assumes that we are to talk about a limousine, that is, a luxury sedan with a lengthened wheelbase and usually driven by a chauffeur. The cocaine being snorted off a high price call girl's breasts is an optional extra.

I think that I am safe to assume that these three are most definitely not waiting for a LIMO. The stop would indicate that the Metro X-press (how hip) to Glenorchy is more likely.

As my sloth in getting this post up might indicate, I've been busy, so I've little time to waste!

The first thing I think about when I hear the word "LIMO" is wanker a story shared by a world weary colleague who mused on the differences between an American and an Australian, and yes, there is a LIMO involved.

In many ways, Australians and Americans are alike. Former English colonies. "New World" rather than "Old Europe". Outposts in a rich an bountiful, yet dangerous and foreboding, land. We've evolved (somewhat differently) into multi-cultural societies, melting pots of taste, fashions and looks.

In other ways though, we are quite different. Australia wasn't forged in revolution, rather evolution. We're sedate, while they're passionate. One suspects that we things move a little slower here in Hobart than they do in the bustling metropolises of NY, LA or indeed French Lick, Indiana.

My colleague said to me that one of the starkest difference between Australians and Americans can be seen in our respective responses to sighting a limousine rolling down the street. He said:

"The average American sees a LIMO with its ostentatious wealth, its unabashed hubris and he thinks, 'what's a fellow got to do to get himself one of those? That's the life!' Whereas. the average Australian sees a LIMO with its darkened windows, its fancy trim and thinks, 'who's that wanker in the flash car? I wonder who he ripped off getting that rich?'"

Call it the difference between the entrepreneurial spirit and the egalitarian drive.

I'm not sure whether such generalisations hold as true in 2009 and they might have in the early 1990s. Similarly, I'm not sure whether the degradation of entrepreneurial zeal or indeed a commitment to equality is a thing to be celebrated.