The man. The myth. The legend.
It’s been approximately 6 hours since the story broke about heroic/courageous/literary guru ‘Dan from Optus’, and already he’s been tracked down. Welcome to the internet.
Dan was living what we assume was a quiet and fulfilling existence before he was plucked from obscurity and thrust into the limelight. It was his own fault actually. He’s just so damn upstanding.
If you hadn’t heard, late last year Optus received a barrage of complaints for placing signage and advertising written in Arabic in stores in areas with large Arabic-speaking populations, like Casula in Sydney’s west.
Police were called in after staff at the Casula store were allegedly threatened. The signs were taken down.
Some customers then took their complaints online, where Optus social media extraordinaire Dan was waiting to respond.
For example:
And now ladies and gentleman, we can put a face to a ‘- Dan’.
The Optus heart-throb is none other than Dan de Sousa, a multimedia specialist (he founded his own company, ShootCutDrop) living in Carlton, Melbourne. The company produces and writes a number of influential artists songs and music videos.
Music videos like this: (Post continues after the video)
Dan moved to Australia from New Zealand about seven years ago, and boy are we glad he did. His softly spoken quote T-shirts are more than welcome in this country.
Some of Dan’s close friends found out HE was the infamous Dan, and gave him a fair bit of praise.
And that’s right, Dan was actually unaware of his fame until, well, today. Probably after he was significantly bombarded with messages from a thousand news agencies.
Can anyone honestly say they work with an employee who thinks they’re a “sweetheart”? The good people in Dan’s team can. May his viral fame live long and prosper.
If you want to see some of the more thoughtful replies Dan gave to disgruntle customers, click here.
Top Comments
Patriotism in this country is dead, while to admit to loving it, is nothing short of disgraceful and can bring on accusations of racism.
To expect people, who choose to come here to live, and enjoy the magnificent lifestyle, to perhaps learn the language is considered racism.
If we dare criticise a person of another race whether deserved or not is of course racism.
Natalie Charters is a brave lady to speak out, but naturally she is ridiculed and abused and labelled - wait for it - racist.
It's not about giving immigrants excuses not to learn English. Imagine trying to sort out a phone contract in a second language. Would you struggle? Probably. Legal contracts are mystifying enough in a first language, let alone a second.
Also, it's quite likely that immigrants would need to acquire a phone when they first arrive in Australia, to be able to contact family and organise job interviews (and possibly...language classes!). You can't expect them to pick up English in a few days, that's not possible for any second language. And English is one of the most difficult to learn.
It's about being welcoming and accepting. This is not about racism or patriotism. We're a multicultural society, and that means accepting the languages of other cultures.
"To expect people, who choose to come here to live, and enjoy the magnificent lifestyle, to perhaps learn the language"
So you speak Woiwurrung, do you? Or Yuggera? Perhaps Dharawal?
Is it not rational to use strategies in order to help your customer base? For example, I would struggle to order from a Chinese restaurant if the menu was only in Chinese.
Of course it is!
Dan's the man, is he married? If not I'm free...