I was waiting to catch a train home from the city on the weekend when I noticed a cleaning lady on the escalators. She was cleaning each side-rail by holding a huge rag against the wall and travelling up and down, up and down until they gleamed. You can just make her out, working her magic on the middle escalator, in the photo below.

I'm always intrigued by "behind the scenes" processes - cleaning and ordering and organising that takes place during off-peak times - that we, the general public, often take for granted.

Like the postal system. I know it's been around for ages, but I still marvel at its efficiency. You can drop a letter in a mailbox and for 55c, Australia Post will transport it to the other side of the country in a matter of days. That's pretty freakin' cool. Sometimes when I receive something from interstate (or better yet, overseas!), I wonder how many planes, trains, trucks and people it's been in contact with before it reached me.

But back to Sadie. I'd never given thought to how they keep train stations relatively clean until I saw her but now that I have, I'll no longer take the spotless state of Bondi Junction train station for granted. Big cheers to all of the late-night off-peak cleaners who keep our city sparkling :)