Across the Border: Kings Cross: People: Tom

If you live in the Darlinghurst-Kings Cross area you will have no doubt encountered Tom on your travels. I never knew his name until recently and had always just thought of him as ''The Some Like It Hot Chap''. 

Tom's trademark look is his sloppy-joe (sweater to American readers) and hat. The hat always looks sharp, but it is his sloppy-joe for which he takes the utmost care.

When I first encountered Tom on the street many moons ago, his sloppy-joe was embroidered with, ''Some Like It Hot'', while on the back it said, ''But I Just Like It''.

I soon realised that he had sloppy-joes specially embroidered to match the news of the day. If Kylie Minogue or Madonna were in the media say, the embroidery on his shirt would reference them in the most witty way. 

For example, on the front it would read, ''I Did It With Kylie'' and on the back: ''I Should Be So Lucky'', or some-such clever line.

I even remember seeing Tom once on the cover of the Sydney Morning Herald. He was wearing his usual attire and standing among a crowd of people that were in the background of an Anzac Day parade photograph. I was so excited to see him there because it meant I could finally show my non-Darlinghurst friends exactly who the Some Like It Hot chap was.

I wonder how many sloppy-joes he owns and where he gets them made. They must cost quite a bit.

Anyway, now that American talk-show host Oprah Winfrey's Australian episodes have recently been broadcast on television, Tom has tuned-in by claiming, ''I Did It With Oprah'' and . . .