St Tropez

We drove past St Tropez today. I couldn't help sparing a prayer for those that were affected by the shooting there a few weeks ago. And I noticed how this lovely sidewalk restaurant seemed rather empty. Not only have the gunmen destroyed many people's lives by shooting an innocent man, but they are costing this business unknowable amounts in customers. Apart from being cruel and conscienceless, these gunmen are overwhelmed and fully immersed in an immense selfishness.

The injustice of it all

My husband was telling me about a documentary he watched on SABC2 last night. "Black Gold" I think was the name, and it was about the coffee industry. We all know that Africa is being exploited but hell, this really shocked us. The coffee is being sold in Africa to huge multi-national first world companies at a ridiculously low price, and then sold again to wholesalers at about 1000 times the price. And while people are sipping away at their coffee in Starbucks, the people who actually farm and harvest the stuff are living in abject poverty (I knew there was a reason I stopped drinking coffee). I think they earn half a dollar a day. Africa contributes but one percent to the world's economy. If only that figure could be pushed up by another 1 percent, Africa's financial problems will be half solved.

A colleague and myself attended a Maskew Miller Longman book launch today. I couldn't believe the trouble they go to, just to try and increase their profits. We were treated like royalty with free drinks, free buffet finger lunch and free book samples. And as a parting gift we all got a huge box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates (At least R 70 at Pick n Pay).

On the way back I thought of the coffee farm workers. What I got for free today (all in the name of marketing) probably surmounts to 10 months of their salary. There is so much injustice in the world.

My human side

Today is debtor's day. This means I get to phone all those people that have amounts outstanding on their accounts - mostly those that are sitting in 90 days or more. It's not really the most pleasant of jobs, but people usually don't argue and promise to pay as soon as possible. Two of the phone calls I made today really affected me. Maybe more than they should have.

I phoned one lady who is a nurse, a widow (thus a single mom) and only earns between R 2500 and R 5000 a month. Her account is in 90 days by about R 850. I tried to get hold of her last week, but could only get through to her daughter, who promised to tell her about it. When I phoned today, she was audibly shocked. She had completely forgotten about the account. She kept on mumbling "Oh my gosh", and "Where am I going to get the money from?". She wanted to know if she can pay in installments. I literally winced when I had to tell her that she has no choice but to pay the full amount, as it is in 90 days already. She asked me, so helplessly, what I wanted her to do now. I could only say "Pay the money as soon as possible". I thought she might start crying. I so badly wanted to say "Don't worry! Just pay what you can and when you can."
But it's not me she owes the money, but the company. And the company doesn't care if you're a widow and a nurse and only earn pittance every month. I really felt like I was being cruel and cold. But this is my job.

And then I phoned a library who had not payed their account. The phone was answered by a lady with a rather timid voice. Now that I think about it, she was probably just really upset. I asked for the contact-person who pays the account. The lady on the other end said: "She's not in today". So I asked for a cell phone number. "I'm... I'm afraid the person you are looking for has passed away." She sounded so fragile and hurt and like she was suffering terribly. I didn't know what to say. I heard myself forcing out a "Sorry" and ending the call. I felt like such a dog. Here I was, all I'm supposed to care about is getting money out of these people, without giving a thought to what they might be going through. But I felt myself feeling sad and really sorry for the nameless woman on the other end. I had to gather myself for a few minutes before calling back and asking about the outstanding payments.

I sometimes feel like I live in a bubble. Then again, you just cannot be aware of the hundreds of tragic things going on around you - you would exhaust yourself emotionally in one single day. But surely I should be a little more empathic with those that cross my path. Too bad its not in my job description.

Erkables

We all have those little things that erk us.

Top of my list of erkables has to be the wet, cold shower curtain that sticks to you. This happens when you've stepped, shivering, into the shower, and are just enjoying the hot water flowing over you, when the cold, wet and miserable shower curtain gets sucked into the shower and sticks to you. *YELL*

Another really erkable thing is when you've got a nice fresh piece of bread which you want to spread with butter. When the butter is a little too hard it manages to rip up the whole bread while you're trying to spread it. Arg.

Third on my list today is when I've just laboured to clean the house - swept, wiped, dusted and mopped - and somehow someone manages to spill something, or walk into the newly mopped house with dirty shoes... *Clench teeth*

Arg. What erks you?

When white people get together...

We had dinner on Friday night with some people from church. It was a wonderful evening with good food, dessert, wine and company. We had a good few laughs as well. What really stuck in my mind though, was that most of the evening was spent complaining about the situation in the country.

This one's son can't get a job - even though he has a masters degree (sounds pretty familiar), but is white - and now can only get work in a call centre; this one's husband was unemployed for years because he was told he will never be promoted because he is white, and with a low salary couldn't provide for his family; this one's family has immigrated to Australia for similar reasons; this one is busy training a person of colour who has no qualifications and is more than likely to end up as her boss one day soon...

It's all just so unfair. I mean, I have been affected by affirmative action too. Who exactly is this helping though? Whites get more offended, scared, embittered and disillusioned; blacks are left to wonder if they were given these positions just because of the colour of their skin - I'm sure it's not very good for their self-esteem.

As a white person I feel trapped in a corner. Surely if we've studied long and hard we are entitled to getting jobs? I had nothing to do with Apartheid! I'm not a racist, I'm open-minded and interested in other cultures, I struggle with money just as much as anyone else starting out.

How are people supposed to heal and forgive each other if we're literally being put up against each other? Again?!

The electricity crisis

Apart from the hike in the petrol price really bugging me at the moment, this electricity thing is just getting ridiculous now.

We had a power failure this morning. Even though it only lasted half an hour, we had to turn customers away because we couldn't check up-to-date prices of books and couldn't use the credit card machines. We all sat in the front reading the paper. Imagine how it was like for those people in Bedfordview who didn't have electricity for 3 days. I was checking out "The Grape Escape" last week, and this poor dude who was trying to make wine couldn't because of a power failure. This really affects everyone!

And then (I feel) they still have the cheek to tell us to save electricity. Of course it's good to save. But we always put off unnecessary lights, we don't even have a heater, put off all unnecessary appliances... What more can we do?

And now they wanna push up the electricity price by 16%... The worst is, we can't do anything about it. We must just sit and accept all of this because no matter how much we complain, kick, scream, moan etc, Eskom will unfortunately always be in our lives.

German efficiency

The Germans have a global reputation for being correct, on time, and just generally efficient (sometimes even irritatingly so). A friend was telling me a German colleague of hers arrived literally one minute late for a meeting and apologised for being late. If only we could have this mentality in Africa...

A German student ordered a book from us the other day and was visibly surprised when it arrived the very next day. He said: "In Germany this is normal, but this never happens in South Africa!". Well of course. We wouldn't expect anything less from the efficient Germans.

When my aunt brought me my favourite board game from Germany I was very surprised to find some of the pieces missing. As soon as I noticed, I went to their website and emailed my complaint. I was mildly surprised that they took a week to reply, but impressed when they finally did to inform me that the missing pieces were on their way. I waited excitedly, and, as I expected, the pieces were waiting for me at the post office 2 weeks later. I ripped open the package to find, to my dismay, the WRONG pieces! Instead of little houses, roads and cities, I ended up with funny looking knights and castles. I was utterly aghast. This was just not what I had come to expect from the Germans. How could they make such a gross error? And to top it all off, they had addressed the package to "Mr" instead of "Mrs"...!!

I went back disappointed and angry the next day and emailed them again. I had clearly stated which pieces I wanted. I received a speedy reply this time, assuring me that they would send the right pieces (I got no apology, however). Another 2 weeks went by and this time when the package arrived it was addressed to "Mrs" and had the correct pieces in.

Just as my trust in German efficiency and correctness was starting to be restored, I received another package in the mail. In their infinite correctness and efficiency, they had sent the same package again. I guess communication is not top on the Germans' priority list...