Why, oh why, oh why…?
The front page of the Fever newspaper dated 25 August 2006 ran a full page article headed: “Another cold-blooded killing”. It told the horrible story of the senseless shooting and subsequent killing of our very popular Beeld newspaper Distribution Agent, Schalk Visser. He was statistic number X on the now fast becoming notorious, N2 toll road, earlier this week.
I do not need to and definitely do not want to repeat any details here, but I can vouch that Schalk, as an agent, as a patient of ours, and as a human being, will be seriously missed. Not only did he deliver my newspaper personally every morning; come sickness or inclement weather, he also had a little special greeting or short piece of wisdom to share ever so often. Schalk, God bless, and to Kotie, may His peace and love guide and embrace you and your family in these troubled times.
Which brings me to exactly the point in question; these troubled times. What is being done to ease the pain of our nation and country going to the dogs and rushing back towards the Middle Ages? I thought the new generation all firmly believed in the exponential expansion of the universe which dictates that after the initial “Big Bang” explosion everything is supposed to be moving away from the initial point of density, (including – and especially; Time), but no, in our beloved country (pun intended) we seem to be heading forward towards the past.
Not only are we reminded relentlessly of our immediate past and the supposed atrocities of said era, we are also accelerating at more than a dizzy rate back to the barbaric middle ages and even before that.
The Five W’s:
Who is going to stop this landslide into the abyss?
What is needed to bring back the future?
When is the pendulum going to reach the apex?
Why are we expected to absorb all this mayhem?
Where is the point of no return?
Dear reader, normally my newsletters are marked by, (and from what I’ve been told,) quite popular, because of some degree of humour expressed, but this month I cannot comprehend the funny side of anything. I am sorry, in these times of sorrow, of violence, of fear, of hate, a little one-page newsletter by some weird guy trying to be funny might not seem significant to most, but I normally treasure the opportunity to make just a few people smile while reading my strange mind, printed in a letter. This time, however, I doubt. I am too upset to entice even a smirk!
Last point on this issue: Think long and hard about the five W’s. Someone will have to stand up and answer these sooner than later.
Now on a different note:
During all those lonely hours in the bicycle saddle one eventually starts to notice a lot of things normally missed by people rushing past in their motorised vehicles. Not that there is anything wrong with the last mentioned method of perambulation! In fact, we all love our car or truck or bakkie or buggy or whatever blows your hair back. If you have enough hair to be blown back, that is.
Anyway, getting back to whatever point I’m trying to make, mechanical powered means of transport and human powered means of transport are not really compatible on the road and more often than not, the human powered one turns out to be the bottom feeder in the traffic food-chain.
This was vividly emphasised recently when another cyclist was killed by a speeding motorist in Durban. This sparked a massive outcry and eventual mass protest ride (or memorial ride as it was labelled) where, according to reports, more than two thousand cyclists took part. The reason was to get the message to the top of the food-chain that us pedal-powered travellers need more safety, consideration and respect from fellow road users as well as from the authorities.
Fat chance!
They do not care! They do not believe that we need to even exist. All they are concerned about is the next ridiculous salary cheque, the best way to scrape the last morsels from the travel allowance, the most mileage from the expense accounts, the most opportune moment to fall asleep during Parliamentary sessions without being caught on camera on channel 58.
They do not care about cyclist being killed by mad motorists at five in the morning, they do not care about a family-man getting gunned down on a busy main road during bright daylight, they do not care about the old farmer having the soles of his feet removed with a pocket knife after being held in boiling water in order to exhume information from him, they do not care if a little five year old girl is raped because some barbaric tribesman unearthed the wisdom that the despicable act will cleanse the perpetrator from the African Flu (which our dear minister of health fortunately believes can be cured by just eating Beetroot!). They do not care. Yes, I know I’m on thin ice. Yes, I know I’m being negative. Yes I know I’m ranting and raving.
Somebody has to do it.
Oh, yes, coming back to what we witness while out riding our bikes; a lot, I can give you my word. We see things and activities that would have gone unnoticed if in a car. I also believe that we sometimes see things we are not supposed to see or maybe people do not realise that we are out there and that we can actually see! Ranging from minor traffic offences to serious drunken driving by some serious members of society to people sneaking home from late night activities not normally smiled upon by society, people leaving houses (before first light ) where they are not personally responsible for the bond, and the list gets longer almost every time.
Maybe one day soon we can do a newsletter where I will be the roving (or be it cycling) observer, reporting ‘from the bike’ and revealing some lekker local corny news for all to share?!
Names and places will be changed to protect the writer.
That is all from the podium for this month. I do not apologise for my black mood. I do apologise for forcing it onto you. We should however not ignore the real state of affairs. The truth might dawn too late for tears.
Take care out there, be alert, be wise, and above all; be healthy.
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