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Sugar & Spice: From the ridiculous to the... ridiculous

From the ridiculous to the... ridiculous

By Hélène Truter

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I'm staring at the blank screen. I have to find a topic for my column. My helpful editor reminds me that soon it will be the 1st lockdown anniversary. Whoopee. Ironically, just after Human Rights' Day. And just before Freedom Day. Alas, I have nothing profound to utter about either day.

Somewhere way back in my muddled brain a little light bulb flickers feebly – come on, you can come up with a witty line. Nope. Total darkness descends like Eskom’s Stage 4. Is it coincidence that blackouts and cancer are measured in stages? Back up, sister. This is getting a tad depressing.

Ah, but this is life. And we're only human. Apparently. So yes, people will moan. They will try to swindle you. Even mid-pandemic. Your family will annoy you. Your politicians will annoy you even more. And you will lose your temper and throw stuff at the TV. Your husband will turn off the news and you will be angry because you want to see it, because it's important to know just how crappy life is right now. I've just re-read that sentence and realised how ridiculous it sounds.

But life is pretty ridiculous at the moment. The whole world is panicking and closing their borders and getting paranoid about the South African Variant. (Which apparently isn't exclusively ours, but no one's listening.) Actually everyone's getting paranoid about everything. Period. And that's where we have an advantage. If you were born here, you've become accustomed to life being ridiculous. There's even a Facebook Page entitled Only in Africa. I would advise you not to visit it, pretty depressing stuff. However, as I was trawling the internet I did pick up a couple of titbits about Africa that made me smile. Wryly, but a smile nonetheless.

Seen on the back of a Bakkie: I'm not drunk, I'm just avoiding potholes. Do not arrest. I could have told him he has nothing to worry about, the police have far more important things to do. Like Bheki Cele holding court at a media conference informing the media that they should stop accusing him of seeking media attention. Is it just me or is there a little bit of logic lacking there?

Click on the newspaper below to read more (see page 6).

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