Last week, between the clapping of feet on semi-looked after tar roads and a massive national sales target, my mind began to wonder.
See, deep inside the essence of my morality “I get” what the youth league march was about. The emotional part of it. The part of injustice, inequality and basic human needs.
Believe me as a white South African I am not oblivious to the rhetoric and I know how it feels to have nothing (more on that at the end).
So in the midst of a sales target in a competitive business environment I was playing around with an idea. If they want it, they can have it. But then they need to take it all. Take my job please; take the 10 hour work days excluding travelling between Pretoria and Johannesburg. Granted I get a good salary, but take the 10 hours. Please also take the extra hours over the weekend I could have spent with my family. Take the stress with it please. See bosses do not always understand when targets are not met and a complaint about me being bullied as a child will not work.
Please then take my house with the mortgage. I still own about a million on it, so take that house and debt please. Take my car, credit card debt and all the various insurance of my back. You can have my flat screen TV for good measure; just remember to pay the DStv and water and lights, the last one which fluctuates every month. Also take the money I used to distribute to the poor - there are a lot of mouths to feed!
Please remember to pay your children’s school fees, we don’t get free education. Believe me that does slurp up some of that money you think I have lying around.
Please also take over the salaries, UIF and pension I pay for my domestic workers and gardener a month. Remember they will depend on you for a job. I give them a bonus each December and on their birthdays...keep a note on that, you don’t want a strike on hand. Oh ja, I also pay the domestic worker's little sons school fees each year. He and my son are best friends, so I hope your children will now play with him.
If you want to, you can take the original copies of my degree and Typex out my name. See it is apparently easy to do a job without a real qualification and without real experience. I will be more than willing to give you a crash course. I am sure you can convince the bosses to divide the salary by three so that more people can get a piece of the pie. But I am not sure how that will work and who will do what?
You will now be responsible for keeping the economy active and feeding me and my family through your taxes, so please don’t get fired from your job for not making targets. Remember you will also be responsible for the jobs of a 1 000 of your fellow SA youths. You will need to develop solid growth strategies for the next two years, otherwise the company will not survive.
I would love to give you my dog, but the children are too attached to the mutt so would you mind if I keep it - don’t worry I will still pay for its food etc! I am glad I brought this up because we pay a substantial amount each month to wet nose, if you don’t mind please continue this or spend a similar amount on a charity of your preference.
And please when you took all of this, whatever you do, do not worry about me. You won’t find me on the corner, or on a march, because I will already be busy practicing the one thing I was taught from a young age.
“Through hard work you can achieve anything.”
See even though I am white and “benefited from apartheid” I grew up in a one bedroom apartment I shared with one brother, one sister and my single mom. We lived off the wealth fare of families and yes there were nights I had to study by a paraffin lamp. I also had to apply for bursaries to get educated and work that money back. The joke I guess is on me because having things like this handed to you is a far better option. Please youth friend, I don’t need your pity, don’t feel sorry for my past, I am not.
So I will be working on the next batch for you to take.
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Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.