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It's a hard life at the Cape
05/01/2007 11:14 - (SA)
Colleen Figg
The Capetonians are legends in their own lunch... er... lifetimes... and I say this because they truly do seem to be a different breed from us - their northern brothers and sisters from the cold, hard climes of Gauteng.
Each time I come here I am struck anew by the very laid back style with which they float about the beaches and streets of their city; the feeling put across is very mellow and relaxed and there is no sense of hurry or any of the driving insistence which is the trademark of us folk across the Vaal.
Their approach is individualistic and unique but from the youngest hot dude sauntering into the funky deli (shirtless and hooked up to his iPod) to the oldest grande dame doing water aerobics at 7am in the local pools, the message is that it's okay to be me.
This morning I saw two older ladies having a chin-wag at the baths, while smoking cheroots. They laughed loudly, boldly, into the cool summer air, and the years they had clearly seen meant nothing to who and what they wanted to be now.
The waitresses wear their clothing with striking innovation and seem to genuinely care about their clientele, going into the specifics of the menu with a gusto that simply cannot be faked.
No one is remotely fazed if they may not be regarded as cool by the next person; it doesn't matter if I don't wear make-up to a night out for dinner because it appears that half the Capetonian chicks feel make-up is an optional, if not passé, extra.
The secret's in the Mountain
I saw a gent who had to be seventy if a day, dressed in short shorts, walking briskly along the promenade, smoothly overtaking my gasping and unfit form. By the time I got to the end of the walkway, he had passed me twice again, now coming in the opposite direction and then returning again.
Each time he boomed a hearty greeting to which I feebly responded as my spirit proved significantly more willing than my flesh.
I don't know quite how they achieve this harmonious balance between looking amazing, being just what they want to be, and paying the bills each month, but if the secret lies in the Mountain (I understand the word must be capitalised) then blast all the existential difficulties about mountains coming to me, or me going to them, book the next plane out and install me wherever in the Fairest Cape you will, thank you very much!
If I have one wish for all the people in this great country; it's the message Cape Town whispers to me each time I touch down on her lovely shores. Be yourself; and don't let anyone else try to control the choices you make or the way you want to live your life.
Send your comments to Colleen.
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