As a pedestrian you automatically assume walking on pavements and pathways is your right and also your safe space.
Being a paraplegic using a four-wheel walker, or a cane for some, to get to your destination, most of the time, is a challenge – under normal circumstances. But having to negotiate such a simple action through the maze of informal-trader spaces with goods sprawled on the ground or in heaps on makeshift racks is a daunting task. Some traders chain their goods together to prevent theft, and it is therefore difficult to move it to the side to be able to walk past and others just use the entire pavement to show their goods.
With the exception of a few, like the Rastafarian man who sells roots and leaves, they all sell exactly the same goods. Competition is fierce among them as they try to get your attention and to outsmart the next trader with a better price offer.
And then one morning there was this young man, sweeping the tiny space in front of his “street shop”, having to deal with me and my walker. He looked at me, and with a smile he said in perfect English, “Good morning, please wait, I will move my stuff for you”, which he promptly did. I asked him if he speaks Xhosa, and he said no, he is from Malawi. I thanked him for his kindness and then greeted him in Xhosa, “Salakakhule nyana wam”, and explained to him that means ‘Goodbye my son’. He smiled and said it sounds beautiful. From that day onwards we became friends and had short conversations as I walked past. Then one day he was gone, never to return again.
But in life there are different kinds of people.
One, a woman, was sitting on a camping chair watching over her goods lying on the ground. As I walked past she asked me for money as she was hungry. I explained I do not carry cash with me for safety reasons, and she said, with a frown on her face, “You have a card, buy me food.” No please or thank you. As I walked away I thought she has money to buy all those goods, but has no money to buy food. Is begging a habit for some or a necessity for others?
Have we as a country, as society, as communities, as teachers, as parents, failed our own in setting the example of good manners, empathy and decorum?
