Tea and biltong with the Queen: Rooibos with lemon, or honey, or four spoons of sugar in a tin cup on a frosty karoo morning?
Here’s the problem with the “first world”: it’s too damn regulated and it sulks. It seems that when a country has loads of money, good employment levels, and a little bit of clout, politicians and the powers that be find themselves without very much of any importance to do. Sounds good, right? Wrong! Politicians aren’t the type to accept when they aren’t needed. Instead they look for ever increasingly petty and annoying things to hold over you.
In the UK you can’t offer a colleague so much as a panado, because if anything happened to them they could then sue you and the company you both work for. Instead you have to have a designated first aid officer, who is trained to hand out tricky essentials like plasters. Furthermore, you are required by law to have car insurance. Just hear me out… Insurance is good. We should all have it. But I reject the notion that the government should compel me to do so.
Petty regulations aside, the Brits (and, yes, I’m generalising here – with even more to come), love nothing more than a good moan. A few examples: Global warming is making my life unbearable. It’s going to rain all weekend. It’s too hard to recycle because the supermarkets provide too much packaging. I can’t honestly be expected to reduce my household waste! The school lunches given to my children are too fatty. My dogs, kids and husband are too fat. The schools have banned junk food …
Yes, yes, it would be lovely if South Africans had less serious things to worry about – but the baby-sitting government of the UK irks me sooo much that I had to air my feelings. It seems if there is a lack of genuine things to be worried about, people create new silly ones. And as much as I bitch about it, wouldn’t it be nice to have a few less things to stress about in SA (poverty, crime, AIDS, corruption, racism, malnutrition etc)?
Well, at least we can pat ourselves on the back for possessing a national “get-on-with-it” attitude. If you’ll excuse the cliché, it seems you can’t keep a good nation down, because even with all the scary things going on, South Africans have earned a reputation as being positive, friendly, and hard working people – and it’s this group, this generation I’m excited to be a part of!
We’re the generation that don’t know segregated schools. We’re the generation that were never under any illusions about AIDS. We’re the generation that can change the stereotype of the racist South African. I love being a part of that, and I’ve tried to be an ambassador for my Saffa generation over here, but have missed it terribly since I’ve been in the UK.
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June 8th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Totally agree. What also strikes me is how useless so many of the Brits are. Loads of people don’t seem to be able to do anything for themselves, or take any kind of initiative.
And all the paperwork gets me down as well – if they are going to force you to have car insurance, at least provide a non-profit state on, so you don’t have to put up with all those irritating call centres.
When I was looking for insurance quotes, I was quoted a rate higher than the car cost, per year. All because I am a ‘new driver ‘ – I’ve had a UK licence under a year. Never mind that I’ve driven for years in SA.
June 9th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Our answer to the insurance thing was the Road Accident Fund. But considering how many times the books have been fiddled and the government has had to bail it out, I’m not sure how good an alternative it is.
June 10th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
my biggest frustration is the hypocracy. Everyone here cries a river about global warming and then throws a fit when they’re told they’re to be charge according to the amount of waste they produce. I’d have more respect if they just said: we’re a big global power and we’ll do what we like…
know what i mean?
P.S. Walton – i know what you mean! I’m not even going to bother with a car here, too much fuss.
P.P.S Steve: ja, I know the corruption is frustrating, but I’d still choose that over Draconian.
June 10th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
oops, katie possum = kate thompson. I logged in stupidly. sorry!
June 11th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
I don’t think the compulsory car insurance is such a bad thing – and anybody who has been hit by an uninsured driver will agree. But I seriously object to having to pay it up front in a lump sum for the whole year!! People in SA just gape at me in horror when I explain this. The Big Brother nanny state really does get me – like forcing Oyster cards upon us and swearing that they won’t be used to track our every movement – only they ARE! And can you believe a friend of mine dumped his bag of rubbish in the wrong bin and the Westminster council actually went through the trash, found his name and address on a piece of junk mail and write him a letter berating him about it!!