So I use the local semi privately owned rail system to get to work and back. Got to the station this morning at 5:50 only to be met with some empty buses…hmmm what’s going on here Me thinks. Turns out the drivers had just gone on strike for some arb reason… This is part of being a South African and you deal with it.
Now here comes the good stuff. So as expected some passengers get quite pissed off and start looking for a rail official to take their frustrations out on. First casualty is a lowly paid security guard…shame just got on shift and met with some fresh morning breath venom. Next up is a rep for the bus transit system. Ok this might be justified if you were the 9 am train pulling in, the strike started just before 6am. So the rep couldn’t have known before hand and again the venom flows.
The striking bus drivers are just a couple of feet away but ohh no we ain’t gonna spit some of this verbal abuse their way, their either invisible or just plain scary I guess. So now I’m thoroughly enjoying myself watching the venom spitting world championships unfolding before my very eyes at 6:15 in the morning which provides more cardio exercise than a 10 km jog, see I wake up at 4:30am so I’m wide awake when all this goes down. What I don’t get though is why people get pissed of at officials who simply cannot do anything about the situation.
I make it a point in life to try and keep calm in these kinds of situations so that (a) I don’t chase up my blood pressure and (b) you get a much better result out of it by just staying calm…don’t confuse clam with nice or submissive these are very different things and most people get them confused…badly. You can always be pissed but by taking it easy you get more done.
In all honesty what makes more sense when dealing with a problem you have at, for example an atm…bitching at the bank teller or the branch manager…oh well suppose the tellers will get it again and again just like the lowly paid security guard and the poor rep who just had their first cup of strike stew for the morning, tastes pretty shitty lemme tell you.
Mind, on the rocks?! 