TAKE TIME TO GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER

A MAN died in Cape Town this week.

Many of you would’ve seen him, but not taken note of him. He might’ve been your car guard, or cleared the table at a restaurant where you stopped for coffee, helped you with your trolley at the green grocer on Roeland Street, swept the streets outside the Fugard Theatre, or cleared the small children’s play park at the nearby parking lot, a jump away from the famous bakery Charly’s.

He had an infectious smile, a quiet manner and boyish good looks. He was unobtrusive, almost invisible. Helpful. Somewhat content. Well, I’d never heard him complain, anyway.

His name was Lee. That’s how I knew him. And when I met him, he was barely 25.

Lee died this week, and there are thousands of people who may have seen him, but will not know who to mourn. You see, Lee was a homeless man. He did various odd jobs around the city centre and its District Six limits.

I remember a time when he was looking after cars parked in a lot near Roeland Street, and someone came running over to where I was sitting at the Service Dining Rooms to say “they are beating him up because they thought he broke into a car”.

Lee was a good kid. He had so much potential. But because he required a little extra attention, maybe didn’t quite fit the mould, he was ostracised by “traditional” society, but he was embraced by the society of the homeless.

I met Lee while covering the Dignity Project a few years back, and I was always intrigued by his industriousness. He was always keeping himself busy, but was willing to drop everything to lend someone a hand.

But, because he was a homeless man, no one really paid him any mind. His death, ostensibly as the result of a stroke, served to remind me that no matter who we are, the bell will toll for us all.

Before then, let’s take a little time to get to know each other better, respect each other a little more, and love each other while we are still living.

Peace be the journey, Lee.