The thin silver lining around the bad news!
Going through recent newspapers, I am astounded by the amount of bad news, but every so often delighted to see some good news.
This reminds me of a story told to me by a doctor.
“A man wakes up in hospital after having his badly injured leg amputated.
“A doctor tells him that he has bad and good news for him.
“The man wants the bad news first, so the doc tells him they amputated the wrong leg and they will need to remove the other one that day.
“However, the good news is that the man in the other bed wants to buy his shoes.” Yes, a silver lining!
The best bit of good news was about the rehoming of a black mamba that had bitten a woman.
It wasn’t beaten to death, but given a new home far away from people. Large silver lining!
Kids being given the opportunity to act as the school principal for a day also gets a silver lining!
So does the proposed wind farm at Addo.
Homeowners are going “off the grid” and so are entire towns. About time. Another silver lining!
I guess newspapers thrive on providing bad news as there is so much of it.
Kidnapping is now quite common and sometimes end well — silver lining.
Municipalities owe Eskom billions, not having paid their bills for years and spending any income on salaries, perks, big cars and bodyguards for senior personnel and salaries for hordes of ghost workers. No silver lining in sight!
Municipal so called “workers” are taking sick leave for flimsy reasons to an extremely high degree. Ditto!
People are forced to surrender their insurance policies to make ends meet financially. Ditto!
Uber is being hassled and attacked without an end in sight. Ditto!
The EFF continues to pursue its anarchical antics, blaming everyone else but themselves for the mess they are in and are making, or at least contributing towards. Ditto!
Medical staff go on strike but do more than that — they actually prevent people from receiving medical treatment resulting in deaths. Ditto!
Schoolgirls are involved in a knife fight. Ditto!
Thirteen-year-old school boys sexually assault another boy. Ditto!
Fraud is being committed at all levels and involves vast amounts.
The thin silver lining might be the fact that maybe 1% of the perpetrators are being arrested, but how many will actually be convicted?
Rather questionable government appointments are being made with convicted or at least criminally charged people getting top jobs. No silver lining here either.
Courts do not have enough trained or qualified staff to prosecute criminal cases, with senior staff leaving for greener pastures or countries. Ditto!
The post office not having the paper, ink or inclination to issue vehicle registration papers or licence discs.
The extremely thin silver lining here is that some firms are at least providing the post office with the necessary materials but only up to a point.
Business slow down and closures resulting in further unemployment. No lining!
Same for rugby club supporters attacking opposition players.
Escape from jail is made easy these days — just pay the price.
Scams abound in various forms with the latest being the holiday rental one.
No silver lining for anyone there!
The illegal manganese operations causing havoc not being able to be stopped. Why? No lining!
Land invasion by self proclaimed Khoisan descendants. Ditto!
Councillors attacked and threatened when trying to do their jobs. Ditto!
Kids being thrown into pit latrines to drown in the mess.
At least those latrines are being converted to proper facilities (the silver lining), but what about the criminal activities?
A convicted fraudster elected as the treasurer of a major university’s convocation.
What does that say about our values? Minus ditto!
Frequent and country wide mass shootings taking place. Ditto!
Another drowning at a baptism.
These are frequent and even back in 1959 I was involved in a baptism drowning at Brighton Beach, Durban, where a young man was swept away in rough surf after being dunked under by a so called priest.
We brought the body ashore. No silver lining, as this will continue!
Some good news is that RDP houses are still being built and handed over to deserving people.
I can only hope that the quality of the buildings is up to scratch. A silver lining at last!
Load-shedding is lately in the lower stages. Ditto!
People who are currently (pun!) stealing electricity are given a reprieve from prosecution and total disconnection.
A very questionable silver lining indeed.
Dagga growing courses are now available on line and free. A major silver lining for some!
German tourists are robbed and injured in the process (they won’t be back, for sure), but the suspects are arrested within hours of the event. Thin lining!
Rhino poaching is on the decline. Sure, there are not many left. Hardly a lining!
I can go on but the point has been made.
This country is in a total mess and not likely to be able to drag its way out at any foreseeable time.
Criminals are in control!
Kids being given the opportunity to act as the school principal for day also gets a silver lining!
Rob van Hemert, Jeffreys Bay