A RESHAPING OF THIS BLOG...

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!!!

Hello there everybody!

My regular readers will immediately realise that there has been a change in this blog...

A transition from "THE JOURNEY TO MY FIRST BOOK"

to

'MAXMOM's" BRIC-A-BRAC'

This change will allow me more space to share my life with you. It will also open a bigger window to exercise my creativity in writing and allow me to express some of my more serious thoughts.

Many of you will know that MAXDOG is ill. Sadly the nature of his illness determines that his era will eventually come to an end!

I am not sure what I will eventually do with Max's blog, but my gut feel is to preserve it as his legacy...a testament to what his life and his blog has meant to his friends across the world.

 It is for this reason that I am shaping this particular blog into an arena which will ensure some continuity to my own personal blogging.

Many of you will also know that I endeavour to keep my blogs positive and that there are many folk who rely on this particular 'positivity'. ..

This committment to positivity however has (to some extent) clipped my creative wings.

You see, although life is incredibly enriching when you adopt a positive attitude, I do feel that the 'challenges' which face me are a reality of life in this country and need to be showcased.

Although we are blessed with an incredible heritage in South Africa, life is not always easy...

We battle with the ravages of a developing and complicated society. We come face to face with crime, poverty, unemployment, social breakdown, corruption, racial tension, lack of services, anger and despair on a daily basis. As middle-class citizens, in suburbia, we attempt to protect ourselves behind high walls, alarm systems and electric fences. We are forced to become street smart in preventing hijacking, mugging and general criminal awareness. Life is not always easy.

This morning I came face to face with yet another common, yet unacceptable occurrence...

My daughter and I were enroute to gym in early Saturday morning traffic.

She was driving and I was in the passenger seat next to her. She approached and enterred a busy intersection and waited to turn right and for the traffic light to change. When the light finally changed and it was her turn  she edged forward. At that point some maniac sped right through the clearly red traffic light at high speed. He swerved to avoid us but clipped our vehicle, bashing both the bumper and the front fender.

Although an accident always brings on a surge of adrenalin and shock, one doesn't expect a perpetrator of an accident to simply drive off. What added insult to injury was that indeed he did stop but only some way up the street.  '3' people emerged from the  vehicle to check their own damage.

I grabbed my camera and got out of our car and beckoned to them to come back and talk to us. The law requires that we check to see if anyone is injured and swop contact details. Well these hooligans, who had clearly displayed dangerous and reckless driving, simply stood halfway up the street and looked at me. I continued to beckon them and walked towards them but they quickly got back into their car and drove off.

As a regular blogger, I ALWAYS have my camera with me.

(Yes..that is them in the grey Toyota Taz...waiting for a gap in the traffic to drive off!!!)

Unfortunately their number plate is obscured

(since this is a long distance, fast shot and I was shaking)

 They didn't even blink an eye or reflect the humanity of checking on whether we were injured at all!

I am incredibly thankful that we weren't hurt  Had it been one millisecond later, my daughter's life and mine might have been abruptly terminated!

---xXx---

There are many similar examples in our beautiful country of lawlessness...

The point I am making really is that I am deeply disappointed in the actions of SOME folk in this country. Whilst the vast majority are peaceful, respectful and law-abiding citizens, a few give our beautiful country a bad name and merely serve to harm it.

We have some extreme political leaders who embarrass us common folk on the international stage. We have intollerant and infantile rhetoric spewed across the media by these extremists. This doesn't help to still the deep rooted anxieties amongst us common citizens of this country. As normal citizens we are desperately in need of strong leadership which will foster the building of our beautiful rainbow nation and preserve its legacy!

 Whilst I can't change the world, I can encourage the simple endorsement amongst us all of gestures of caring and basic humanity.  

This simple act of reachng out to another fellow human being would go a long way towards a better world!

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy weekend.

MAXMOM IN SOUTH AFRICA

---xXx---