Are we starting to out-whinge the poms?

http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Chr...-poms-20101115

2010-11-15 12:55


We South Africans are a funny bunch. We whinge like crazy about things like crime and then when the cops catch us red handed breaking the law we whinge about the law being an ass and immediately start whinging about police brutality.

Take those 43 people who were arrested after apparently taking short-cuts down the wrong lane near the intersection of Bompas Road and Jan Smuts Avenue in Johannesburg last week. It all started because motorists complained to the cops that taxi drivers were taking short cuts and blocking the road for honest, law-abiding citizens.

So, the cops duly pitched up and started arresting drivers for doing precisely what the honest law abiding motorists where whinging about.

Trouble is, only about six of the 43 people arrested were taxi drivers. The rest were mothers on school runs, a business exec, a deputy principal of a school and other honest, law abiding citizens.

Naturally, all the honest, law abiding citizens who were arrested bitched like crazy about having been arrested.

Whinge, whinge, whinge

I suppose we're all like that in a way. When we are pedestrians we whinge about nasty bastard motorists who almost run us over and when we're back in our cars be bitch about bloody stupid pedestrians getting in our way.

We bitch about BMW drivers hogging the roads and then whinge like nobody's business when we are caught in a speed trap or pulled over for using our cellphones when we're driving.

We get very seriously bitchy and whinge like mad about the way the police just don't seem to be doing anything about drugs that are being foisted on our kids.

Then we bitch like crazy when government doesn't appear to want to do anything to get our kids out of foreign jails when they were found guilty of drug trafficking.

To make matters worse, when those same drug traffickers are eventually let out and arrive back in South Africa, we whinge about the media covering the great homecoming as though the convicted drug trafficker was a returning war hero.

If the convicted drug trafficker is one of our kids we thank the media for their compassion.

Where I live, we have a problem with baboons wrecking homes and turning over garbage bins - scattering rubbish all over the place.

There are two kinds of people down here. Those who have not had a baboon wreck their homes and who whinge about people who don't like baboons, coming up with all sorts of arguments about baboons being here first and that we are living in their territory. And that we should actually hug them when they trash our houses.

A contrary lot

Then there are those who have had their houses trashed by baboons and who, in the space of less than an hour, turn from serial baboon huggers into Rambo vigilantes armed with airguns, catties, big sticks and calling for all baboons to be banished to the Overberg or just plain shot, depending on the extent of the damage caused.

In nutshell, its strikes me that we South Africans are an extremely contrary lot who can change colour faster than chameleon on tik.

In fact, I really am beginning to worry that we are starting to out-whinge the Poms.

Next time I bump into an Australian I'll ask him what he thinks.