The elephant in the room

Picture: cartoonstock.com

Its not everyday that one gets to be in the same space, let alone same room with an elephant (talk about the unimaginable!), yet  ironically we’ve had moments metaphorically where we’ve had an encounter with this gigantic mammal. ‘The elephant in the room’ is an English idiom which addresses the truth being ignored or turning the other eye, the problem or issue at hand is usually very huge that it cannot be missed (elephant). 

I remember a few weeks ago entering a room and being met by a former love flame, did I just say love! Well truth is, I liked him for the most part. People at times go astray and so did we, the manner in which it happened was the sad part after sharing happy moments together, I need closure.

So there I was standing there experiencing stillness in time. That’s until a colleague walked up to me and asked if I was okay and I deniably told her I was, unsurprisingly she replied ‘Bollocks! You’re far from okay’. She was right, how could I have been okay when I had just witnessed an elephant in the room.

I hurried out of the venue, shut the door and walked away.

Picture: clipartguide.com

Wacky Wednesday gone Wild

Image: blog.getaway.co.za

“That’s correct, a hundred and sixty burgers, I’ll provide you with our address shortly…”  These were probably words from a company receptionist who placed an order in one of the many Steers branches who were participating in their ‘Wacky Wednesday R10 a burger special a day ago. Steers (at the time) had a brilliant idea of introducing  their Rib burger once-off special on  Wednesday, why the company didn’t consider the demographics of the ever increasing South African population is pass me. Really! It doesn’t take an AC Nielsen research study to figure out the number of consumers who have the purchasing ability to get a ridiculously great meal close to nothing. 

It comes as no surprise then that the promo was a totally flop! By mid-day its reported that some Steers outlets closed their doors to hundreds of hungry, angry South Africans who had qued for hours for their much anticipated beef. Their frustration led them to share their bad experience with fellow Tweeps and Face book buddies. A few hours later Steers smartly made an apology of the fiasco on various social media platforms.

This hopefully serves as a lesson to not only fast food brands and franchises but to South African business as a whole: Do your research and most importantly ‘Practice what you preach’.

Everyday is a good day

Image: wallpaperpassion.com

Everyday is a good day as we get to ‘start all over again’. A new day is like a piece of unused canvass. The paint colour, brush strokes and contour all lies in the artist’s personal taste or better yet state of mind at the time. Whatever expression they leave on that canvass will be a reflection of self and wherever their art leads them.

The truth is we too are artists, maybe not in the traditional sense but nonetheless are ‘self artists’. We totally determine our days and the events that occur in them, the unfortunate part is the fact that we think that we are controlled by a force outside of us. And as much as there is a higher power that guides us to greatness and our full potential, at the end of the day we have the freedom to choose which elements make up our masterpiece.

Image: learnhebrew.com

I Love My Berry

Picture: rodneyonearth.com

Mine is not a restricted blog with explicit content, so NO the word ‘berry’ has no reference to a woman’s genitalia, far from!  It rather refers to my very own cutie pie, my popsicle, my Blackberry.

During the week while browsing through my favourite media website Bizcommunity, I came across an interesting article covering the Generation Next Survey results for 2012. The survey looks at interviewing ‘tweens’ and young adults from ages eight to twenty-two who are enquired on their ultimate coolest brands. It comes as no surprise then that Blackberry was voted ‘The Overall Coolest Brand for 2012’. I was so excited and proud to be an owner one of these babies too, that joy was short-lived though as my berry was to encounter a hurdle later. 

A few hours went by, three to be exact. I was in the ladies (no worries I won’t be too graphic) whilst washing my hands I stupidly placed my phone at the sink and showered it with water accidently. It didn’t take long before my phone gave up and went all silent on me, it was the worst betrayal ever! Fortunately my very knowledgeable colleagues gave me a few ideas on how to perform CPR on my baby and bring her right back to life. There was the blow-drying idea which I already was aware of and then one colleague advised me to rather place the phone in a bowl of rice (covered) and make sure it stays in the uncooked rice over night. This suggestion was met with a *rolling eyes* expression. As soon as I got home I tried the later.

http://www.bbgeeks.com/quick-tips/what-to-do-if-your-blackberry-gets-wet-88693/

 To my surprise it worked wonders! My phone was absolutely dry, I was totally delightful and still amJ. It’s just me and my Blackberry.  

Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses

Image: smthree.wordpress.com

This phrase reminds of the legendary tale of the tortoise and the hare. Mr. Hare being the ‘IT Guy’ that he believed to be, always bragged about how he had the fastest speed amongst anyone in the animal kingdom. Day in and day out it was the same ‘I’m so cool, I can beat everyone’s behind in racing story, well that was up until the Mr. Tortoise challenged him to a race. Naturally Mr. Hare laughed in Mr. Tortoise’s face replying ‘YOU, the slowest animal in the kingdom challenging ‘ME’ the fastest of them ALL. A fool you are Mr. Tortoise!’ 

Mr. Tortoise shut his mouth and didn’t say a word, moments after a long laugh Mr. Hare arrogantly replied: “BRING IT ON”.

On the day of the challenge all the animals of the kingdom gathered to watch the much awaited race. The countdown started ONE, TWO THREE!!! And off they went. It comes as no surprise that Mr. Hare was beating Mr. Tortoise’s slow self with some insults here and there, yet that didn’t discourage Mr. Tortoise one bit he kept going at it.

Mr. Hare saw that he had out run Mr. Tortoise so much, that there was no sign of him whatsoever. He then decided to play in the meadow which was later followed by a ‘long nap’.

Mr. Tortoise kept going and going till he finally reached the ‘FINISH’ line. The cheering of the crowd woke Mr. Hare up, he ran like he had never run before, but it was too late. In the end Mr. Tortoise had “KICKED HIS A%$”.

 The moral of the story: Arrogance and trust in our strengths can lead us straight to our greatest weaknesses. 

What Truly Makes Me Happy?

Image: Unlock-your-hapiness.com

Hobbies, there are so many of them: singing, dancing, cooking, watching TV (for the lazy!), modeling, blogging, collecting stamps, surfing the net (most popular one), skiing, surfing, ice-skating, rugby, soccer, ballet, reading oh yes! can never  forget reading! Just mentioned some of the most common ones, I mean there are a trillion hobbies and things that people enjoy doing out there.

The other day I was chatting to a new Face book contact and given it was a fairly new conversation they enquired about my hobbies. And for some other reason I just couldn’t give her a string of hobbies. I actually made up some up as I was not sure what it is I really liked doing. ‘A bit of everything’ would not have been the ideal answer so I just pretty much fed her lies.

Nonetheless my lies saved the day but made me feel so crappy afterwards as I couldn’t answer a question that was directly about ME! I’m definitely writing a follow-up blog on this subject. *Off to a hobby discovery journey* (TO BE CONTINUED…)

I Am Proudly South African

Picture: Google

So I went about my day as per usual. Crazy alarm clock, Morning Live and my first tweet for the day (tweeting a headline!) up until I was made aware by one of my limited Twitter contacts that today marked a significant day, a day which Africans get to embrace their 'Africaness'. Yes today is 'Africa Day'. I naturally had a moment to myself and questioned 'what it truly means to be an African'.

Thinking of Mother Africa had an intellectual and most importantly spiritually fulfilling ambience. With her rich culture, history and wealth, her grace is endless. I scaled my thoughts down right to her Southern self where I hail from. And boy oh boy! I come from a rather interesting country.

Picture: Goolge

I remember recently (actually two days to be precise!) watching the headlines on E-tv where South African celebrities were involved in a CSI initiative in Soweto. Several public figures were interviewed. Yet the one message that stuck not only in my thoughts but with my very being came from hip-hop artist Proverb who mentioned somethig along these lines: 'No matter what hardships South Africa has gone through and has yet to experience, we always come out much stronger'.

And he was so right! We made it through Apartheid, made it through a 'Democratic newness', made it through the 'Arms Deal', made it through 'The Shower', made it through 'Shoot the Boer', made it through ' The Silencing of voices', made it through 'Racist tweets', still making it through 'The Spear'. And after all is said and done we're still standing together with our differences, with our flaws as we're “Proudly South African”.